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

Micro-hydroelectricity 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 Source: PEA, May 2006 Tak

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

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

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

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

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 TambonPEA 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

 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  –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

(skim through manual)

Districts in Tak province 1.Mueang Tak 2.Ban Tak 3.Sam Ngao 4.Mae Ramat 5.Tha Song Yang 6.Mae Sot 7.Phop Phra 8.Umphang 9.Wang Chao Priority 1: 8,692 SHS Priority 2: 3,834 SHS BGET SHS trainings in Tak province

Trainings already performed in ten Tambons TambonDistrictDate of training# of SHS# of technicians Mae TanTha Song YangOctober Mae SongTha Song YangOctober 20051,72829 Mae Wa LuangTha Song YangNovember Mae LaTha Song YangDecember Mae Cha Rao, Phra Tart Mae RamatDecember Tha Song Yang February Sam MeunMae RamatMarch Mae U SuTha Song YangMay 20061,06519 Mae TuenMae RamatJune 20061,44328 TOTAL8, BGET SHS trainings in Tak province

House-to-house surveys -- interviews

House-to-house surveys -- measurements

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 other light bulbs (7 to 20 watt)203-4 Television rated from 20 to 100 watt681 VCD player2N/A

BGET SHS status survey: failure modes observed in Tak Failure modeQuantity% Inverter/charge controller % Light ballast 399.6% Solar module 30.7% Battery 245.9% Total9122.5% All SHS in Tak installed by Solartron. Anecdotal evidence suggests that other provinces/other companies may have higher failure rates. Sample size: 405 systems in Mae Ramat Amphur & Tha Song Yang Amphur Survey: house-to-house, interviews & measurements, between Dec 2005 and March 2006

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Installation error: Bad panel locations Problems found during training surveys

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

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

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 –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?

Contact BGET Chris Greacen Salinee Tavaranan, BGET Project Director Tel: Mobile:

BGET effect?