“AL MUSTAFA ORPHANAGE” -PROBLEMS FACED DURING INSTALLATION OF SOLAR PANELS
Interns: SAAD SHAKIL HASSAAN QADEER UROOJ FATIMA
PROJECT TITLE:
Installation of 12.35kW Solar Power Plant
PROBLEM STATEMENT:
Technical/Civil problems faced at the time of installation
DESCRIPTION:
The key problems that were faced during installation of solar panels are mentioned below:
1) DRILLING ISSUE
The structure was prepared so as to drill M-8 Rawal bolt in the roof. A total of 104 rawal bolt being fixed into the roof after drilling was alarming for the client as the site belongs to a third party i.e. Al-Mustafa Orphanage, hence, no risk could be taken in form of drilling which might lead to consequences like ‘seepage’. Thus, it was decided to build cement padding in lieu of drilling the roof.
2) PADDING ISSUE
Cement structures were to be built to avoid roof drilling and for this purpose labor was hired. Structural integrity could not be compromised; therefore, it was decided to cut the roof to about 2” and then raise the cement structure in a squared box with dimensions 1’x 1’x 8”. This added to the strength of the padding as the cement was not a part of the roof itself. Since, the panels were to be mounted on these structures, it was a necessity to get a satisfactory strength which was achieved by using a combination of 1x1x4 as sand x crush x cement respectively.
3) SUPPORTING METALLIC STRUCTURE
To enhance the structural integrity a supporting metallic structure was designed to be placed between the cement padding and the solar frames. This metallic structure was supposed to be strong enough to cater the weight of the solar module comprising of approximately 80 Kg. Thus, a square shaped designed was preferred in comparison to a circular frame as the square was being created by welding two L-shaped rods thus, reducing chance of frame bending. The structure built was of 14 gauge with base plates of dimensions 6”x6” whereas the square shaped structure had dimension of 2”x 2”x12”. Finally, to avoid rusting of the metallic sheets, they were oil painted.
4) SHADING EFFECT
Shadow due to surrounding became an issue for the designed plan of panel installation. Firstly, it was decided that 10 solar modules will be placed in one row followed by 3 in the next row but the shadow from the building at the left side might have affected the solar modules before 8’0 clock in the morning and after 4pm in the afternoon. Hence, the design was amended such that 8 solar modules were placed in 1st row and 5 solar modules in the 2nd row.
5) ANGLE ISSUE
The panels are made adjustable so that we can change the angle in summer and winter to optimize the max generation. Calculations were done and due to calculations, it was found out that in summer, solar panels will be placed at an angle of 40o and in winter it will be 0o. The vendor agreed for the adjustment on the calculated angles but after the setup, the maximum angle turned out to be 20o. The agreement being provoked was not acceptable and hence, new setup has been requested and the work is halted unless the 0o to 40o adjustable setup is provided by the vendor.
