proportions. Many regulators and distribution companies have issued policies on metering requirements of this exchange. India too has issued many guidelines on the subject, but they vary from state to state. As of today in India, the Biomass, Mini Hydel & Wind based Electricity generation, and thus Integration is only at the Energy Export to the Grid level. So, it does not get affected by the “Net Metering” implications. Even Synchronization with the Grid is completely managable, because all such Generation Plants are set by Organized Sector Only and they employ the most reliable System Components & Manpower to manage the operations. But in case of SOLAR PV Systems, it is an entirely different ball-game. In case of Solar PV, even the Small Scale & Medium Scale Generation Plants make a valid buisness case for the Power Generators, Consumers as well as Distribution Utilities. And this throw lot of Techno-commercial challenges which need to be addressed in totality, before taking any Gaint leaps in this direction. In case of “Grid-Interactive” Solar PV Sytems, where anybody can Install the System and connect to the Grid for feeding the partial/surplus power generated by the System, there are namely Two major issues that need a very diligent study, analysis and solution: “NET METERING” & “GRID SYNCHRONIZATION”. “Net Metering”: is it merely the “IMPORT-EXPORT” Metering,as the name suggests? Absolutely NO. Net Metering really encompasses a lot more than merely measuring the energy imported from the GRID & exported to the GRID. When we contemplate the various aspects of ‘Renewable Integration’ in the true sense, the Simple Box being touted as NET METER transcends to a wholly different level. It is expected to measure, compute & generate a lot more data to derive the optimum benefit from the renewable energy generation system installed. The prevelent definition of Net Metering could stillbe argued as valid from the point of view of the Utility, but from consumers’ point of view, it really falls short of expectations/ needs. And, if a meter giving merely import – export data is installed under the name of “NET METER” then the consumers shall have to install multiple meters to give them the true picture of Renewable Integration
and its benefits from their perspective. Let us review the main drivers of the consumers to Install the Solar PV System and Connect it to the Grid. Is it to make our planet earth more green and save the environment? No, not really. The major driver is: bringing their respective monthly Electricity Bill down, Subsidy by the Government works as a sweetner; and to top it all, if they get paid by the utility for the surplus electricity generated and fed to the Grid… it really makes a very good business case for the Electricity Consumers to be part of this Ecosystem. Now, let us understand that when the consumers install such a system what kind of Data do they need from such systems to manage the system most efficiently. The system should give them data on the Electrical Energy Generated by the system every day, the exact share of electricity consumed from the Grid as well as own Solar System, and ofcourse last but not the least the energy exported to the Grid. Since, you can not Manage what you can not Measure; it becomes imperative for the consumer to measure all these different generation & consumption figures to take a well calculated decision as to how much energy to use from the solar and how much and during which Time Slots to use energy from the grid; whether to export any energy at any perticular day or time to the grid or store it in the Batteries etc for own consumption at the appropriate time… Thus, unless the “NET METER” can help the Consumers devise their respective ‘Energy Management Strategy’ and also enable them to dynamically alter it “on the Fly”; it would be absolutely under-utilized; and it highly probable that in the absense of any clarity of the benefits of Installing the Solar PV Systems, the consumers get rather disillusioned with such Ideas and Schemes of the Government and the whole Initiative backfires or falls flat with all investements, resources & subisidies gone waste. “Grid Synchronozation” also has implications of its own, which if not addressed immediately may also bring this Initiative to a grinding Halt. ‘Grid Synchronization’ as we know, is supposed to be the Feature/ Specification of the INVERTER. In High Capacity Inverters, we shall not face any challenge on this aspect as most of such Inverters are Designed and manufactured by
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Organized Sector companies with complete understanding as well as capabilty to provide this feature in the INVERTER, successfully. But imagine a scenario, when every other consumer gets motivated (by the drivers mentioned above) to install a Solar PV System to reduce his monthly electricity bill and make some extra money by uploading the surplus electricity to the grid.. INVERTERS in India are mainly manufactured in MSME (Micro Small & Medium Enterprise) segment, and lion’s share of this is in the un-organized sector. This has a severe implication on the High End Features, Quality & Reliability of the Inverters manufactured by this segment. Consumers may buy inverters from such vendors which may not be capable synchronizing with the grid; and hence defeating the very purpose of the Government for such initiatives. It is MOST IMPERATIVE that complete Specifications and Compliance Criteria for Grid Synchronization of the Inverters be defined explicitly. The STANDARD for “GRID SYNCHRONIZATION” be NOTIFIED, Test Laboratories be equipped for conducting such Tests and complete Eco-System to make this a Success be mobilised before allowing the Consumers to go for the Grid – Interactive Solar PV Systems. Even, a mass awareness campaign to be driven on the Compliance’s Imperativeness and Certified Manufacturers listing to enable the consumers not falling prey to the Spurious products. It is imperative to explore these crucial aspects of our new Electricity Infrastructure; the challenges, the current Practices & Technologies, Architectures, Interfaces & Protocols; and identify the way forward for Smooth Renewable Integration, as well as Unified & Secure Communication Architecture to provide a Scalable, Versatile & Robust Communication Backbone for the Next generation Electricity Infrastructure. There is an urgent, rather “most immediate” need to address these issues at the National Policy & Regulatory Level, before moving forward with any further deployments of AMI and Distributed Grid Interactive Renewable projects or investments in these field.
EQ INTERNATIONAL - April 2013
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