OPS technology drives Indonesia’s first large-scale standalone system at Bunaken Island

The beautiful island of Bunaken, located at the northern tip of the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia boasts one of the largest homes to a vast range of corals and exotic species of fish. Attracting attention from all corners of the globe for the breathtaking diving experiences, it has now attracted the attention of viewers for another reason, the 360kWp solar hybrid system. Bunaken is the first island in Indonesia to receive 24 hour power from an integrated solar hybrid system.  The Indonesian Government has in recent times increased their efforts to provide a more cost effective and reliable source of energy. As the beginning of the initiative, PLN, the Indonesian State Owned Electricity company has been given the approval to build the very first Solar Power plant with a capacity of 335kW.

Bunaken Island

HPC Inverter

For more Bunaken Pictures visit our Bunaken Flickr Photos.

PLN, in conjunction with PT Chint and their technical partner Optimal Power Solutions (OPS) has teamed up to provide the island with extended hours of electricity from 6 hours a day to 24 hours. Gradually going towards the direction of continuous and uninterrupted energy sources, OPS has designed a system whereby HPC inverters are utilised to fulfil the desired solution. The HPC inverters, a device designed and manufactured solely by OPS, is a highly-developed bi-directional power conditioner featuring advanced fast control algorithms which accommodate a range of power sources and storage technologies. The HPC ensures high quality power output under varied or cloudy conditions and support high levels of solar penetration, including zero diesel fuel consumption power systems. OPS has a proven track record of successful off-grid projects around the world ranging from 10kW to 1MW of installed PV.

The Project which was completed in February 2011, having attracted a large share of publicity was introduced by the Governor of North Sulawesi, Sinyo Sarundayang in a celebratory ceremony. Being the first of many to come, Governor Sarundayang hopes that the presence of the Solar Plant will improve the prosperity of the Bunaken and surrounding islands. These efforts were a direct response to the needs of the community.

Ezequiel Paolinelli, OPS Product Manager describes the system, “The first obstacle of this project was considering the status of the gensets. Due to old age and lack of remote control, the upgrade and design from OPS had to enable semi-manual genset operation. Many conditions have to be taken into account when manual operation of the genset is required by the operators. Because the OPS system is designed to work with little intervention from operators, instructions on how to operate the gensets under different situations were given through on-site training. More analysis with site data in the coming weeks also enabled OPS to improve the genset running hours as well as monitor the system under semi-manual mode and instruct the operators if required.”

Coverage of The Bunaken Island Project on Topik ANTV