‘Renewable Energy Resources Training’ was organised by Antalya Chamber of Commerce and Industry under the roof of “ATSO ACADEMY” and in cooperation with the International Solar Energy Society-Türkiye Chapter Association (GÜNDER). In the training, CW Enerji General Manager Volkan Yılmaz informed the participants about ‘Solar energy system design - land selection and project design’.
ATSO Assembly Chairman Süleyman Özer, who made an opening speech before the training, stated that energy is one of the most important consumption items of the age and an indispensable tool of civilisation. Stating that it is mandatory to consume energy in order to sustain human life, Özer said, ‘Today, the majority of the energy we have to consume is met from fossil fuels and the rest is met from nuclear and renewable energy sources. The damages caused by the use of fossil fuels on the environment and human health all over the world, and the price to be paid by the people who will live in the future for the compensation of these damages will reach very large dimensions if no measures are taken. It is a fact that the use of fossil resources in energy production is no longer possible to continue. In this case, the fact of increasing the use of renewable energy sources, which are the natural products of our environment, instead of these energy sources, whose use has been increasing with the development of industry and whose damages on the road to development and industrialisation were ignored before, is better understood day by day. Türkiye is located in a suitable region for using all renewable energy sources due to its geographical location and geological structure. It is an undeniable fact that technological advances in the field of renewable energy should be addressed as soon as possible and appropriate steps should be taken.’
GÜNDER Secretary General Faruk Telemcioğlu stated that the sun has been utilised for hot water supply for about 40 years and said, ‘But with the development of technology, there are very important opportunities in electricity generation. Antalya is still one of the cities that benefit the most from these opportunities. Because Antalya is very efficient in this respect. Wind radiation is very high. Of course, when we say Antalya, do not think of the city centre. We are talking about the Taurus Mountains and high areas. Of course, there is a very important chance here is Türkiye's largest factory producing Photovoltaic (PV) panels here, CW Enerji operating in Antalya Organised Industrial Zone. Our friends are very familiar with both the market and the technique of this business. They will tell us how to choose the panel, what should be considered in panel production, and we will see both the production facilities, the stages of production, and we will go to an installed facility and see what we talk about here in practice. We will try to answer your questions. Of course, I would like to thank them for this opportunity given to us by the Antalya Chamber of Commerce. We are always open to this issue. We are with every institution-organisation that wants information about the sun and is interested in the sun.’
CW Enerji General Manager Volkan Yılmaz, who provided information on solar energy system design, land selection and project design, said the following: ‘InSolar Power Plants (SPP) investment, we first need to choose the right land and the right roof. The first criterion we should pay attention to in land selection is that the land where we will install the power plant is dry marginal agricultural land. In solar energy-based electricity generation facilities, there must be a cadastral road on the parcel where the facility will be installed. One of the most common problems in Türkiye is not paying attention to the correct criteria when choosing the land. It should not be a military zone or military protection zone. There should not be a water area such as a lake where it would be impossible to establish the facility. It should not be a settlement area. There should not be plateaus that are used for grazing/wintering/summering (pasture). It should not be an area protected by the laws of the Republic of Türkiye. It should not be an area such as an airport or harbour. The land must be close to the power line. We need to make sure that there is a TEDAŞ line, a medium voltage electricity pole connected to a sub-grid that we can reach either inside the power plant or along the cadastral road. Currently, the capacities in the substations are full. While TEİAŞ is only filling the capacities, for example, if 4.3 MW call letter was given in Kepez substation in Antalya region, TEİAŞ limited it to 5 MW. There may be 1700 KW capacity left, which we call crumb capacity. There may be 300 KW-500 KW - 100 KW of residual capacities left in almost every substation. In other words, people who are thinking of investing in land or roof should definitely meet with distribution companies.’
Underlining that the facility to be built on every electricity pole cannot be connected to the energy transmission line close to your power plant site, Volkan Yılmaz said, ‘It should be determined whether the line transmission capacity of the electricity pole here is suitable by negotiating with the distribution company. Again, one of the biggest problems experienced is that there is a solar energy electricity generation line on the land, normally the transmission capacity is also suitable, but another investor connected to the same national grid a few kilometres away from you without you realising it may have received a call letter for SPP, wind power plant. The capacity of that line may appear full at that time. This may not enter the archives of the distribution company immediately at that minute. Therefore, we need to analyse the capacity of the electricity pole we will connect to very well when choosing the land.’
Underlining that the ground survey of the land where theSPP project will be built is very important, General Manager Yılmaz said, ‘A geological engineer goes to the land, takes a piece of soil from several parts of the land, has it tested in the laboratory and presents it with a report. This is a very wrong practice. After all, you are investing there with an economic life of 25 years and a performance life of 40-45 years. Here, it is necessary to evaluate the class of the ground very well. You definitely need to have a geo technical study. Then we need to have the tests we call hammering and pulling’.
Referring to the importance of the location of the land where theSPP investment will be made, Yılmaz said, ‘The land may have a slight slope to the north, but we need to pay attention that it is not seriously sloping to the north. It may be very flat or have a slight slope to the South, but there is a mountain or a hill or hillock on the full South front of the land and near the land, for example, until 10 o'clock 10.30 when the sun will rise until 10.30 o'clock, it can cast a serious shadow on the land. If there is a mountain or hillock on the eastern or western front, it can create serious shadow problems on the land during sunrise and sunset. While doing all these, it is necessary to take the service of an expert and make sure that there is no structure in the East, South, West of the land that will cast a serious shadow on the land, and that there is no slope to the North within the land itself. We especially prefer places with high altitude. As the altitude increases, as you get closer to the sun, both the coolness of the air and your proximity to the sun increase, so productivity increases significantly.’
CW Enerji General Manager Volkan Yılmaz stated that there should not be a quarry, mining quarry, crushing quarry within a distance that may affect the area where theSPP will be installed, and underlined that it will cause very serious dust on the panels and that while it should be cleaned once a year on average in a SPP , it will have to be cleaned every week in such a location, and the cleaning cost will seriously affect the investment cost amortisation. Emphasising that theSPP land should not be in a landslide zone, Yılmaz stated that in case of a possible disaster, insurance problems may arise.
Stating that there is an obligation to submit the project for approval within 90 days after receiving the call letter from the electricity distribution company, Yılmaz said:
‘There are issues to be considered during the application phase. The application file should be prepared by people who know this business. You are racing against time there. When you receive a positive response from the distribution company, you should start working without wasting time and even before receiving the call letter. You should seriously investigate the company that will prepare the project. One of the biggest problems is that when you decide to invest in GES , they can suffer serious time losses because they usually approach with copy and paste logic from previous projects while getting your project approved. After working with a competent company, after making a discovery in the field in just one day, after making a good plan quota study, you will approve your project in a way that will be suitable for implementation in one go and then you will not waste time to have it analysed by public institutions. One of the main problems is that the engineer who will draw the project has never been to the field. There are very big problems especially in energy transmission lines. We can say that it is the national problem of our sector. You are drawing the project of a solar power plant and if you consider that there is a 3 km energy transmission line between the route of the energy transmission line and the site where you are located and the site where you will connect, it is definitely beneficial to go through the cadastral road even if the distance is long. Because if you pass through the parcel of individuals, of course, it may be a more logical choice if you do this work in advance in order not to lose time. Your engineer who will design your project must obtain the energy transmission line route and related permits while designing the project. The opinions that are suitable for zoning to be taken from public institutions are also very important.’
CW Enerji General Manager Volkan Yılmaz emphasised the importance of the correct placement of solar energy panels on the land and said, ‘It is necessary to calculate the angle correctly. The distance between the panels also needs to be calculated correctly. There are simulation programmes for this. According to the situation of the sun in that region, you need to determine the distance between the front stand and the rear stand by making a good analysis. It should be noted here that on flat terrain, for example, in a system where 4 panels are installed horizontally, if we leave a gap of 4 metres between the stands, you may have to leave a distance of 4-5 or even 6 metres if your terrain is a little north. Therefore, while designing the project, your engineer should definitely make a good plan quota study and make a good shading on the land and adjust the shadow distance between the panels on the land from east to west and from north to south very well. Solar panels are structures that generate electricity not with heat but with the radiations of the sun we call UV. If we consider that there are 60-70 cells on the solar panels, when a shadow falls on one of them, it will affect the performance of other panels connected to it. It is necessary to determine the placement of the inverter and the placement of the panels in the field. It is necessary to determine the LV and MV cable routes,’ he said.
Underlining that one of the most important issues in system design and project design, especially in land SPP projects, is the assembly of solar panel carrier construction systems, Volkan Yılmaz said, ‘In general, you can assemble solar panel carrier construction systems with 3 methods. The most preferred is the fastening system. It is a method of driving the carrier construction systems into the ground. It is more economical and easier. There are also concrete drilling and tile drilling methods. In this case, a good ground survey report, a good geothermic study and a drilling test must be carried out in the field. In the tile system, you drill the soil at a certain depth and width, then fix the foot of the solar panel carrier construction system in that hole and pour wet concrete around it. It is the second most cost-effective system. The land can be almost completely marble granite. Even drilling cannot be done. At that point, we prefer concrete foundation management. This is a team work. You cannot only get this information from an electrical and electronic technician. You have to choose the right installation method as a result of the studies carried out by a geological engineer, an agricultural engineer and an electrical and electronic engineer coming together.’
Sedat Aksu, Technical Responsible of CW Enerji Production, who gave information about panel selection and features, said: ‘In panel selection, the panel must be certified, the accuracy of the label values, the materials used must be certified and their quality must be high. Test reports made by panel manufacturers should be given to customers. Whether the panel is suitable for the area to be used, panel size and efficiency are very important.’
CW Enerji Project General Manager Şaduman Uysal, who made a presentation to the participants about installation, commissioning and acceptance, operation and maintenance issues inSPP projects, said the following: ‘For the installation process, a team that knows the work well should be worked with and the site should definitely be seen in advance. During the installation, care should be taken to ensure that it complies with the project approved by TEDAŞ General Directorate and complies with the specifications and regulations. For commissioning and acceptance, it should be ensured that the installation of the facility is completely completed. An application is made to the relevant distribution company and TEDAŞ General Directorate with a petition and various documents. Afterwards, the acceptance process is finalised by examining the facility with the committee established. For operation and maintenance, periodic maintenance of the facility should be carried out every 6 months.’
On the last day of the 3-day training, the participants visited CW Enerji production facilities and CW Enerji Döşemealtı 1069.2 KWp Solar Power Plant and learnt the training they received in a practical way.
SOLAR PANELS 
INVERTERS 
CHARGE CONTROLLERS 
SOLAR PACKS 
Solar Equipment 
ENERGY STORAGE SOLUTIONS 
HEATING AND COOLING 
ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGERS 