IIT-Gandhinagar to study safety and durability of solar power plants

The Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar, in collaboration with US-based Underwriter Laboratory, has undertaken a project to study the safety and durability of solar power plants in the country.

The objective of the project is to provide support to the emerging solar power industry of the country and help it design better models for lasting performances, ultimately making them economically more viable.

"We have collaborated with the US-based Underwriter Laboratory (UL) to test the safety and durability features of a solar power plant. A small solar plant will be made available by the Gujarat Energy Development Agency for the purpose," said IIT-GN director Sudhir Jain.

The UL is a premier US-based independent organisation on product safety, testing and certification.

"The industry still faces some challenges with regards to the solar power plants, such as controlling damage from excess radiation and protection from rainfall. The project findings are expected to benefit the industry and throw light on how to develop more sturdy models of solar power plants, which are safer and more economically feasible primarily due to design," Jain said.

"This collaboration with the UL will also provide a unique opportunity to establish a Photovoltaic Systems Research Centre at the institute with a proposed 10 KW system," he said.

"The research centre will enhance the institutes' ability to attract ancillary photovoltaic industry like inverter and micro inverter, connectors, storage system devices, to use this facility for product research and development," Jain said.