Lahore Real Estate Forum: Property News & Community Talk : ,

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To continue with the useful discussion pertaining to solar energy, I would just like to share my experience with solar panel maintenance. These were solar heating panels that were installed by American company, as they were the ones who designed complete plumbing system for these villas. The system started malfunctioning soon after installation with no apparent reason. Since we were involved in the maintenance of the system and its successful operation as a whole, so we carried out an investigative study. Main causes found were

1.These panels were not located at correct solar angles. This was because architectural design was finalized without proper coordination with plumbing design team. Now whatever space and angle was available, panels were simply dumped there.
Then installer came up with an idea to equip all the solar thermal generators with expensive machinery to keep them pointed in the right direction with continually changing sun position in the sky.
The idea was turned down as in the same price a central hot water system could easily have been installed.
2.Some portion of these solar panels used to remain under shade of architectural features,trees, overhead water tanks,etc thus dramatically reducing the output.
Remember these solar panels are extremely sensitive to any kind of shading hence performance would reduce considerably even if a smaller portion of the panel is under shade.
3.Every alternate day we used to find all the panels surface completely covered with thin dust layer, birds shit etc. Since its was a coastal area (Yanbu), so most of the time condensation as a result of high humidity would make this dust stuck hard with the panel thus making it extremely difficult to remove, in fact we had to wash the panels every alternate day to keep the surface clean.
Also there were other associated problems with the sensor location, glazing seals not weather proof and tight thus allowing the system pressure to drop, air vent clogging, insulation worn out and circulation pump seals leaking etc.
We ultimately had to replace it with central hot water system.
What is worth noting here is that even with fully active and equipped maintenance staff, we could not successfully run it and once such a system is installed in our country (where one can hardly think of such a maintenance standards), how one can expect it to be a success.Lets ask ourselves, when do we mostly clean our A/C filter, only when we feel its not cooling properly.There is no concept of any routine preventive maintenance in our country.
Now when we talk about PV technology, it has its own pros n cons and the cons I put earlier well overweigh the pros. Honestly, I don’t see this PV technology (which is so costly 700 $ /MWh compared to Hydro 65 $ /MWh and payback time is 2 to 4 years) catching up any ground in Pakistan in near future, its just what the ground reality speaks, not the emotions.
We talk a lot about energy crisis, exploring new energy alternatives but never think about making the existing systems energy efficient. I will soon come up with few ideas about it.