Power-One inverters head to Bosnia and Herzegovina for PV solar project
Finalized in December 2012, the 150 kWp installation "MK Hodovo 1" near Stolac in the south of the country has been planned and installed by Elcor d.o.o elektotehniÄki inženjering. Based in Grude, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the company specializes in the planning and realization of power supply and automization projects as well as renewable energy plant solutions. For this turnkey PV power plant, Elcor not only developed the conceptual design and supplied the components as well as the electrical equipment, but also installed, tested, and commissioned the 3,300 m² PV plant.
During the two months' construction phase, six Power-One AURORA TRIO-27.6-S2X inverters have been deployed to convert the power produced by the 636 modules of the installation. Moreover, Elcor installed the Power-One AURORA PVI-AEC-EVO monitoring solution and the AURORA PVI-GPRS modem, which transfers the collected data via a GPRS wireless connection. This allows the company to remotely monitor key performance indicators such as energy harvesting, power, voltage and current data in real-time.
"What we like most about Power-One is its practical approach in designing the inverters", said Petar Rudeš, project engineer at Elcor. "With the AURORA TRIO-27.6-S2X, we found a superior solution for our solar park since it simplifies cabling and reduces cost. Moreover, the support from Power-One was great and we did not have any difficulties during the realization of our project. The installation and commissioning of the solar park went smoothly."
"Especially the south of Bosnia and Herzegovina offers a great potential for solar PV installations making it an interesting new market for us", said Paolo Casini, Vice President, Marketing at Power-One. "Elcor's performance in the photovoltaic industry in this region and its professionalism is very impressive. We are looking forward to supporting them with our know-how and expertise in the future."
The region near Stolac is very sunny, making it the perfect location for a solar park, which is why the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina officially declared it a PV energy area. "MK Hodovo 1" is one of three solar parks in this region and is expected to produce 190,000 kWh of electricity per year.
Due to the rocky underground, Elcor used concrete blocks instead of ramming pillars into the ground. The largest challenge of the project was the extreme wind which can occur in this area. To withstand even these conditions, Elcor used a unique mounting structure which has been specifically designed to endure storms.
