A Goan Supermarket becomes Super Powered with Solar Energy

Location: Anjuna

Size: 50 kW

Components: Waaree 330 Wp Polycrystalline Panels (152), SolarEdge 55 kW, SolarEdge optimizer, Metal roof- Chiko structure (portrait), 

Completion date: January 2020 

Supermarkets are the one-stop shopping center for household, grocery, mechanical and electrical items. One such gigantic supermarket located on the busy streets of Anjuna is always packed with local and international tourists. It caters to all the needs of its customers; from frozen food to handmade cheese and mosquito rackets to tool kits, this supermarket has aisles full of items. 

The supermarket has a state-of-the-art refrigerator system to store frozen food items like dairy products, berries, fruits, fresh fish, and meat. But operating these large numbers of refrigerators means there is heavy electricity usage. To reduce the electricity charges, the owner of the supermarket contacted the SUN360 team. He wanted to move towards green energy by adopting a solar power system on his supermarket rooftop.

The team designed a flush mount and reverse tilt structure with full rails on the metal sheet roof of the supermarket connected to the SolarEdge optimizer system. This design was proposed since the rooftop was in the North-South-East direction. Over 152 Waaree polycrystalline solar panels were flush mounted on the southern and eastern sides and reverse tilted on the northern side. When Cyclone Tauktae hit the west coast, the fact that these solar panels withstood the speeding winds of 170-180 km/hr is a testament to their strength. 

The supermarket is surrounded by trees in its proximity creating a lot of potential for shade on the roof. The irradiance of the solar panels is different since they are mounted in the southern, eastern, and northern regions, which are reoriented to the south. The reoriented solar panels also create a lot of shade. The SolarEdge optimizers increase the overall yield of the solar power plant by increasing the voltage of all the underperforming solar panels. 

The 50 kW solar power plant installed by SUN360 enabled the supermarket to reduce its electricity bills. The supermarket saves over INR 3 lakhs annually and has also received a subsidy of approximately INR 5 lakh (20%) from the government. 

The loyal customers purchasing gourmet products from the supermarket are a part of this green initiative in which the carbon not emitted is equivalent to planting hundreds of trees.