The Ninth Jordanian International Mechanical Engineering Conference (JIMEC 2018) Landmark Hotel, Amman – Jordan 16-17 October 2018
AN OVERVIEW ON IMPLEMENTATION OF ADVANCED SOLAR PANEL TECHNOLOGIES IN THE JORDANIAN PV MARKET ADEEB Jehad 1,2, MALKAWI Zainab 3
Abstract Energy problem in Jordan initiates a necessity to utilize renewable energy sources in the Jordanian energy mix. One of the main sources that have a potential in Jordan is solar energy. Jordanian PV market has grown since 2012 when Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation law No. (13) of 2012 released by the Jordanian Mistry of Energy and Mineral Resources. As of 2017, the total installed and under construction capacity (in 2018) of solar Photovoltaic projects in Jordan is 756 MW, and it is expected to reach 2,000 MW by the end of 2021. The field solar panel technologies is growing rapidly since there are large R&D investments in this field around the world. This initiates a challenge for Engineering, Procurement, Construction (EPC) companies to carefully select the best solar panels with new technologies and competitive prices. The aim of this research is to evaluate the implementation of advanced solar panel technologies in the Jordanian PV market and to discuss EPC's main driving forces to use advanced technologies and to discuss their decisions in the selection process. Keywords: PV Market, Solar Panel Technologies, Solar Panel Technologies, Monocrystalline, Polycrystalline, Thin-film
1.
Introduction
The energy sector is considered as a main challenge for Jordan's economy and sustainable development, since the consumed energy cost accounts for 8.5% (2429 Million Jordanian Dinar) from the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as of 2017, decreased from 17.1% in 2013 [1]. According to the strategic plan (2016-2018) of the Jordanian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (MEMR), the renewable energy share in the total energy mix would 1
ADEEB Jehad, Renewable Energy Center/Applied Science Private University
[email protected]
(RE Engineer),
2
ADEEB Jehad, The University of Jordan/Mechanical Engineering Department (M.Sc. Student),
[email protected] 3
MALKAWI Zainab, The University of Jordan/Electrical Engineering Department (M.Sc. Student),
[email protected]
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reach 7% by the end of 2018 [2], and 10% by the end of 2020 [1]. As outlined in the yearly report of National Electric Power Company in Jordan (NEPCO) – 2017 [3], the total installed and under construction capacity (in 2018) of solar Photovoltaic (PV) projects in Jordan is 756 MW, and it is expected to reach 2,000 MW by the end of 2021. Jordanian PV Market is growing rapidly, as it is the case globally, and the continuous research and development (R&D) in the field solar panel technologies initiates a challenge for Engineering, Procurement, Construction (EPC) companies to carefully select the best solar panels with new technologies and competitive prices. Recently, different new commercial solar panel technologies emerged the global PV market, such as Bifacial, Multi-Busbar, Passivated Emitter Rear Contact (PERC), Half-cut cells, Modules with DC optimizers (Smart Junction Box), Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS) and Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) thin-film modules [4, 5]. Figure (1) represents the worldwide market share of different solar panel technologies [4].
Figure 1: Worldwide market share of different solar panel technologies – 2018. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the implementation of advanced solar panel technologies in the Jordanian PV market in a simple, direct method, and to discuss EPC's key decisions in the process of solar panel selection. This kind of work has never been done before for the Jordanian PV market.
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2.
Research Methodology
The research is performed using a survey constructed using Google Forms with the previous consultation of ECP companies from the local market. The survey consists of 9 questions: 1. Company name? 2. Specialization (Supply, installation, testing, maintenance, commissioning)? 3. Technology that is most installed in the projects? 4. Dimensions of PV module that is most used in the projects? 5. Peak power of PV module that is most used in the projects? 6. What new technologies the company used before? 7. According to question 6, what motivates the company to use new technologies? 8. According to question 6, why the company did not use new technologies? 9. Other comments? The targeted companies are those licensed by Energy and Minerals Regulatory Commission (EMRC) in Jordan. The surveys are filled with direct phone calls with the companies and published over social media groups of companies in the field of renewable energy in Jordan. The sample used in this research consists of 54 responses, out of 201 companies licensed by EMRC until April 16th, 2018 [6]. The original list found in [6] consists of 219 companies, but we found 18 duplicates. Therefore the total number of licensed companies is 201.
3.
Results
At first glance at the results, and as expected, 79.6% of the EPC companies use polycrystalline PV modules as the first choice, and 20.4% uses monocrystalline. In regards to PV module efficiency, 46.3% of the companies use 330 Wp modules with 16.9% efficiency, 29.6% of the companies use modules with efficiencies between 11.5 – 16.7% and 24.1% of the companies use modules with efficiencies between 17.4 – 20.0%. The following figures (2 to 4) represent the survey results for different questions, noting that the percentages shown are the percentages of the companies that choose a certain answer. The answering method was checkboxes of relevant answers.
Figure 2: Results of question 6, What new technologies the company used before?
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Figure 3: Results of question 7, According to question 6, what motivates the company to use new technologies?
Figure 4: Results of question 8, According to question 6, why the company did not use new technologies?
4.
Discussion
As shown in figure 2, Multi-busbar solar cell, PERC, Solar panels with DC optimizers (smart J-box) and Half-cut cells are the most new technologies implemented in the Jordanian PV market. Respondents justified their decisions for using such new technologies with the answers in figure 3. Area saving answer has been chosen the most, with 46.3% of the respondents who used new technologies before. This could be due to high land cost in Amman, Jordan (for ground-mounted arrays) and the unplanned layout if service equipment on top of roofs (for roof-mounted arrays), such as water tanks, air conditioning units, and satellites, which restricts the roof available area. Theses unplanned 4
roofs could be the reason why 20.4% and 18.5% of the respondents chosen Solar panels with DC optimizers and Half-cut cells, respectively, because they have better response in partial shading conditions and lower power losses [7,8]. Only one respondent has chosen CIGS modules and he justified the answer with the better response of CIGS modules to high temperature, and the respondent said that the company used this module only for few projects in the desert. Out of total 54 respondents, 24.1% of the companies never used any new technology mentioned in question 6. They mainly claimed high cost (75.9% of the respondents) for new technologies and the prices are not competitive in the Jordanian PV market. Noting that some companies have chosen new technologies, but they do not choose all the new technologies due to high prices of certain types. One remarkable comment by companies is that customers in Jordan are looking for low prices with high-quality products, regardless of the fact that new technologies need higher investment which is justified in the long term of the project, but companies claimed that customers care more on the initial investment. The same applies for ECP's since only 14.8% of the respondents chosen "Achieve lower Levelized Cost of Energy" as a driver to go for new technologies, which means that also companies are looking for the short-term feasibility of the projects. As shown in figure 4, 22.2% of the respondents never knew about the new technologies mentioned in question 6 before, and they claimed weak marketing for such a products, but also this indicates low level of know-how and keeping up-to-date with new technologies, which can be recognized on websites of online magazines such as PV Tech (https://www.pv-tech.org/), PV Magazine (https://www.pv-magazine.com/), Solar Magazine (https://solarmagazine.com/) and PHOTON (https://www.photon.info/en). Interesting answers by some companies that do not use new technologies indicates a low level of engineering and scientific knowledge and the domination of technical knowledge only. An indicator of this is the terms used by some companies such as "The solar mirrors" instead of solar panels or solar modules. Lack of local testing facilities and Lack of simulation software for new technologies - such as Bifacial modules [9] – have chosen by 16.7% and 9.3% of the respondents, respectively, and due to these two reasons, companies claimed they cannot guarantee the performance of new technologies.
5.
Conclusions
In summary, this research revealed medium maturity for the Jordanian PV market in regards to implemented new solar panel technologies. With high cost and customers mentality as the main challenges for implementing new technologies. It is worth mentioning that high prices for new technologies in the local market could be due to the small scale market of Jordan when compared to the global market. To increase the know-how and up-to-date knowledge of new technologies, it may be advisable to organize periodic training from authorized institutions such as Jordan Engineers Association, MEMR, and EMRC. Another solution could be revising EMRC's Licensing instructions for persons engaged in the design, supply, installation, operation, maintenance and inspection of renewable energy source systems [10], in a way that assures only qualified persons to work in the file of PV projects.
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Acknowledgements Authors of this paper would like to acknowledge all the engineers participated in the survey and represented their companies for their valuable information provided.
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