With a total installed capacity of 100MW, a solar power plant located in China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region was connected to the grid at the end of June, 30MW of the capacity utilizing Antaisolar’s Helios D2 solar trackers.
What challenges were presented by both climate and terrain?
Located near the Tengger desert, high winds and dusty weather are prevalent throughout the year, combined with extremely low temperatures in winter, with a large temperature difference between day and night. The landscape of the region is of soft soil with undulating hills, forming a complex terrain.
Why was Helios D2 chosen for the project?
Based on an on-site survey and in order to achieve optimal BOS costs and LCOE, Antaisolar provided its single axis 2P Helios D2 tracker as the best match for bifacial modules, capable of resisting wind speeds of up to 45m/s. In the tuyere area, a redundant damping system was designed to further enhance wind resistance for the project, with a PHC solution adopted for the foundation to offer strong stability and reduce installation cost. Taking into account the complex terrain, Antaisolar offered different lengths of footing to reduce the cost of land leveling.
The tracker controller adopted an 800Vac power supply from the nearest inverter, thus eliminating the need for a lithium battery, reducing cable and routing construction costs and enhancing the performance of the overall system under extremely low temperatures.
The intelligent tracking algorithm has obvious advantages in complex terrain. It can completely avoid shadow occlusion during backtracking under different slopes, and can also improve the power generation of a bifacial module in the case of low radiation and high reflectivity. It is estimated that it can achieve an additional 6% annual power generation compared with traditional tracking algorithms.
Wind energy + solar energy – a strong complementary model for local grids
This 30MW solar power plant is another cooperation with a local EPC. Antaisolar’s advanced products and significant expertise are well recognized for their past track record. With abundant wind resources, the project is close to a GW-level wind farm, the complementary energy model of photovoltaic + wind energy serving as a new way of popularizing the transition to clean energy.