425 



In a BPA-RM6 letter of July 1, 1993, BPA illuminates 

 the problem in attempting to realize strategic Solar 

 Voltaic Generation for the Pacific Northwest and the 

 need for a Task Force instigated evaluation of the 

 viability of solar photovoltaics for bold power appli- 

 cations in the Region. 



From a technical perspective, BPA must rely on 

 a combination of the knowledge and technical 

 expertise of our engineers, our review of 

 technical journals and publications, publications 

 and advice from the ELECTRIC POWER RESEARCH 

 INSTITUTE and on the advice of the REGIONAL 

 POWER COUNCIL. Each of these sources uniformly 

 indicates that solar voltaic generation is not 

 yet commercially viable for bulk power 

 applications, (emphasis added) 



Si£L POWER PLANT ENGINEERING ANH ECONOMICS 



Analyses, data, conceptual plant characteristics, 

 costs, solar-fuel tables and a full-scale mockup have 

 been assembled showing a lOOC f^H-gmc SOLAR VOLTAIC 

 GENERATION PLANT. As shown in the following Figure, 

 the SVG PLANT is divided into two parts. For the 

 generator part of the SVG PLANT, each SOLAR VOLTAIC 

 UNIT GENERATOR (SVUG) is isolated from the balance-of- 

 plant by an induction coupler. This is a two part 

 isolation transformer for energy and SCADA (Supervisory 

 Control and Data Acquisition); being driven by 

 integrated-circuits built into the SVUG module. The 

 SOLAR VOLTAIC INTERFACE SUBSTATION (SVGIS) is owned and 

 remotely operated by BPA from a facility such as the 

 BPA Dittmer Control Center in Vancouver, Washington. 



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