ABSTRACT
Nuwakot Solar Power Station (NSPS) is one of the first large scale solar power projects and is considered to be one of the inducers of alternative energy generation in the context of Nepal. After completion, an approximate of 25 MW power from seven project sites is expected to be supplemented to the national grid. When operated in full capacity, NSPS is anticipated to mildly relax the load of country’s typical energy source, hydropower. The objective of this study is to identify the technical aspects taken into consideration for the design and power generation process of solar power plant while also thoughtful about the potentiality of constructing other large-scale renewable energy project in Nepal looking at NSPS as a pioneer. Different components in operation of the power station and other useful (or impractical) devices such as solar trackers were studied in terms of their future implementation in the project to ultimately increase (or decrease) the power output. This study has spoken about the probability of the government in implementing suitable policies in renewable energy sector that allows incentive for further projects similar to NSPS in order to realize the growing energy demands of the country. The methodology of this study is concerned with the study of land structures and environmental aspects that makes feasibility for the project attainable. Situated in hilly region, NSPS was nonetheless considered viable considering the presence of sufficient amount of solar irradiance (GHI) in the area while also implementing photovoltaic power output enhancing techniques to the solar modules themselves. Tilt optimization, shading analysis and array spacing analysis are some notable techniques. NSPS is a no-storage, direct grid connected solar power system and the findings section provides intuition on how it is materialized in this particular project. An economic analysis on profit earned during the life time of the project is done briefly in the latter part of this paper.