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This blog has been documenting the various issues with Unisolar's PV systems (ranging from temporary outages or simple underperformance to a fire, and even a case where the system was never turned on). A recent visit to TurtleEnergy's web site revealed that another high-profile installation, the 700KW East Coast Warehouse (ECW), is in trouble, at least according to the remote monitoring system data.
TurtleEnergy, no stranger to this blog, proudly states on the project page [cached]: "The
ECW is a 350k sq ft facility, with approximately half devoted to
refrigerated space requiring large amounts of energy. ECW's owners
wanted the maximum possible load handled by Solar energy. The roof of
the warehouse is nearly all a flat standing seam metal roof. TE's
engineers proposed that it was ideal for Uni-Solar's PVL series of
flexible modules. The only roof prep required was power washing to TE's
specification before the modules were adhered to the entire roof. From
the start of the ECW project, TE's designers determined optimal
opportunities to generate electricity, transforming an unused space
into a self-generating stream of revenue. The PV system at ECW is
currently the world's largest metal roof- integrated solar array and
TE's largest project to date (700kW). The system performs beyond the
projected target. ECW are so pleased with the outcome, they've
requested another system on their second warehouse.
TurtleEnergy
continues to ensure that the system is performing at its optimal level
long after installation. This is achieved by using Fat Spaniels remote
energy monitoring system, and is checked on a daily basis at
TurtleEnergy's headquarters as part of our full service commitment."
However, despite TurtleEnergy's continued, daily attempts "to ensure that the system is performing at its optimal level," the system generated a total of zero kWh in August, and just 1,576 kWh in September (or about 2% of what regular crystalline modules would have generated that month), according to the fatspaniel monitoring system data. Obviously, the system is performing well below its projected target (as documented,
previously it was only slightly above median, and underperforming vs
the best crystalline installations by TurtleEnergy) . The only other
Unisolar installation showcased by TurtleEnergy on their web site, the
more-recent 147 KW Wedgwood Plaza
system, is still generating electricity, but barely at the median level
among all the 16 showcased systems in the area (which include the ECW
system, and a Schott Solar system at a school that is operating at just
14% of nominal parameters) - so much for Unisolar's superior kWh/kW
performance.
One has to wonder whether the ECW situation somehow contributed to the recent deal with the upcoming Unisolar competitor, Ascent,
which agreed to supply flexible PV modules to TurtleEnergy according to
the following schedule: approximately 1.4 MW in 2010; 5.0 MW in 2011;
10.0 MW in 2012; 24.0 MW in 2013; and approximately 26.7 MW in 2014.
