Key factors for Wind Resource Assessment

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Written by Vaggelis Ioannou, electrical engineer at Wattcrop.

Wind resource assessment is the most time-consuming procedure in majority of wind projects, and it determines the future of a project since it provides valuable data for it such as average wind speed, average wind density energy, Annual Energy Production (AEP), losses and uncertainty associated with AEP. Lack of wind resource or insufficient strictness with respect to technical due diligence during wind resource assessment leads to delayed or rejected projects by financiers. Therefore, a proper wind resource assessment is crucial for the project life and timeline.

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Integration of Drones in Solar Systems.

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Written by Margarita Kyrkou, surveyor and GIS specialist at Wattcrop.

The commercial adoption of drones is growing quickly, and the solar industry is no exception. Drones provide a practical solution for inspecting solar installations, from residential to utility-scale. They can be used to manage the entire design, construction and operation cycle of a system.

Drones support business efforts to avoid hazardous man-hours; reduce costs for maintenance, inspections, and repairs; and maximize energy production. Valuable use cases have been proven across pre-construction, commissioning, and operations & maintenance for not only the PV system itself, but also for surrounding infrastructure like utility lines, substations, and fencing. They are a useful tool as they collect data up to 50 times faster than manual methods and ensure greater safety.

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Photovoltaics in combination with livestock farming

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Written by Aggeliki Marinou, environmental specialist at Wattcrop.

The combination of agriculture-livestock farming with photovoltaic parks is widely known abroad and has begun to be incorporated in Greek society, as the need to protect biodiversity, combined with energy efficiency is essential. More specifically, photovoltaic parks can be allocated for grasslands and wildflower meadows, which provide habitats for pollinators, birds and wildlife, as well as for sheep grazing.

The site is suitably landscaped so that animals can live in harmony with photovoltaic panels. The bases of the photovoltaic panels are placed at an appropriate height so as not to obstruct the passage of grazing animals and to ensure that there are passages for the passage of animals through the park.

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Floating photovoltaics, a smart technology!

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Let’s meet the floating photovoltaics!

Written by Giannis Taousanidis, electrical engineer at Wattcrop

Solar photovoltaic power is an essential pillar in the efforts to addressing climate change. PVs are widely used, due to their easy installation and low maintenance. Over the years, we have seen a vast amount of PVs installed on rooftops or on the ground, when it comes to larger scale production. 

But this does not have to be the case. It is feasible, nowadays, to install PVs on the surface of water reservoirs, lakes and even seas and oceans under the right conditions. The solar panels are mounted on platforms floating on the water surface. 

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Geographic Information Systems (G.I.S.) & Renewable Energy Sources

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Written by Margarita Kyrkou, surveyor and gis specialist at Wattcrop.

What is GIS system?

The need for spatial data has been known to spatial scientists since antiquity. The rapid development of technology led to the solution of the problem, with the emergence of Geographic Information Systems or GIS. The GIS system models space by gathering and combining a wealth of information. It has a database of geographic data and at the same time includes a database of descriptive data linked to the spatial data.

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Agrivoltaics: a sustainable solution combining RES and agriculture

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Written by Aggeliki Marinou, environmental specialist at Wattcrop

The main threat facing our planet is the impact of climate change. There is a need to redefine the way that we find, use and conserve energy and natural resources, as they are key to slowing down climate change and can lead our planet to more sustainable development. A massive shift to clean energy systems and a greater use of renewable energy sources is strongly recommended. 

In recent years there has been a rapid growth and demand for photovoltaic projects. Photovoltaic technology due to its smart structure, cost reduction, long lifetime and improved efficiency plays an important role in the transition to a low-carbon society. However, land-based PV farms are competing with the food production sector in terms of land coverage. Innovative solutions have already been implemented to implement photovoltaic systems while reducing land use. Photovoltaic systems on buildings that make use of existing building surfaces, floating photovoltaic systems use the existing water surface and agricultural systems use agricultural land are some examples. 

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5 factors that affect the productivity of a solar park

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What affects the productivity of a solar park?

Written by Giannis Taousanidis, electrical engineer at Wattcrop

Solar parks, but also RES investments in general, are the key to a sustainable future. But what are the important aspects to consider when designing and installing a PV project? What are the main factors that affect the productivity of a solar park and ensure that we have the maximum return on our investment?

In this article, we attempt to provide useful information to current and future producers and prosumers about their solar park productivity and efficiency.

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Σταθερότητα και διαφάνεια, καταλύτες για την ανάπτυξη των ΑΠΕ

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Του Υπάτιου Μωυσιάδη

Πολλά ερωτηματικά κυρίως στην διεθνή επιχειρηματική κοινότητα, που έχει εμπιστευτεί ξανά την χώρα μας, έχουν δημιουργήσει τόσο οι συνεχείς αλλαγές στους ισχύοντες νόμους και διατάξεις που διέπουν τις ΑΠΕ όσο και οι ανακοινώσεις των πολιτικών ηγεσιών στην ΔΕΘ.

Ειδικότερα, ο τελευταίος νόμος περί προτεραιοτήτων για την έκδοση όρων σύνδεσης αλλά και η εφαρμογή απευθείας φόρου στην παραγωγή (2ευρώ ανά MWh) για τα έργα που συνάπτουν διμερή συμβόλαια έχει δημιουργήσει έντονο κλίμα δυσαρέσκειας και ανησυχίας.

Μπορεί οι αρχικές προθέσεις και η ανάγκη να μπούν όρια στην προτεραιότητα στον ηλεκτρικό χώρο να ήταν σωστές, παρόλα αυτά το αποτέλεσμα δεν ήταν το αναμενόμενο από την αγορά.

Ξεκάθαρα προτεραιότητες θα πρέπει να παίρνουν έργα με υπογεγραμμένα διμερή συμβόλαια (PPAs). Τα έργα αυτά είναι μη επιδοτούμενα, άρα δεν επιβαρύνουν τον κρατικό προϋπολογισμό αλλά και βοηθούν άμεσα την βιομηχανία και τους καταναλωτές με χαμηλές σταθερές χρεώσεις σε βάθος δεκαετίας.

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Το πολύπαθο χωροταξικό σχέδιο για τις Ανανεώσιμες Πηγές Ενέργειας – Κύρια σημεία διαφωνίας

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Του Υπάτιου Μωυσιάδη

Θα πρέπει κάποτε στην χώρα μας να μάθουμε ότι δεν χρειάζεται να ανακαλύπτουμε ξανά τον τροχό για θέματα που άλλες, πιο ώριμες αγορές του εξωτερικού έχουν ήδη επιλύσει. Χώρες όπως η Γερμανία και η Ισπανία, με πολλά GW ανανεώσιμων πηγών ενέργειας ήδη σε λειτουργία,  εφαρμόζουν πλέον καλές πρακτικές που απορρέουν από τα λάθη και την πολύχρονη εμπειρία τους στον χώρο.

Μεγάλη παραφιλολογία και λαϊκισμός έχει ανθίσει γύρω από την χωροθέτηση των ΑΠΕ. Τις περισσότερες φορές με επιχειρηματολογία αστοιχείωτη.

Αν και το τελικό σχέδιο-πρόταση δεν έχει γίνει ακόμη γνωστό από τους αρμόδιους φορείς και ούτε έχει τεθεί σε δημόσια διαβούλευση, έχουν διαρρεύσει στοιχεία του και ήδη ο ειδικός τύπος έχει δημοσιεύσει σχετικά άρθρα.

Παρακάτω παραθέτουμε τα κύρια σημεία στα οποία εντοπίζουμε ζητήματα.

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Why Energy Storage?

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Image:ecopress.gr

Written by Christos Kougevetopoulos, head of operations at Wattcrop.

Following the escalating energy crisis in Europe, renewable energy has been a point of focus to help resolve the current situation and provide a safe buffer to the current energy mix. The advantages of renewable energy with regards to providing solutions to the problem are already known, with the main one being the ability for quick deployment and production of clean energy relatively quickly when compared to other forms of energy production. Deployment of such projects also contributes towards a carbo-neutral economy and ensuring the ambitious renewable energy target for the EU of 32% by 2030 is met, or more ambitious targets that are now being considered per the below graph.

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