Field trip to solar parks
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The Sri Lanka Energy Managers Association (SLEMA) published six energy quizzes in the Funday Times and selected winners to visit
two solar parks in Hambantota.
Thirteen lucky winners and their parents, were taken by SLEMA to visit the solar parks on December 7, 2019.
The first plant was owned and operated by the Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority.
It is situated in Baruthankanda, Hambantota and is the first commercial scale solar power plant that was built to demonstrate the feasibility of this technology. The plant was commissioned in 2012 and has a capacity of 1.237 Mega Watts. It was built with the funds of the Governments of Japan and Korea. The expected annual generation of the plant is 1.7 Giga Watt hours.
The other plant was the Sagasolar Power Station. It is the first commercial scale power plant developed by a non-government entity. Located in close proximity to the first plant, this plant is operated by Sagasolar Power. It has a capacity of 10 Mega Watts and is expected generate 19 Giga Watt hours annually.
Both these power plants use ground mounted solar photo-voltaic (PV) systems to generate electricity. A PV system is designed to convert solar energy into electricity. A solar PV system consists of an arrangement of several components, including solar panels to absorb and convert sunlight into electricity, a solar inverter to convert the output from direct to alternating current, as well as mounting, cabling and other electrical accessories to set up a working system. Solar is a renewable energy resource and generating electricity from solar is considered environmentally friendly.
The SLEMA thanks profusely, the Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority and the Sagasolar Power Station for permitting this field trip and providing resource persons.
The participants gained a wealth of knowledge from this field trip. They were not only thankful to the SLEMA, but also requested to have more of such events in future, so that more students can participate.