The market for energy storage in the South Asia region is dominated by India. Energy storage helps in the integration of renewable energy and unlocking the benefits of local generation and a clean, resilient energy supply. But despite rapidly falling costs, energy storage systems remain expensive and the significant upfront investment required is difficult to overcome without low-cost financing.
Manoj Pande, Managing Director Statcon Energiaa -the market leader over last two decades in the manufacturing of Power electronic products shares his views on latest technological innovations and Energy efficiency through Smart Energy Storage Solutions.
What are the effects of Solar integration on the Electricity distribution industry?
While utilities are certainly benefitting from any extra sources of power on the grid but the unpredictable nature of Solar or even wind for that matter stops it from becoming a primary electricity source presently. The good customers are installing solar rooftops, decreasing the revenue, and the DISCOMs are paying back the customer for Solar units exported on to the grid, further reducing the revenue. This will result in higher electricity unit rates, which will result in more Solar rooftop adoption, culminating in a death spiral for the utilities. As a result, DISCOMs are challenging the net metering policy or delaying the implementation on different technical and operational grounds.
How are you looking to tap into India’s large storage potential?
Energy storage potential in Power Sector can be categorized in 3 ways:
- Utility scale BESS (Battery Energy Storage System)
- Mid -Size BESS for substations and
- Distributed BESS on each consumer’s premises.
It is important to understand that with new advances in Power Electronics Technologies and that of Battery, storage should not be interpreted as mere Power-Back up provider; rather it can be used for better Grid Quality, shifting of energy and dynamically supporting the existing grid. This leads to what is termed as SMART–ENERGY in its true sense.
Statcon Energiaa realized this 7 years ago and has been working on it to benefit the user. For this to happen, we are not waiting for Govt. subsidies, but rather on the financial model suitable for Industrial & Commercial (I&C) segment. With our specialty of Power Electronics and controls, we provide customized SMART ENERGY projects for the end user.
What are some ways in which IOT can benefit the energy industry?
IOT is very much part of such SMART –ENERGY mission where the different Grid parameters are monitored and such big-data is processed to predict the Grid demand and other complex needs and then communicate with the Power Electronics to do the job. Energy Trading is already happening using block-chain to achieve this, which then communicates with on-ground hardware i.e. BESS. This is already happening in US/Europe (especially Germany), Japan and will be visible in India shortly.
Are you working on any such project?
Yes, we have tied up with an IOT based startup to create the world’s first product with simultaneous load and source side management. Our Active front-end based solar inverters are already smart grid ready and we have supplied them for a number of such projects. Applications include pre-timed or demand based battery charging & discharging based on TOD/ Reactive power requirements / peak load sharing or energy shift among others.
What is ESS or Energy Storage Systems and who is it aimed at?
The ESS is in a way a distributed version of BESS where it is aimed at the residential and small commercial consumers. It is a complete Lithium based Power Pack with industrial grade Solar Hybrid inverter. This is a new concept, not available in India so far, all packaged into single unit. It works with or without solar Energy and can carry out all Smart grid services in a distributed manner.
For residential & small commercial consumer, Banks etc., ESS is available in 3KVA/ 5KVA/ 10KVA capacity with 5 years lithium battery warranty. It is similar in function to ESS’ offered by TESLA, Panasonic, Samsung, etc. with an advanced inverter to suit the needs of our country.
Apart from Solar, what other green projects are you working on?
We are making green load banks to recycle energy, for processes such as Battery discharge testing, generator testing, ship and submarine testing. Here all energy is sent back into the grid instead of being wasted through resistive load banks, in a controlled manner.
Biogas generator-to-grid inverters have also been made to support the grid through strategically placed biogas generator.
Apart from these we have recently manufactured and installed, Li ion and Lead acid based grid support PV ports, Special VFD and PLC based inverters up to 250KVA for Cold Storages, Hydro inverter for up to 50KW turbines and future proof mini grid inverters up to 200KW.
Can you explain more on disadvantages of rooftop grid tie and net metering for I & C?
Grid-Tie Roof Top Solar (GTRTS), as the name suggests, pumps the AC power generated on to AC (Grid) lines such that it is is either used in-house (captive consumption) or exported to Grid. It does not work in the absence of Mains (Grid) supply. On Grid failure, it may synchronize with DG set output but it leads to reduction of load on DG, which means higher cost of electricity from DG Set and more maintenance costs.
In addition to it, DISCOM’s cannot have different PPA for day & night and their loss increases as consumer pays less to them. But with solar being unpredictable, sudden load demands appear and leads to local tripping, plus poor quality of Grid on top of it all. DISCOM’s virtually buy electricity @ Rs. 6-10/unit which they otherwise procure at Rs. 3-4 and sell at Rs. 6-10. More grid connected solar will eventually lead to UTILITY DEATH SPIRAL.
MANOJ PANDE
Founder and Managing Director- Statcon Energiaa Pvt Ltd
Mr. Manoj Pande is an engineer by degree and an entrepreneur by passion. With a strong commitment towards transforming the nation’s renewable landscape and giving energy choice to the people of India, he is leading a vision of sustainability and growth in Power Electronics.
Under his leadership, Statcon Energiaa has pioneered path-breaking technologies for core sectors in nation’s power electronics development. He ensures that developing technological solutions to fulfill energy needs of today does not compromise with sustainability and environmental ethics.
To realize this vision, Manoj is focused on developing power electronics-based solutions primarily across four major divisions – Solar, Power, Defence, and Railways. As a result, Statcon Energiaa is the No.1 Ranked Indian manufacturer of Solar Inverters and has globally recognized partners abroad, such as Magellan Power Australia and Selco, Italy.
An Electronics Engineer from Indian Institute of Science (IISC), Bangalore, Manoj possesses 37 years of Power electronics-based products, projects and services delivery experience. His experience covers development of Ground power units for Air force, Battery chargers up to 4000A and Dischargers of 1.5MW among and pioneering the Solar Energy Storage market in India among others.
Presently he is leading the design team towards Renewable energy integration in local Grid through IOT based hybrid Inverters with energy storage and is aiming to raise investments for the same. In his current capacity, his expertise is to envision projects where power electronics can solve an energy problem and to provide affordable customized Electrical energy.
He holds prestigious membership of the CII. IEMA, IESA. These global alliance of power electronics , regions, countries and corporations, sharing a vision of building prosperous, green economies, communities and a better tomorrow for their countries .
Manoj’s belief is this: ‘Amidst the commotion and chaos that characterises the Indian energy industry, innovation in storage based power electronics is key to delivering long-term solutions that will benefit each household, industry and establishment’. He is regularly invited to speak at various globally acknowledged forums as a stalwart of Power Electronics industry in India
