Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) is a non-profit philosophical organization with its headquarters in Beas, Punjab. It is based on the spiritual teachings of all religions. Radha Soami Satsang Beas Educational and Environmental Society (RSSB-EES) is a charitable organization based at Dera Bhai Jamal Singh, which operates multiple charitable initiatives in the field of environment and education. In line with their vision and the Punjab government’s grid connected rooftop solar policy in place, RSSB-EES decided upon installation of a solar power plant on idle rooftop space, available over the Satsang sheds.
Tata Power Solar took up the engineering, procurement and construction of a 16 MW solar rooftop project for R.S.S.B. Educational & Environmental Society (RSSB–EES). Built across 8 sheltered venues in a single premise, the project is the largest solar rooftop plant in the world, set up in a single phase and will produce more than 150 lakh units of electricity annually.
As a ‘live and functional’ site, with lakhs of devotees at the premises, special focus was given on quality and stringent safety practices.
Engineering
With 46,000+ modules installed on 1.621 million sq. ft. of roof sheds, the engineering application for this project was complex due to many factors:
Given the delicate nature of asbestos and age of roofs, our team strategically custom-designed the structures to transfer the load onto the structure from the brittle roof type. Lifetime analysis of our design was done by a third party auditor, to ensure integrity of the structures with the existing rooftops.
All drilling of the mounting holes was in perfect symmetry for leakage proofing and making a picturesque location.
Keeping in mind the temperature variations in the region, an additional spacing was strategically designed as a ventilation gap between the modules & the roof, enabling a 1-2-degree reduction in temperature. For the first time: ‘underdeck insulated J sheet roofing’ has been used as insulation to break the heat from top, keeping the interiors cooler.
Dichromatic coating has been applied on the mounting accessories making it corrosion free and giving it a longer life.
Execution & cost optimization
The project was envisioned with best-in-class technology, meticulously planned and executed with attention to detail. Our experience of executing large scale projects & foresight helped us in commissioning the project without any major cost escalations.
Quality
Maintaining standards is of utmost importance, when the minimum serviceable life of the installations is 25 years. To achieve this, the material & the equipment used in the project were standardized at the initial stage itself. A working prototype was first developed & executed, based on its success the final implementation was carried out.
Globally bankable Tier-1 multi-crystalline modules were used in the project to deliver high performance & low degradation for a sustained 25-years energy generation.
Operating efficiency
The plant has maintained an average 10% surplus energy generation, with a surplus generation range of 3.5% to 19.9% as per seasonal variation, during last 6 months. The average plant load factor has been 18.1%, with a maximum of 20.3%.
The plant delivered an average uptime of 99.7% during the last few months of operation, against a committed uptime of 98%. We have implemented a central SCADA system, enabling real-time monitoring of the solar power plant.
We have also implemented synchronized module cleaning system - improving the cumulative performance of the entire block. In order to have a negligible downtime due to a component failure or malfunction, the necessary spares are managed by using hub & spoke model, maintaining the availability at all times.
With Tata Power Solar’s experienced project management and execution capabilities, the project was executed within the defined timeline, leading to on-time commissioning of the plant.
The plant will produce more than 150 lakh units of power annually and all the solar power plants at the site cumulatively offset over 19,000 tonnes of carbon emissions every year.
The grid connected system, equipped with net metering can feed surplus electricity to the grid under the Punjab government’s grid connected rooftop solar projects scheme.
Tata Power Solar has used proven technology and best-in-class equipment to ensure long quality life of the solar power plant. The solar modules come with a 25 years’ warranty and reliability of India’s largest solar player, backed by Tata Group.
The solar power plant currently provides employment to 10 people from the local community, who maintain the plant on day-to-day basis. During the course of installation & commissioning, this local manpower was trained on installation, operation & maintenance of a solar power plant, enabling them with skills for their lifetime.
