General

Have any false reports been issued in your name?

We expected it to happen to us one day, but we didn’t expect it so soon. 🙂

As you know, many facilities are changing hands in the SPP sector. We provide technical consultancy and audit services to many of these facilities. Buyers contact us and have a technical analysis done before they buy their facilities, and then they decide whether to buy the facility or not. Sometimes this sale happens and sometimes it doesn’t, but in the end our report is disseminated in various places.

Recently, by chance, we received the report of a facility that we had previously audited. But the PDF file we had locked had been changed, some parts had been removed and the text in some parts had been revised. In fact, for a facility with grid connection problems, a report was issued from our mouth that it was fine. Even making the PDF like that is a really time-consuming endeavor. First of all, congratulations to the person who made it 🙂

This situation, which arose when the buyer called us to ask questions, actually proved to us again how important Solarian has an important place in the field of SPP inspection. As a team, we could not allow such a problem to repeat itself.

In this context, we have adapted two technologies to our system.

Digital Signature

Solarian’s reports are now digitally signed by us and when the PDF files are opened, a green tick appears at the top. This green tick confirms that the contents of the file have not been altered. This feature is lost if the file content is altered in any way. If you are reading a report from us and this green tick is missing, the content may have been modified.

There is also a link to the digital signature in a rectangle on the first page. Clicking on it also displays the certificate details.

2. Cloud Server

Generated and signed PDF files are now only available for download via the Solarian Cloud server. Reports delivered by generating a special URL for each report can be read or downloaded via that URL. The fact that it can only be downloaded via the SSL-protected URL we share is a second layer of security in addition to the certificate.

In this way, we pay more attention to quality and trust, which is a company policy. Thanks to these two infrastructures, we ensure version management and security in reports.

Detailed Feasibility Study on Solar Power Plants

Both the experience gained by the solar energy sector representatives in our country and the increase in the price/performance ratio of the products used show that the solar energy sector is a reliable energy source for our country. However, with the new investment options planned by the Ministry of Energy (Mini Yeka), it is no longer possible to realize the old ROIC rates. This situation makes high-level engineering work essential for new investments, and the slightest design change in the projects changes the feasibility studies. As Solarian, we offer the most accurate and detailed engineering services to our investors at this stage.

In solar power plant investments, connection power and land boundary are parameters that cannot be changed. These parameters determine the design criteria of each project and the differences between them create the character of the power plant. The considerations to be taken into account when designing each project are different. Let us examine these issues in more detail below.

1 – Technology Selection and Installable Capacity Study

First of all, a maximum installable capacity study should be conducted for the project site of the solar power plant using different technologies. Analyses such as the surface condition of the land, the effect of the surrounding hills on the horizon line, shading study constitute the steps of this study. These analyses should be carried out in detail because it is the use of the most appropriate technologies that improves plant performance, not the latest technologies.

For example, the study on the left below shows the hourly shadow ratio of a power plant with a fixed-angle construction and the study on the right shows the shadow ratio of a power plant with a north-south axis monitoring system according to the shading distance and tilt angle throughout the year. As can be seen, although the fixed-angle system is subjected to short-term shadowing at sunrise and sunset, the tracking system experiences this situation throughout the year. This leads to loss of production.

2 – Creating Climate Data Set and Production Profile

Each power plant has its own production profile. Since this profile is shaped by irradiance and temperature values together with the technical analysis above, it is necessary to create a good climate data set. Each deviation in climate data directly affects production. This indirectly affects the project return. Identifying potential deviations while creating the climate data set will ensure project cash flow control.

For example; the graph below shows the monthly production deviation values prepared using 3 different meteorological data sets and tells us that there may be an annual deviation of 4.2% in production data. Thanks to this study, by analyzing the possible monthly deviation rate of the production profile, the loan payment maturity plan or cash flow analysis is made healthy.

3 – Performance Ratio (PR) and Availability Ratio (Availability Ratio) Calculation

Another important issue is the calculation of the performance ratio (PR) of the power plants. This is because the operation and maintenance companies take over the plants that are put into operation, provided that they meet a certain performance ratio. At this stage, it is necessary to apply the correct performance ratio calculation methodology in order to be able to make an opinion about power plant performance and operation and maintenance quality. In a previous article, we explained the correct methodology for calculating PR (you can find the article here ).

Considering solar power plants as a 25-year investment, the availability and performance ratio calculation during the operation process is very important and should be checked periodically. In this way, areas of the power plant that do not perform as expected are identified and necessary interventions are made before the loss grows.

The study below shows the PR verification of the commissioned power plant over a certain period of time (3 months in this graph). The hours below the orange arrow symbolize lower than expected performance, while the hours above symbolize high performance. The hours in the red box give us information about usability.

All the analyses mentioned above require detailed engineering work. Good preparation of the project will make the investment efficient and reduce the cost of financing. Solarian provides long-term support to investors as a reliable technical consultant at all the above stages. If you want to own a power plant with high added value and high profitability, contact us.

Solarian 2018 Year-End Audit Assessment

Solarian 2018 Year in Review

The first quarter of 2018 was quite active and fast-paced for the solar energy sector. Projects whose financial studies were carried out in 2017 had difficulty adapting to the new legislation, and were either suspended or rushed to completion. As a result, investors realized the importance of independent audit firms. Although the rest of the year was painful for the sector, we can say that it was busy for us.

Throughout the year, Solarian contributed to more than 250 MW of projects, of which approximately 130 MW consisted of audit and inspection services and the rest of consultancy services. In this process, more than 100 companies entrusted their projects to us.

Under the name of consultancy, we tried to provide added value to the projects of all stakeholders of the sector, including producers, financiers and investors. We conducted technology research on the producer side, project management on the investor side, and plant valuation and feasibility studies on the financier side.

Under the name of audit and inspection; we audited solar power plants in accordance with the IEC 62446 standard. In this service line, we continued to analyze the power plants after the actions taken by creating solution maps beyond the realization and reporting of the audit, and we endeavored to deliver the power plant with the problem concluded. We believe that this is the biggest feature that distinguishes us from other audit companies and we are proud of our audit team because of the positive feedback we receive from our investors.
As a result of the audits, we have prevented a loss equivalent to 3 thousand kWp installed capacity and 5 thousand MWh production. We have seen that many different reasons such as arrays that cannot produce energy due to various reasons, production decreases as a result of shadowing due to improper engineering, low performances due to not using technologies suitable for the field, cell damage, etc. cause production loss. You can see more detailed numerical results in our infographic.

Unfortunately, it is not possible to prevent some of the problems mentioned above for operating power plants. Actions such as dismantling the nailed construction, sending back about 4,000 panels or about 20 inverters per MW, removing and replacing technically inadequate cables, and creating a drainage system cannot be realized in operating power plants. The only way to prevent this is not only to knock on the door of an independent audit firm when there is a problem, but also to work with an audit firm to take precautions in all processes of the investment. As a team, we aim to pioneer long-term work with investors and business partners and we see our customers as real stakeholders. For this reason, we have created our vision by aiming for progress based on unity, not need.

Solarian 2019 Targets

We are preparing to provide our domestic consultancy and audit services for solar energy investments abroad. We will expand our audit team under the brand and provide the same services abroad as we do in Turkey with the identity of an independent and local audit firm. Since we have experienced that the reason for each power plant’s deficiency is different, we plan to support investors in a more affordable, faster and value-added way by creating more flexible audit scopes according to the problems of the power plants.

Is there a problem with your solar power plant? Contact us.

Have you invested in a solar power plant but your power plant is not producing what you expect? Are your breakers tripping and you realize later that your inverters are out of order? Do you have problems with your solar panels? Is your performance rate low? Do you want to have your solar panels checked? Do you want to perform solar panel measurement?

These are the problems encountered in solar energy investments. We can help you with our expert team to solve these problems.

Contact us using the form below to benefit from our inspection, certification, audit and inspection services for your solar power plants.