BIPV, Grid connected, Photovoltaic, Solar Power systems Do you need it ??? or...

Electricity from BIPV, Grid Connected, systems, does NOT cover the cost of electricity that you use and you still have a monthly bill to pay, to the power company. You would need at least 15 Kilowatt peak, of Crystalline Solar panels, to fully power a small house, or 10Kwp of Modern, Thin film, Solar panels. Maximum allowed for BIPV Grid connected, in Malaysia, is 5Kwp. This seems to be omitted from all of the advertising. Only DC (Direct Current), Stand-Alone, systems, cover the whole cost of Electricity used.

Solar panels do NOT save energy. They are only an alternative supply of electricity. BIPV is a very expensive alternative, when compared to the
price of Mains AC (Alternating Current) electricity, from the power company. Different types of PV panels work better in different climates but a lot of Myths often make consumers choose the 'WRONG' type of panel. Solar panels make DC electricity (like a battery), directly from the Sun. This is a very simple conversion which is known as the Photovoltaic effect. DC power can be used directly, with most of your household appliances. The problem is that often the DC electricity is converted to AC, by an INVERTER, for Grid Connected systems, so that it can be put back into the AC mains Grid. This Inverter is an expensive piece of equipment, that has a Power LOSS, when converting the battery type electricity (DC) into Mains type electricity (AC). For over 50 years, Solar power has been used in Stand-Alone, DC systems, in places where there was no Mains Electricity supply. Over 90% of all Solar power systems are still Stand-Alone systems but we never hear about these! No hype here, because there is no benefit for the big power companies if customers start using their own electricity and stop buying from them!

So why all the hype about BIPV?

The peak demand of the power company occurs at mid day and this demand can NOT be met in many areas. Coincidentally, the peak output of Solar panels happens at Mid day, when the Sun is at its Hottest. So an Ideal solution is to put Solar panels on local houses and feed this, much needed power, back to the power company, to help them meet the peak load. BIPV is intended to help the power company more than the consumer. The MPIA (Malaysian Photovoltaic Industry Association) protects consumers and explains all the pitfalls of using BIPV systems, before installing them.

Now you all know, that the power coming from the wall socket, in your house, is the AC type power. What some of you may not know, is that all your modern appliances are DC powered. To get round this problem, all your appliances are fitted with AC to DC converters, to turn the 240V AC power into 12V DC, in most cases. An example is your mobile phone, it comes with a wall mounted converter, to change the 240V AC to 4V DC to charge the battery. Also your lap top computer has a small black box on the mains lead, which also converts the 240V AC power back to 12V DC to charge the battery in your lap top. LCD TV is DC powered, Printer, PC, Satellite dish, and anything which has microchips inside are ALL DC powered. You are using DC powered appliances already, all with the AC to DC converters supplied by the manufacturers.

So why do we have AC 240V if everything is DC?

This is because low voltage DC, can not be carried very far, over an electric cable. But AC high voltage can travel hundreds of miles and can be converted by transformers to higher voltages, which are needed to make the electricity travel these long distances, from the Power Station to your house. These transformers and voltage changes, cause a massive loss of power. 300% more power has to be produced at the power station, to make up for these losses in your AC mains system. That means that a 100 watt light bulb needs the power station to generate 300 watts of power, to light it. So if you put Solar Panels on your house and produce Mains electricity directly into the local power grid, for every 100 watts you put in, the power company saves 300 watts of power. Now in most countries, this is reflected in the price that the power company pays for the electricity you give to them. Thailand for example will give 3 times the rated tariff, for electricity they get from Solar panels. However, if you have a stand alone PV power system and you WISH to be BIPV, Grid connected, you can Pay the additional cost, of an expensive grid connection inverter and put the energy you Produce, back into the Grid. Unfortunately, you do not get paid for putting the energy into the Grid, you only get back AC power that you put in. So, you don't use or need the Grid Energy and get nothing in return, for connecting into the Grid System.

The Energy Saving House

This 'Energy Saving', is the most important part of any Solar Powered Installation, yet it is almost always ignored.
Now, we come to 'Energy Saving', the topic that Most people ask about. Surveys around the World have shown that the average, Stand-Alone, DC, Solar Power system, is as MUCH as 90% MORE Efficient, than the average, AC, Grid connected, or Hybrid, Solar Power system. This means a DC system will be 90% LESS COST than the AC system.

What is 'Energy Efficiency'? That means using less power to get the same results, BUT it is Not anything to do with the Solar Panels. Thin Film or Amorphous Solar Panels, will always produce 30% MORE Annual
yield than Crystalline Silicon cells and is discussed under 'A-si Myths, the Truth...'. For highly technical details go to:http://wwwlib.murdoch.edu.au/adt/pubfiles/adt-MU20050830.94641/02Whole.pdf)

Energy Efficiency can be divided into different categories: 1. Not Efficient An ordinary 240V AC "Mains Grid" Powered House. 2. Efficient 240V AC Mains powered house, using energy efficient appliances. 3. Super Efficient Insulated, Energy conserving building with efficient DC appliances (The same Modern, AC appliances, with the AC to DC converter included), Mains Grid power is still 240V AC, but you convert it to 12V DC, to power your house. Very SAFE. This makes a great impact on saving the environment. 4. Self Sufficient (Stand-Alone) Insulated, Energy conserving building with efficient DC appliances (The same Modern, AC appliances, with the AC to DC converter REMOVED), uses NO Grid Power at all. 100% Solar Powered. No bill.

Details:1. The Not Efficient House - A normal house is NOT efficient and is not usually designed for efficiency. It uses about 1,000 Kilowatt Hours per Month. There is often no insulation to keep the House cool. AC Appliances are not efficient (modern appliances, such as Fridges,
now indicate their efficiency, in a star rating, so that you can choose the most efficient appliances but few people look at this). Energy saving Lamps are also readily available and once again

many people choose filament lamps, or worse, LEDs, instead. Gas is usually used for Cooking, saving a lot of energy but some use electricity for cooking.
* By choosing appliances correctly, you can turn an AC powered house, into an efficient house. 5Kwp BIPV will produce an average of 350 Kilowatt hours per month, of Energy in Kuala Lumpur.

2. The Efficient House - This would be reducing the power that you use, saving costs and reducing the amount of power you need to buy from the Grid system. Energy efficient appliances cost the SAME as inefficient appliances, so choose carefully. However, in the long run, it is still more economical to sell off your old, power guzzling appliances and buy new efficient ones.
* By increasing the efficiency, you can decrease the average amount of Solar Panels required from 15Kw to 10Kw, to fully power your house. You still only have 5Kwp allowed, so still produce only 350 Kilowatt hours per month, of Energy in Kuala Lumpur. You still have to pay the rest of the bill.

3. The Super Efficient House - To reach super efficiency, the whole structure of the House must be designed for Efficiency. By good design, you can reduce the need for Air Conditioning or Heating completely. Add to this, the latest in modern 21st Century, Microchip driven Appliances, which all run on DC power. (You can see your Lap top computer comes with a little power supply converter, which has 240V AC input, output is low voltage DC). Now you know that you already convert your Mains from 240V AC to 12V DC, to power your Appliances. So, you can reach Super Efficiency, powered by 12V DC and it is safe for everybody. Requiring only a small amount of power from the Grid. This makes a great impact on saving the environment., and you are now ready to step into a Solar powered house.
* You have to pay electricity bill at this stage, but 70% ready, towards your future Solar powered house.

4. The Self Sufficient House - Now we talk about the Self Sufficient House, which does not require any energy, from the Power company, and saves 100% of your energy bill. Because Power Consumption has been reduced by as much as 90%, the Capital cost of the Solar Panels is Also reduced by 90%. Only a mere RM15,000 of Solar panels for the Self sufficient House. To reach this stage, you need not buy the DC to AC Inverters, saving More Capital cost. Then use your DC power directly to your appliances (Which work on DC anyway, via the normal AC to DC converter. Just remove and discard the AC to DC converter) . Solar Power is already DC and does not need to be converted. ALL 21st century equipment uses microchip technology. There is no such thing as 240V AC microchip. Change Fridges/Freezers to Gas powered units, sharing the same Gas bottle as your Cooker, saving more Energy. The Self Sufficient system requires NO inverter and does not need to connect with the Grid. PV Storage Cells will be needed to store the energy for night time and extra power for Rainy days. This is extra cost, another RM15,000. You can replace all your old appliances with upgraded and more sophisticated equipment if you want to do it properly. This would cost another RM20,000 but you would have the latest and most modern appliances in the street and still have paid less for your power system. NOT BIPV I am afraid, but Stand-Alone. No Bill, no power cuts.

If the Public were aware of the Much Lower, Capital Cost, on efficient, Stand-Alone, Systems, then Solar Power systems would be more widely used.
With Self Sufficient, Stand-Alone, Systems, Rural Villages can now be supplied with Efficient, Stand-Alone Power, at one Tenth of the cost of existing Inefficient, AC, Hybrid Solar Power systems or grid Connected systems. This means that every village can now have Power. In fact, TEN villages can now have Power using the budget for only one Village. This is the Future of Solar power. Self Sufficient systems are not just lower cost, they require NO Generators, are more reliable, have no running costs, there is no need to transport Diesel. NO AC Mains needed. NO power failure, NO Electricity bill.

How do Self Sufficient systems achieve greater efficiency, at lower cost?

It is not just that DC systems are more efficient, but more that AC systems, are very, very, inefficient. AC power is used, because DC Power can not be transmitted along vast distances, required for the National Grid. Therefore, the outlet, from the national Grid, in your House, will have to be AC to reach your house. Solar Power is on your roof so does not have to travel any distance to reach you. Today's appliances are mostly DC. You will notice that a power supply, which converts the House 240V AC to 12V DC, is supplied with many items, like printers, LCD TVs, cameras, etc.. Sometimes the DC converter is inside the appliance, like a computer, for instance. This conversion of Power, back to DC, at the Appliance, is also very inefficient and Wastes a lot of Power, which can easily be saved, by using the DC directly. DC Motors are also much More efficient than AC motors and use much less power for the same amount of Work done. Another Loss of energy is due to Suppliers, offering, AC, Solar Power systems, made with a Mix and Match of parts, from a large variety of sources. For example, Solar Panels from one company, Solar Controllers from another company, Solar PV Storage Cells from a different company and appliances from yet another source. Similarly, Grid connected systems use Solar Panels, Inverters and Mains Electricity, all from completely different sources. This means that each part of the system has to be able to work over a wide, general range and is not Matched Directly to the most efficient system. Losses in Matching unequal parts are very high.

SOLAR VOLTAICTM, Self Sufficient, Stand-Alone, Units, use LESS Power, because
they use Dedicated Solar Power parts, matched EXACTLY to the most efficient combination possible. All good Stand-Alone systems do this. All this, adds up to a saving of 90% on energy consumption, over the AC comparison. This results in a 90% reduction in the cost of the Solar Power system. Example, a Grid Connected system of 15Kw, costs RM450,000 to install and all you get is the Solar Power system. The SOLAR VOLTAICTM, Self Sufficient, Stand-Alone, Modular System, for the SAME household appliances costs only RM25,000 for the Solar panels, by comparison. This type of StandAlone, system, comes together with New, High Tech., appliances, like High Definition, LCD TV, High Speed Computers, Energy saving Lamps, DC Fans, Washing machine, Satellite communication, High speed Internet, Microwave and several other essential, Household Items, which cost a further RM25,000, if you do not already have them. Back up PV Storage Cells and night time power storage will cost a further RM30,000 making your Total cost ONLY RM80,000. For this cost you get power DAY & NIGHT, without Mains Electricity. You also get to have the latest, in household gadgets as well as saving RM450,000 cost of a Grid connected system. To recap: An existing, BIPV grid connected, Photovoltaic system, to power an average house would have a massive Capital purchase Cost and still requires additional AC Mains Electricity, at Night, when the Sun is not shining. By comparison, the Self Sufficient system, to power the SAME house, will cost from a mere RM1,900 per module and can be purchased over several months, or Years, one module at a time, to a Total of only RM80,000 for everything, which includes battery back up, so that mains Electricity is no longer required, EVER. ALL SOLAR VOLTAICTM, Self Sufficient systems, can also run on AC Mains if required (The Super Efficient House).

Other ways to save energy. Firstly, Solar Panels are no use without the rest of the system. It should be noted that the STC (Standard Test Conditions) give an indication of a Solar panel's performance, in the selected Laboratory conditions ONLY. This is NOT the output obtained in REAL LIFE conditions. Bear this in mind at all times. 65% of ALL Solar System problems, are caused by the Inverter. By avoiding the use of Inverters you immediately remove 65% of your problems, as well as saving wasted inverter losses. For Efficiency, NEVER use inverters with Solar power Systems. This will save you a lot of energy and lower your costs dramatically. Also note that in many instances, the cost of an inverter is MORE than the cost of a new DC appliance, which does not need an Inverter.

Lower Capital Costs

SOLAR VOLTAICTM, Self Sufficient, Stand-Alone, systems, are modular. You can buy
all the equipment you need, one piece at a time and add to the system, as and when you need to. Only a Stand-Alone system gives you this option. With other AC, standard, Solar power systems, they are built as a single unit, with a single inverter. This means if the inverter fails, the WHOLE SYSTEM is dead. Stand-Alone, Modular, DC, units, work together, but if one modular unit is damaged, it does not affect the others in the system. This means you can NEVER have a total system failure, EVER, with DC Stand-Alone systems. You can add as many units as you can afford, when you want them.

Lower Installation Costs

Solar panels, must be mounted on the roof, in Direct Sunlight. Because Stand-Alone systems are dedicated, safe, 12V DC, units, they can be fully pre-wired. All pre-wired, sockets and plugs, are provided. Simply fix the panels on the roof and plug them directly to the controller, with the wire given. Because 12V DC is SAFE, CE Certification is required and you can be sure your system is very Safe. You can install it yourself. 240V AC, Grid Connected systems are Dangerous and can Kill. BIPV uses deadly high voltages of 500V DC. Therefore 240V AC systems MUST be installed by Certified Technicians, at high cost. Repairs and service, on AC systems can only be done by the Certified Technicians. IEC Safety Certification is required on all the Dangerous, high voltage, AC, equipment.

SOLAR

Stand-Alone systems, have safe, low voltage, Chargers/Controllers also deep cycle, 12V DC, PV Storage Cells. Most Systems are "Plug and Play". A Child can safely assemble 12V DC units, though there have been complaints, that it is not always possible to find a Child, when you need to install the system.

VOLTAICTM,

Paul Millott Director of Experimental R&D

For more information: E-mail : solarcon@tm.net.my Web site : www.solarvoltaic.com Solar Power watchdog and complaints of any Solar Power installation to: MPIA (Malaysian Photovoltaic Industry Association) E-mail : paul@mpia.org.my Web site : www.mpia.org.my