Tucked into the northeast tip of Long Island lies the town of Southold. It’s a picturesque waterfront region with beaches, vineyards and now the first animal shelter in the state to be powered by solar energy.
SMA Sunny Tripower CORE1 Inverters: Repowering Ready!
Would you like to discover a new level of PV performance? Then this blog post series on SMA Repowering is for you! In this article, our repowering expert Thorsten Hoefer shares insights on which aspects to consider when choosing an inverter for a repowering project and explains which SMA inverters are repowering ready.
Solar Spotlight: Naghtaneqed School Graduates to a Cleaner, Quieter Campus
Hakai Energy Solutions Delivers a Solar Hybrid Integration Project for Students in Canada!
The Naghtaneqed Elementary School sits nestled in the expansive Nemaiah Valley, three hours southwest of Williams Lake, British Columbia. In this First Nations reserve and ranching community, the school has—until now—been fully powered by diesel electric gensets for more than 30 years.
High operating costs associated with fuel purchase and ongoing maintenance motivated the district to explore solar power. The reliance on diesel also introduced pollution and noise to the campus. Thanks to clean, renewable energy, those issues are drastically reduced concerns today. The Cariboo-Chilcotin district hired Hakai Energy Solutions to install a solar project expected to save the school $50,000 CAD, roughly $37,000 USD, in annual diesel costs.
In July 2019, the school district invested in a hybrid energy system that integrated solar energy production, advanced energy storage and an expandable inverter platform. Utilizing 140 high-output solar panels, 118 kilowatt-hours of lithium energy storage and SMA inverter technology, this system was designed to offset diesel consumption by reducing generator operation by 6,900 hours each year.
Impressively, Naghtaneqed School is expected to recoup its investment in roughly seven years through reduced fuel consumption of approximately 38,400 L every year, plus generator maintenance and replacement cost avoidance. Not to mention, emissions reductions are also estimated at 2,534,000 kilograms of CO2 over the 25-year lifespan of the system, equivalent to 19,500,000 kilometers driven by a car.
“We’ve used SMA products from day one, and they’re simply unbeatable in terms of reliability, functionality and serviceability,” said Jason Jackson, energy system designer with Hakai Energy Solutions. “Working in remote areas makes product selection vitally important. Over the years, we’ve worked with every major manufacturer of inverters, and these experiences have only reinforced our confidence in SMA products. Every employee in this company—from the installation crews to the finance department—is on the same page. From a team perspective, SMA offers the most dependable and bankable suite of products on the market.”
In November 2019, the solar hybrid integration project was completed at the school. The total size is 57.6-kilowatt PV with 120 kwh lithium (LiFePo)-based energy storage and features 45 and 60 kW gensets. Every year, an estimated 72 megawatt-hours will be generated. What kind of impact does that have on energy consumption? A full 80% of the school’s energy will now come from the sun.
This PV array includes Longi Solar72 cell Mono bi-facial solar panels, six Sunny Islands, 1 SMA multi-cluster box and one 50 kW SMA CORE1. The district received funding for the entire project through the Ministry of Education’s program for carbon neutral funding via a community improvement award from Clean Energy B.C. for the project.
“This project has helped us meet our goal of reducing our environmental impact and improved the quality of experiences students have on our campus,” said Alex Telford, manager of facilities and transportation for the Cariboo-Chilcotin district. “When you factor in the cost savings, it’s a win-win-win!”
Visit our photo gallery to enjoy more pictures of this project!
SMA Solar Academy and SMA Sunbelt Partner to Bring In-Depth Trainings to Florida Installers!
SMA will host three days of training at the Florida Solar Energy Center in Cocoa, Florida from February 18-20. If you are in the Southeast and are interested in learning about residential, commercial and off-grid solar and storage, then you don’t want to miss these seminars with the best resources in the industry!
Interconnect Your Residential and Commercial Projects Faster with Less Risk
Don’t get left behind when mandatory compliance of California Rule 21 Phase 2 and 3 goes into effect on March 22, 2020.
Solar Spotlight: Sustainability is at the CORE of Spraying Systems’ Values and Business Strategies
GRNE Solar recently installed a new solar system powered by SMA Sunny Tripower CORE1 inverters and monitored with the SMA Data Manager M at the headquarters of Spraying Systems, a spray technology company in Illinois.
The Top Three Reasons Why Installers Love the CORE1 Commercial Solution from SMA!
Since its introduction, SMA’s Sunny Tripower CORE1 has been taking the commercial market by storm. Now with expanded features and functions, installers have even more reasons to appreciate this truly unique commercial PV solution. We compiled the top three reasons that have installers shouting their praise from the rooftop.
Solar Spotlight: Pistachio and Almond Grower Invests in Solar for a Harvest of Savings
The ground-mounted system installed by JKB Energy located in Kettleman City, California, is the second largest net-metered solar project in PG&E territory and has a projected annual savings of $435,490.
Solar Spotlight: The Sun Now Powers the Hottest New Movies, in the Coolest Environment at the Mary Pickford Theater!
The iconic, state-of-the art Mary Pickford Theatre in Cathedral City, California, now includes a self-sustaining renewable energy plant. SMA inverters are powering the system engineered and constructed by Aeterna Energy.
Energy Reborn: Live the SMA Experience at SPI
Visit our booths – outdoors at the Grand Plaza and indoors at the Smart Energy Microgrid Marketplace – and experience how SMA is leading the evolution of renewable energy with major advancements in solar technology.
Part 2: Commercial PV System Sizing and Design with SMA CORE1 Inverter
PART II
In part one, we introduced the features of SMA’s free sizing and simulation tool and outlined how the CORE1 is designed to provide easier installation, commissioning and monitoring. In part two, we will discuss the benefits of the CORE1 for weather data integration as well as the advantages of using Sunny Design.
For weather data integration, the CORE1 communications card allows the installation of a sensor module that can integrate temperature, irradiance, and wind speed sensors, reducing the amount of connections, cable runs, and additional external monitoring devices needed.
If we look at the East/West configuration of the array, it is important to account for any possible shading effects. Fortunately, SMA inverters include the Opti Trac Global Peak algorithm, which reduces the effects of shade on the system by allowing the inverters to optimize the Maximum Power Point Tracking of the PV array. Additionally with the CORE1, it is possible to monitor independent strings in order to check for any differences in energy production on each of the channels of the inverter. As it occurs in this case where we have strings of similar size, it is possible to configure two groups (East and West) to compare currents and identify any failures or potential problems on the strings.
One nice feature of Sunny Design is the possibility of doing a side-by-side comparison of design options. In the image above, we can see the results and overview of both options. Although for alternative 1 there is a higher AC capacity by having two 30kW inverters, the annual energy yield and the performance ratio of both designs is almost the same. The CORE 1 design has a higher DC/AC ratio.
Depending on the characteristics and conditions of the installation site, it might make more sense to adopt the alternative one with two Sunny Tripower TL-US inverters. Even though these devices do not have the high integration of the CORE 1, they are lighter, more flexible, and allow installations in high-pitched roofs.
The last step in the design process involves selecting the option that makes the economic sense. Fortunately, Sunny Design offers the possibility of customizing values and settings to perform a profitability analysis, so that costs and payback periods can be visualized. This enables an integrator to make the right decision not only based on technical specifications, but also on financial metrics.
In summary, if you want to complete successfully a PV project on time, there is no need to cut corners, just make sure that you have the best tools for the job. You can count on SMA, we have the solution for any PV project offering the best support and providing the answers, you need every step of the way.
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