;
;
Arup was appointed by Eskom to provide owner’s engineering and project management support for the 400kW ground mounted Photovoltaic (PV) facility, which consists of 9 different configurations to be assessed under equal conditions. The data will provide valuable insight on the performance of PV at Eskom’s ERIC facility in Rosherville and can be extrapolated for use by Eskom grid managers.
Arup’s scope of services included the identification, evaluation and selection of the optimum site location and preliminary layout of the facility. Arup developed concept and basic designs for the PV system. Other project management support services provided to the client included scheduling, costing and assisting with the procurement of an EPC contractor.
The client, Eskom, is a state-owned utility company which has strict requirements for granting the approval for projects to proceed; Arup successfully met those requirements through its close collaboration with Eskom to ensure project continuation approval.
The PV facility consisted of the following PV sub-sections:
1. North facing Crystalline – Crystalline silicone modules mounted on a fixed structure orientated at an inclination angle between 20º and 30º at an azimuth angle of 0º (North facing) in order to maximise annual energy yield.
2. North facing Thin-Film – Thin-film modules mounted on a fixed structure orientated at an angle inclination angle between 20º and 30º at an azimuth angle of 0º (North facing) in order to maximise annual energy yield.
3. East-West Facing Crystalline and Thin-Film – Thin-film and Crystalline silicone modules mounted on a fixed structure with half of the modules at an azimuth angle of 90º (West facing) and the other half of the modules at an azimuth angle of -90º (East facing). The inclination angle of these modules shall be between 5º and 20º in order to maximise annual energy yield.
4. Single Axis Tracking Crystalline and Thin-film – Thin-film and crystalline silicone modules mounted on single axis tracking structures. The tracking structures will have the following orientations and operating philosophies:
A. 1-axis trackers installed in an E-W direction with an N-S tracking function. In particular there will be: i. One tracker group connected to only one inverter that will track the solar altitude automatically (normal operating mode); ii. One tracker group connected to only one inverter with a programmable algorithm such that the tracking programme may be altered manually seasonally and annually by adjusting the module inclination angle.
B. The rest of this sub-section shall consist of 1-axis trackers installed in an N-S direction with an E-W tracking function. The tracking algorithm shall be programmable such that the tracking programme may be altered manually seasonally and annually by adjusting the module inclination angle.
