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PV-EXPERIENCES IN Photovoltaic technology efficiency in Palestine | 4/28/2014

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Faculty of Engineering

Department of Energy And Environmental Engineering

Scientific research

Photovoltaic technology efficiency in Palestine

Submitted to:

Dr. Hassan Sawalha

Prepared By:

As'ad Makhalfeh

Amer Braik

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List Of Content

List of figures …………………………………………… 3

List of Tables …………………………………………… 4

Abstract …………………………………………………. 5

1 Introduction …………………………………………….6

1.1 Overview ……………… 6

1.2 Theoretical review …… 7 1.3 Hypothesis ………….. 10

1.4 Objective ……………. 10

1.5 Report organization …10

2 Methodology ………………………………………… 11

2.1 Attof village project …………….. ……..12

2.2 Jericho PV-Plant Project ……………… 14

2.3 Lighting “Wad An-Nar” Road Project … 15

2.4 The Palestinian Initiative for Solar Energy.. 16

3 Results ………………………………………………….17

4 Conclusion ……………………………………………..18

5 References ……………………………………………..19

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List of Figures (Fig)

Figure 1: PV-Panels

Figure 2: mean sunshine duration

Figure 3: the sunshine intensity (kwh/m2.day) over one year in the west bank region

Figure 4: Attof's project

Figure 5: Photovoltaic (PV) Arrays in Attof

Figure 6: Jericho PV plant

Figure 7: Wad An-nar road with PV-Cells

Figure 8: the Installation of PV-Panels

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List of Tables

Table 1: The sunshine intensity in the west bank (kwh/m2.day) …… 9

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Abstract

Analysis has been done of: Daylight and sunshine duration in Palestine data has been done. Four photovoltaic (PV) projects' output power in Palestine. In order to achieve our idea about the effectiveness of PV technology in Palestine and we got that Palestine has a very good potential of solar energy. So, the efficiency of this technology in Palestine is very high and can cover a lot of our energy needs.

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1. Introduction

Nowadays people need energy more than any time before, so in order to

satisfy these needs for energy, they tried everything possible to gain energy from

using coal, oil, gas, and finally renewable resources. As for renewable resources,

they branch into four main categories:

1. Solar energy 3.Wind energy

2. Thermal energy4. Water energy

Palestine Suffers from the scarcity of natural resources and mineral wealth, But

the suffering of the Palestinians most lies in the scarcity of traditional energy

sources, such as oil and gas, and high prices, Moreover, the amount of

hydrocarbons and their prices are controlled by the Israeli authorities.

1.1Overview

Solar energy, which is the sort that will be studied, represents now the bright

future for clean energy. Many countries tended to use this source as possible as

they can especially by using solar panels, solar water and gas heaters…etc

Solar energy can be converted into electricity by two Main ways Photovoltaic

and thermal ones and we will focus on the Photovoltaic way.

Figure 1 PV-Panels

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Photovoltaics (PV) is a method of generating electrical power by converting solar

radiation into direct current electricity using semiconductors that exhibit the

photovoltaic effect.

Photovoltaic power generation employs solar panels composed of a number of

solar cells containing a photovoltaic material. Mainstream materials presently

used for photovoltaics include monocrystalline silicon, polycrystalline silicon,

amorphous silicon, cadmium telluride.

Due to the increased demand for renewable energy sources, the manufacturing

of solar cells and photovoltaic arrays has advanced considerably in recent years.

1.2 Theoretical review

solar energy is considered as the major energy source in Palestine, it is used

especially for heating water by SWHs which is widely used in Palestine with

about 66.5% of families use SWH in the west bank and 51% in Gaza according

to the Palestinian central bureau of statistics(PCBS, 2013).

But recently PV-cells have been used in many projects, and they make a

progress and helped people as we will see later on, and many projects are going

to be established in the near future.

Palestine has good solar properties enabled and encouraged companies

and institutes to do projects in this field. These properties can be introduced

under two main titles:

1.The mean sunshine duration(MSD).

MDS refers to the period that the solar radiation can maintain over a year or the

annual average.

MSD in Palestine is relatively perfect one with approximately 3000 hours per

year, about 8.4 hour per day in average, and it is distributed in the west bank as

shown in the next figure(Department, 2012).

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Figure2 mean sunshine duration (hour/day).

2. The sunshine intensity.

Sunshine intensity is the energy that can reach a one meter square of over

one day, its unit is expressed as KWh/(m2.day). Palestine has about 5.48

kwh/m2.day in average, See figure(1).

Figure 3 the sunshine intensity (kwh/m2.day) over one year in the west bank region

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Jerusalem Nablus Tulkarim Hebron Jericho Jenin

Winter

Spring

Summer

Autumn

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3. The sunshine intensity in northern and southern station in West Bank:

Sunshine intensity in the southern part of West bank is more than the northern because of the

different geographical nature. See Table 1.[ Department, P. M. (2012). Climate Bulletin].

4. The Mean sunshine duration (MSD) in England:

As we said, MSD in Palestine is approximately 3000 hours, But in England the MSD

around 1750 hours in each year – in average about 5 hours per day

[http://www.ukweatherworld.co.uk/].

Season/Station Northern station

Southern station

Winter 3.9 4.04

Spring 5.6 5.66

Summer 6.65 6.53

Autumn 5.9 5.6

Table1: The sunshine intensity in the west bank (kwh/m2.day).

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1.3 Hypothesis

It was hypothesized that as the MSD of any country is more than 8 hours per

day, the rate at which this country can use the PV technology as an effective

source of energy increases.

So, if Palestine exploited the sunshine very well, then it can cover some of its

energy needs by using the PV technology.

1.4 Objectives

We Did this research in order to give our vision about the effectiveness of

this technology in Palestine. So, we all have to focus on it to get a free

energy from the sun and overcome the occupation's electricity.

1.5 Report Organization

In this research, we mentioned four PV systems in Palestine, and we got

data and information by going to the places of these projects in order to

make our research content more confident.

These data will be supported with enough charts and information followed

by comments about them , and all of that will make it easier to conclude

and to have clear results in order to be able to answer the main question.

After that, we will take our conclusion and then the results based on the

data analysis.

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2. Methodology

Overall Approach

In this research, we will discuss the four PV systems and give some data and

comments about it, and before that we will talk briefly about technical part of

any PV systems.

PV system (technical part):

The solar cells are made of several thin layers of silicon. When sunlight strikes,

the electrons within the cell are knocked loose. By the absorption of a photon

(light particle), the negative electron gets shunted away from the silicon atom,

and positive 'hole' remains. The freed electron and the positive hole together are

neutral. Therefore, to be able to generate electricity, the electron and the hole

need to be separated from each other. This is done by giving layers within the cell

opposite charges, so that the freed electrons cannot return to the positively

charged holes. When the electrical contacts on the front and rear are connected

through an external circuit, the freed electrons can only return to the positively

charged holes by flowing through this circuit, thus causing electricity to flow. This

means that the greater the intensity of light(larger number of photons), the

greater the flow of electricity.

PV-Projects In Palestine (Agency,2011)

Many PV-projects have been recently established in Palestine, it was a nice

chance for institutes to do projects in this field in order to provide remote places

with electricity by using PV-cells since they generate electricity regardless to the

electric network.

It was also a chance to overcome the occupation barriers as we will see in

the most of PV-cells projects, and we will mention in our report the most effective

projects at the level of facilitating people’s life. The main projects that will be mentioned and discussed are:

1.Attof village project.

2.Jericho PV-Plant Project

3.Lighting “Wad An-Nar” Road Project 4 The Palestinian Initiative for Solar

Energy

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2.1Attof village project.

The village is located in the east of the town Tammoun in Tubas, with a

population of about 120 people living in 22 houses, it contains mosque and

school. Before the project is accomplished, the electrical loads and street lighting

were fed through a diesel engine capacity of 20 KW works for 4 hours per day.

As a result of the rise in fuel prices (diesel) in recent years, the village was

unable to buy fuel to run the diesel generator, and it became deprived of the

source of electricity. Therefore, An-Najah National University Energy Research

Centerintervenes with the aim of providing an alternative environmental, healthy

and economically viable for the electricity crisis in the village of Attof.

The Electrical loads in the village were studied by the Energy Research Center

at An-Najah University, which in turn has designed a central solar system to feed

the entire village through solar cells. A proposal of the illumination of the village

projectwas presentedto the Spanish

government, and funding was approved

for the project in collaboration with the

SpanishFoundation of SEBA.

Where the system was installed with all the necessary batteries, and battery charger, AC adapter continuously to AC, and regulator and all it takes. It was the completion of the implementation of the project in October 2007, and since that date until now the complete village is fed by system of solar cells, without any problems over the 24 hours.

Figure 4 Attof's Project

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Electrification of Attof village:

The electrification system can be summarized in these points:

Capacity of the photovoltaic generator is 11,7KWp The Village is at least 5km far from nearest high voltage grid.

The PV generator has been connected to the public grid through the acquisition of inverters adapted for this purpose. With this connection, the energy generated by the PV plant will be delivered into the grid and TDECO (Tubas district Electricity Company ltd) buy this energy toAttof municipality.

Figure 5 PV-Arrays in Attof

Impacts of the project:

1- The project has been seen as positive by most of the local families. 56% of

them are highly satisfied and 44% believe that the project has helped them to

improve their direct financial situation.

2- 33% of the interviewed families believe that the project has helped them to

strength the community ties.

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2.2 Jericho PV-Plant Project

the Palestinian Energy Authorityhas implemented a project refers entirely to

it,which is a lighting project in the industrial area in Jericho by generating

electricity from solar cells, since the Jericho is an area with a suitable

environment that encourages industrial investment , and has a viable valuable in

terms of geographic location, strategic , and climate .

Note that this project is implemented with the Japanese Agency for International

Cooperation funding through the contractor (Toyota Tsusho Corporation of

Japan) who has supplied equipment in coordination with the Energy Authority,

which cooperated with the Jerusalem District Electricity Company.

Jerusalem District Electricity Company Participates partiallyin the exchange of

power generated from solar cells in order to achieve the best benefit, and there

will be cooperation by connecting the power generated by solar cells with a

Jerusalem District Electricity network

through a group of counters that will

determine the amount of current in

both directions.

Sothat the company will

benefit from the generated power

during the day to feed its network, and

on the other hand the company will

feedthe industrial area and its streets

with electricity at night. Thus by

calculating the difference in both directions in order to serve the parties and

achieve the highest degree of interest of the project.

Electrification of Jericho Plant:

The electrification system can be summarized in these points:

It is considered the first and biggest project being implemented under the

National Authority until now.

It has a power of 350 KW with about 2400-2600 solar panels

It is located at 13000 m2 where 5000m2 are for further extensions to rise

the power of the Plant on the future.

Figure 6 Jericho PV-Plant

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2.3 Lighting “Wad An-Nar” Road Project

It is the only road that connects the southern Westbank with its northern, and the

Jordan Valley and the borders with Jordan, which is severe aliasing and fractures

road, with a length of about 3.6 km, and there are no lines to the electricity grid.

Because of the occupation preventing to power the lightsin the road from the

network in this region- that means the trips through the road will be in risk at night

because of the darkness that surrounds the road.

"The Palestinian Society for the solar and sustainable development"

proposed to solve the problem by installing lighting through the exploitation of

solar energy available in the region most days of the year, to provide electricity

without the need to extend the cables between the columns, or to obtain licenses

from occupation.

Electrification of Wad An-nar

Road:

The electrification system can be

summarized in these points:

It composed from 98 lighting

units distributed along 3.6

km of the road

Lighting units have batteries

to charge extra energy, and

these batteries can work for three days, especially for cloudy days

These units are equipped with light sensors to turn off at night

Impacts of the project:

1. Lighting bumpy road with length of 3600 m.

2. Minimizing the risks that hurt people's lives.

3. Overcome the occupation’s challengesby devise new ways to enable people to

withstand.

Figure 7 Wad An-nar Road with PV-cells

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2.4 The Palestinian Initiative for Solar Energy

The Palestinian authority of energy has started a campaign to encourage

people to install solar cells on their homes’ roofs, to exploit the abundant free

energy and to help people to invest in this field which will be a business after a

certain period.

The campaign includes the installation for 1000 homes started at 2013 and

distributed over the west bank as the following (300 homes in the South, and 400

in the middle, and 300 in the North), and families will sell the resulting energy

from panels to the electricity company in their area

With excellences to the first 200 family who install solar panels first,

the first 100 family will have the chance to sell 1KWH by 1.7 NIS, and the next

100 families will sell it by 0.8 NIS.

We have visited one of those people, who installed solar panels on his

home roof, Mr. Abu Abdullah and he told us about his system, and that he sells

his production to TDECO (Tubas district Electricity Company ltd), his system

produces about 30 KWH daily and he sells it by 0.8NIS per 1KWH.

Electrification of the installed system and the impacts:

The electrification system and the impacts can be summarized in these points:

Electric power

production

individually of up

to 5 kW per

house.

It helps people to

gain money.

The spread of

these projects

could be like a

plant for electricity.

Figure 8 the Installation of PV-Panels

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3.Results

Palestine has a very good potential of solar energy, so we can say that PV

technology is very effective in Palestine.

PV technology can be a smart solution for remote areas that the electric

grid can’t reach. This Technology proved that they can overcome the occupation’s

challenges.

The awareness and the increasing direction to the renewable energy

especially solar energy by the Palestinians.

The bright future for solar energy in Palestine, so it can be one day a

major source for our electricity.

The number of projects in the renewable energy field compared with other

independent countries.

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4.Conclusions

We have mentioned four examples about the PV-projects in Palestine but they

are just a small sample of what we have in Palestine, there are a lot of projects

and also inventions in the field of solar or even renewable energy in general.

The projects we mentioned and explained showed that PV technology

efficiency in Palestine is high and it can be a reliable source of energy to

generate electricity.

As for Wad An-nar road it is just an example of other projects, and the

same for Jericho plant, so we notice that the projects of the report are

comprehensive for the rest of projects in Palestine, and these projects can be:

Village utilization.

Electricity plant.

Road lighting.

Individually investments.

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5. References

Agency, P. N. (2011). Renewable Energy. _: Palestinian News And Info. Agency.

Center, A.-n. E. (_). Attof Project. Nablus: An-najah Energy Research Center.

Department, P. M. (2012). Climate Bulletin. _: Palestinian Meteorological Department.

PCBS, P. c. (2013). The relative distribution of heating water method. Ram-Allah: Palestinian

central bureau of statistics.