UNION ISLAND SOLAR PV PROJECT

KINGSTOWN A photovoltaic system will be added to the generation mix solar energy in Union Island in keeping with Solar Project a mandate by St. Vincent  Electricity Services Limited ( VINLEC) to increase the penetration of renewable energy in the production of electricity.

Union Island is an island in the Grenadines that forms part of the 32 islands and cays that make up St. Vincent  solar damper and the Grenadines. The Union Island Power Plant which was commissioned in 1974 provides 580 kW of electricity at its peak load. However, the five generators slewing drive at the Power Station can produce a maximum of 1,828 kW. There are currently 1,242 customers on the network.

A photovoltaic system (PV/solar system) is a power system designed to supply usable solar power by means of photovoltaics. It consists of an arrangement of several Photovoltaic holder components, including solar panels to absorb and convert sunlight into electricity, a solar inverter solar slewing drive to change the electric current from DC to AC, and other auxiliaries. PV systems convert light directly into electricity. Union solar tracker actuator Island is known for its arid climate and clear blue skies,which are suitable conditions for this type of operation.
 

The project is being funded through a grant from the United Arab Emirates and the contract for the project was signed in 2018. Installation of the solar panels commenced in late January 2019. They are being mounted on the ground using driven piles and the solar modules will be tilted at 10 degrees. The Union Island Solar PV Plant is located solar inverter to the North of the Power Station.

Upon completion, the solar PV plant will generate electricity during the day to supply to the grid. It is projected that on sunny days, the solar plant will generate excess electricity than is required to supply the average day-time load on the island. The excess electricity will slewing drive be stored in batteries. Once there is solar slewing drive limited PV output, the batteries will deliver power to the load until they have been discharged. At this point the control system will send a signal to start the diesel generators which solar inverter will supply solar tracker actuator the needed load. The diesel generators will continue to power the load until there is sufficient sunlight for the PV system to generate power and recharge the batteries.

The expected annual energy output is 1,025 Megawatt-hours (MWh) or solar inverter 1.025 Gigawatthours (GWh), which is approximately 32% of the electricity generated in Union Island in 2018.

This will result in approximately one-third of savings on diesel usage and cost, and solar slewing drive also savings in other diesel generator operation and maintenance costs.

The Engineering, Procurement and Construction contractor is Akuo Energy Solutions of the UAE. They are ably supported by several local civil, electrical and slewing drive mechanical subcontractors.The system is expected to be functional by the end of March 2019. system is expected to be functional by the end of March 2019.