Presentation at SERT, Naresuan University Towards Sustainability for Thailand's Solar Home Systems Observations from Tak province by Chris Greacen, Ph.D. Presentation at SERT, Naresuan University 12 November, 2006

Outline Border Green Energy Team (BGET) Refugee camp trainings Micro-hydroelectricity (Tak province villages) Thai SHS sustainability Thai solar home systems – BGET experience in TAK Overview of Thai SHS program BGET local technician trainings Survey and results Failure modes Post warranty sustainability?

BGET refugee camp trainings on renewable energy 0.5 min. Last month we conducted a 5-day training for 60 engineer and vocational education students. Right now their country has very little infrastructure. They want to know about solar and micro-hydropower to use to help rebuild their country, when they eventually are safe to return.

Micro-hydroelectricity 0.25 For those not familiar with micro-hydro, here’s a simple diagram. A small weir diverts water into a pipe. The water flows down hill and spins a turbine, making electricity. Source: Inversin, A. R. (1986). Micro-Hydropower Sourcebook.

BGET Micro-hydroelectricity 2003 Kre Khi village 0.7 kW 2004 E Wi Jo village 2 kW 2005 Mae Sa Pau village 1.5 kW 2006 Huai Krating 3 kW

Thai Solar Home System Sustainability

“The Service & Support Department is like the guy in the parade who walks behind the elephant with a broom and a big bucket”

Thai Solar Home System (SHS) in context 290,716 households without grid connection before SHS 188,995 SHS in all Thailand 15,000 SHS in Tak Province Thai installed PV in 2003: 6 MWp SHS program adds 23 MWp! Responsibility of SHS transferred from the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) to Tambon (county) governments Tak Source: PEA, May 2006

Thai SHS in Tak province Rated 150 W, 50 Hz, 230 V Inverter / 10 A Charge controller Rated 120 peak Watt single crystalline PV module AC outlet for TV or other appliances Two 10 W tube fluorescent lights with electronic ballasts 12 V, 125 Ah deep cycle lead-acid battery

Existing linkages Tax payers Ministry of Interior PEA $ Ministry of Interior $ warranty PEA $ Installation company SHS End users

What happens when systems fail? Missing linkages Tax payers $ Ministry of Interior $ warranty PEA $ Installation company SHS End users What happens when systems fail? There is no feedback loop from the end users to installation company, PEA, government or taxpayers

Missing linkages Tax payers Ministry of Interior PEA $ Ministry of Interior $ warranty PEA $ Installation company SHS End users Feedback on status of systems, failure modes, successful interventions Warranty awareness Self-help: local technicians + user training

SHS Warranty Warranty periods Complete system: 2 years Solar panel: 5 years Charge controller/Inverter: 3 years Battery: 2 years Light/Ballast: 2 years The system warranty is expiring within a few months Very few villagers informed that there is a warranty

SHS Warranty Postcards with warranty and maintenance information could be distributed by Tambons Idea presented at meeting with DLA (Department of Local Administration)

How to claim the SHS warranty Villagers need to inform Tambon (local administration) government of broken systems Tambon needs to send claims to PEA provincial office PEA forwards warranty claims to installation company Tambon PEA Installation company SHS user Repair/replace equipment in response to warranty claim Installation companies must repair within 1 week. Otherwise they will be fined 200 baht per system per day

BGET SHS trainings in Tak province Technician trainings in two districts 3-day theory & hands-on training cooperation with Tambons The technicians are provided with a tool box get a SHS manual http://www.palangthai.org/docs/TechManualThai.pdf survey all SHS in their village cluster make minor repairs and system improvements educate homeowners in system use & maintenance send surveys to BGET via the Tambon office could help with repairs after the warranty expires

BGET SHS trainings in Tak province

BGET SHS trainings in Tak province

(skim through manual)

BGET SHS trainings in Tak province Districts in Tak province Mueang Tak Ban Tak Sam Ngao Mae Ramat Tha Song Yang Mae Sot Phop Phra Umphang Wang Chao Priority 1: 8,692 SHS Priority 2: 3,834 SHS

BGET SHS trainings in Tak province Trainings already performed in ten Tambons Tambon District Date of training # of SHS # of technicians Mae Tan Tha Song Yang October 2005 964 16 Mae Song 1,728 29 Mae Wa Luang November 2005 778 39 Mae La December 2005 847 30 Mae Cha Rao, Phra Tart Mae Ramat 250 19 February 2006 571 25 Sam Meun March 2006 642 Mae U Su May 2006 1,065 Mae Tuen June 2006 1,443 28 TOTAL 8,288 224

House-to-house surveys -- interviews

House-to-house surveys -- measurements

Typical Usage hours per day BGET SHS status survey BGET Survey based on sample of 405 systems from Tak House-to-house survey conducted by technicians that passed BGET training course. Typical Load No. of system Typical Usage hours per day Two 10 watt fluorescent lights 405 3-4 other light bulbs (7 to 20 watt) 20 Television rated from 20 to 100 watt 68 1 VCD player 2 N/A

BGET SHS status survey: failure modes observed in Tak Sample size: 405 systems in Mae Ramat Amphur & Tha Song Yang Amphur Survey: house-to-house, interviews & measurements, between Dec 2005 and March 2006 Failure mode Quantity % Inverter/charge controller 41 10.1% Light ballast 39 9.6% Solar module 3 0.7% Battery 24 5.9%  Total 91 22.5% All SHS in Tak installed by Solartron. Anecdotal evidence suggests that other provinces/other companies may have higher failure rates.

Observed failure modes - inverter Failed inverter/charge controller (~10% of all systems surveyed). Solartron and PEA provided 15 replacement inverters for the first 2 trainings

Ballast failure ~9% of systems surveyed Observed failure modes - ballast Ballast failure ~9% of systems surveyed

Manufacturing defect: Missing connector (Junction Box) (rare: < 1%) Observed failure modes – solar panel Manufacturing defect: Missing connector (Junction Box) (rare: < 1%) Missing Correct Consequence: module never worked – but easily fixed

Manufacturing defect: Diode with wrong polarity (rare: < 1%) Observed failure modes – solar panel Manufacturing defect: Diode with wrong polarity (rare: < 1%) Correct polarity Incorrect polarity Consequence: module never worked - but easily fixed

Observed failure modes – solar panel Installation error: Burned Diodes from Panel Reversed Polarity (rare: < 1%) Consequence: System broken since the first day of installation – but (fairly) easily fixed)

Observed failure modes –battery battery failure in ~6% of systems surveyed healthy, without sulfation sulfated plates

Problems found during training/surveys Installation error: Battery failure caused by solar panel installation in shady location 14:00 Saw Kre Ka village, Tha Song Yang District

Installation error: Bad panel locations Problems found during training surveys Installation error: Bad panel locations

User error: bypassed controller  battery overcharge Observed failure modes – (cascading component failure) User error: bypassed controller  battery overcharge 1 Villager bypasses broken controller and charges battery directly from PV Battery over-charged. Electrolyte level drops and plates are exposed to air. Battery fails. 2

User error: Controller bypass leads to burned diode Observed failure modes – (cascading component failure) 1 User error: Controller bypass leads to burned diode Villager bypasses broken controller and charges battery directly from PV One mistake of reverse battery polarity blows up bypass diode in PV junction box, melting junction box. 2

BGET on TV Channel 11 “Thailand Focus” 11am – 12 noon 11 November 2006

BGET on TV Goals: TV-broadcast discussion of SHS sustainability, need for more local capacity Inform public of warranty

Long-term costs... Equipment replacement cost: 130 to 300 baht/month Villagers cannot afford new equipment when it fails Accumulated costs for replacing Thai SHS

Thai SHS program SWOT Strong features Weak features / challenges Relatively big PV module – 120 watts (compared to SHS in other countries) PV modules & battery work well Systems are generally installed well Provide useful services, appreciated Weak features / challenges Failure-prone inverter/controller, ballast Insufficient local capacity for O&M, repair Insufficient user knowledge about system limitations, basic care, warranty Villages often very remote – hard to get to (especially in rainy season) Language barriers in remote areas (few speak/read/write Thai) Opportunities Installed solar panels represent huge investment (25,000 baht x 200,000) Relatively small additional investment to make good use Threats Widespread SHS failures unless coordinated effort to address sustainability

Sustainability of Thai SHS still achievable?

Thai SHS sustainability measures? What would you do?

Salinee Tavaranan, BGET Project Director Contact BGET Chris Greacen chris@palangthai.org Salinee Tavaranan, BGET Project Director Tel: 055-542-068 Mobile: 01-376-2027 www.bget.org

BGET effect?