How to build offshore photovoltaics? Standard can not be less

The pace of the offshore photovoltaic standardization system is getting closer.

What standards should the sea area use, development and construction of offshore photovoltaics and corresponding products follow? With the successive introduction of incentive measures in Zhejiang, Shandong, Liaoning and other provinces, offshore photovoltaics are gradually moving from planning to implementation.

 

Recently, the National Energy Administration issued the Action Plan for Standardization and Improvement of Energy Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutralization, which clearly stated that the improvement of the wind power photovoltaic standard system will be carried out. Relying on the construction of offshore photovoltaic projects, set up standardized demonstration projects, give full play to the role of the national new energy demonstration experimental platform, and promptly supplement and improve a number of standards to form a complete wind power photovoltaic technology standard system. As an emerging form of photovoltaic development, how should offshore photovoltaics establish their own standardization system?

The relevant standards for the use of sea areas have been introduced in many places

As of the first half of this year, my country has confirmed nearly 30 offshore photovoltaic projects involving Jiangsu, Shandong, Zhejiang, Liaoning, Guangdong and other places. In the provinces that encourage the development of offshore photovoltaics, there have been preliminary attempts to use standards in the corresponding sea areas.

Not long ago, the Shandong Provincial Ocean Administration issued the "Notice on Promoting the Three-dimensional Use of Sea Areas for Offshore Photovoltaic Power Generation Projects", which stipulated the sea use site selection, sea use method and scope of offshore photovoltaic projects. For example, for the pile foundation and photovoltaic array in the fixed pile-based offshore photovoltaic power generation project, the "Notice" pointed out that the scope of sea use shall be bounded by the vertical projection of the outermost photovoltaic panel of the project and expand by 10 meters; when the vertical projection of the photovoltaic array is When the outer edge line is less than 10 meters away from the nearest embankment for marine aquaculture and salt fields, the inner slope toe line of the embankment shall be used as the boundary. The submarine cable in the project and the scope of sea use are bounded by the outer edge of the submarine cable expanding 10 meters to both sides.

Similarly, the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Natural Resources also put forward corresponding requirements for the sea use of pile-based photovoltaic projects in open sea areas in the "Opinions on Regulating the Management of Sea Use for Photovoltaic Projects (Draft for Comment)". For example, for the offshore distance of the photovoltaic array, that is, the closest distance from the edge of the photovoltaic array to the coastline (including the continental coastline and island coastline), the control value is not less than 100 meters from the artificial coastline and not less than 200 meters from the natural coastline; The projected area ratio of photovoltaic arrays, that is, the ratio of the total vertical projected area of ​​each photovoltaic array to the total area of ​​the sea used by the project, the control value should not exceed 65%. Among them, the total sea area for photovoltaic projects includes the sea area and other reserved space used by the main projects such as photovoltaic arrays, inverter boxes, power collection cables, maintenance channels, wave elimination facilities, and booster stations.

Data accumulation and multi-domain collaboration are the key

It is found that in the exploration and practice of offshore photovoltaics, at present, there are mostly pile-based photovoltaic projects, and floating photovoltaic projects are still relatively rare.

"The exploration experience of offshore photovoltaic projects within the industry is relatively limited. Pile-based projects can refer to the data of some surface or ground photovoltaic projects, while floating photovoltaic projects cannot directly replicate the scheme design of floating projects in inland waters. Enterprises need to pass empirical evidence and The acquisition of demonstration projects is also the direction of our efforts." Zhang Xiaoming, executive director and general manager of Zhongneng Zhongcheng New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. told reporters that he hoped that through the gradual implementation of demonstration projects, relying on more data, we will promote floating projects from zero to zero. The change of one lays the foundation for the standardization work in the future. "

"Data is the top priority in promoting the development of offshore photovoltaic projects." Zhang Xiaoming said that the biggest difference between building offshore photovoltaics and onshore photovoltaics is that offshore photovoltaics need to consider changes in wind and wave conditions. The sea area is different, the wind and wave conditions are different, and the required technical solutions are different. The design of the array, the design of the anchoring solution, and the selection of wave mitigation facilities must be determined according to the actual situation. "At the same time, offshore engineering operations are also difficult, and the situation is complicated. Before formulating unified standards within the industry, it is necessary to do a good job in the preliminary work and master more data, so that offshore photovoltaic construction can be based on evidence."

In addition, the development and construction of offshore photovoltaics involves power electronic equipment, materials science, mechanics, marine engineering, chemistry, biology and other majors. Sun Yunlin, chairman of Guangdong Yongguang New Energy Co., Ltd., pointed out that the design of offshore photovoltaic power plants has gone beyond traditional power plants. The professional field of the design institute needs to cooperate with relevant units of marine engineering to jointly promote the construction of offshore photovoltaics and the establishment of related standards.

Uniform standards should be used to avoid wasting resources

According to Lin Boqiang, Dean of the China Energy Policy Research Institute of Xiamen University, it is very important to simultaneously promote the standardization of offshore photovoltaic products, technologies and construction when offshore photovoltaics are emerging. "For example, the mobile phone charging cables and chargers we use now have roughly several fixed categories. The functions of the products launched by various companies may be different, but the sizes and sockets are in line with industry standards. The advantages after unification are not only the It is conducive to standardizing the market, and can also prompt enterprises to work together to jointly promote the progress and development of the entire industry. This is the significance of offshore photovoltaic standardization.”

"Offshore photovoltaics are a new thing in the field of renewable energy. In the initial stage of development, the national level proposed 'the establishment of standardized demonstration projects', which can be said to want to be ahead and go ahead. Doing the standardization and standardization work well will avoid the follow-up. Inefficient operation and waste of resources such as manpower and material resources." Lin Boqiang also pointed out that using the demonstration project as a platform for research and promotion of standardization work is conducive to the combined development of production, education and research, and establishes a bridge between theory and engineering practice, which is conducive to the development of the offshore photovoltaic industry. Lay a good foundation.