With the race for ‘green investments’ building up in the country, Citicore Power Inc. is also bent on accelerating its renewable energy (RE) installations with a target of 1,500 megawatts (MW) in the next four years.
The company, which is affiliated with the Megawide group, is eyeing to shore up its capacity to 230MW until the end of this year – inclusive of its operating facilities as well as projects under construction. Its current installed capacity stands at 163MW.
Alongside its aspiration for RE portfolio growth, Citicore Power noted that it will “constantly innovate its technology, processes and methods to enhance solar power output in the most sustainable and efficient manner.”
The company is presently pilot-testing an innovation at its Tarlac-1 solar facility, and that involves plant maintenance procedures “with the application of eco-friendly and long-lasting photovoltaic (PV) protection to its solar panels.”
In particular, that innovation entails the use of hydrophobic nano-coating elements that in turn will reinforce overall solar PV efficiency and could potentially drive up energy generation yield by 6.0-percent.
Oliver Tan, president and CEO of Citicore Power, specified that the tech innovation is still on pilot phase, and “this ingenuity is among the several energy-output enhancing initiatives being undertaken by Citicore.”
He qualified that even at this early stage, “we are pleased with the results,” with Tan adding that “we’ve been monitoring performance for eight weeks, and so far, with just 7.0-percent of total panels coated, we have produced almost 6.0-percent more electricity or equivalent to 9.0MWh (megawatt-hours) additional energy annually, which is even higher than what we initially projected.”
Citicore Power explained that “energy harvesting efficiency of solar PV is greatly diminished from poor surface reflection, deposition of environmental contaminants, and shadow-effect of vegetation – causing interference and induces cell discoloration, which soon develops into a hotspot overtime.”
Nevertheless, the company conveyed their plant engineers observed that “the coating’s hydrophobic properties forces water to slide, reduces friction on the surface and prevents dust and dirt from building up.”
Given that outcome in the application of innovative technology then, Citicore Power indicated that more light is allowed “to pass through for better transmission, even during wet weather.”
The energy firm further stated that based on studies, “power output can be reduced by as much as 50-percent if solar panels are not properly cleaned and maintained.”
Citicore Power thus emphasized that it is “keen on accelerating this efficiency augmentation process across its eight solar plants next year, once the pilot tests yield consistent results along the factors affecting PV’s performance and life span,” – primarily the solar panel’s physical condition, thermal effect, hydrophobic action and deterioration or degradation.
The company added its overarching goal “is to provide higher output with lower maintenance cost,” hence it is eyeing to continue with its innovation and development that may also entail using other methodologies and tests to gauge its solar power plants’ full performance and efficiency.
Ideally, according to Citicore Power, the cleaning of solar PVs is done quarterly or no less than twice annually – and that is typically executed via “manual cleaning or the use of sprinkler piping systems that use water and/or forced air systems.”
The alternative, the company said, is by “mechanized cleaning, using hydraulic brush system” but that can be more expensive. But Citicore Power stressed that either way, “habitual cleaning and maintenance will be costly and may result in micro-cracks and thermal shocks that damage modules and reduce potency.”