Research on Solar Photovoltaic Power Generation in the Airfield Area
at Civil Airports
Bo Li, Wen Zhang, Junku Xu and Jidong Wang
China Airport Construction Group Corporation
Beijing Super-Creative Technology Co., LTD
elizabeth0423
@
163.com
Keywords: Solar photovoltaic power, civil airports, airfield area.
Abstract: As a green and renewable energy source, the solar energy is advantageous due to its large reserve, economic
performance, cleanness, and environmental protection, etc. Solar photovoltaic power generation in airports
will produce excellent social, economic and environmental benefits with great significance in constructing
green airports and promoting the energy conservation and emission reduction of civil aviation. This paper has
analyzed the conditions necessary for solar photovoltaic power generation in the airfield area in civil airports
in details, explored and studied the solar photovoltaic power generation in the airfield area in airports from
multiple perspectives, and drawn relevant conclusions and suggestions.
1 INTRODUCTION
Along with the social development and scientific and
technological progress, there is an increasingly
growing demand for energy, coupled with
aggravating energy crisis and environmental
pollution day by day. Research and practice has
shown that the solar energy is a renewable energy
with the most abundant resources, wide distribution
and is renewable without environmental pollution,
which makes it the internationally recognized ideal
alternative energy. Therefore, such clean, economic,
safe and reliable renewable energy sources like solar
energy have gradually become the foundation of
future energy mix and been applied in production and
living more and more widely. In the long-term energy
strategy, the solar photovoltaic power generation will
become the cornerstone for future energy source of
human society and leading actor of the global energy
landscape.
The aggregate of radiation resources of solar
energy in China is relatively abundant. In regions
covering over 2/3 of the total area of China, the
annual sunshine duration exceeds 2,000 hours and the
annual radiant quantity is more than 5,000 MJ/m
2
.
According to the statistics analysis, the total quantity
of solar radiation exposure each year on the land area
of China is 3.3×1038.4×103 MJ/m
2
, equivalent to
2.4×10.4 billion ton of the standard coal reserve.
Therefore, the photovoltaic power generation
technology has the biggest potential for renewable
energy sources in China. Reasonable use of solar
photovoltaic power generation can save resources,
reduce pollution, and realize sustainable development.
2 CONDITIONS FOR SOLAR
PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER
GENERATION IN THE
AIRFIELD AREA IN AIRPORTS
As the large energy consumers, besides ensuring the
normal operation of flights, the civil aviation airports
shall fully take advantage of large ground areas in
airports to build the solar photovoltaic power stations
on roofs of buildings in working areas and cargo
transport areas as well as parking structures and open
spaces around the airfield area, etc. and actively
develop the renewable alternative energy sources, so
as to meet the growing demand of civil aviation
market. The airfield area of airports are suitable
places for photovoltaic power generation. For one,
this is because of no high-rise buildings around the
airfield area of airports with little block, and for the
other, there is sufficient venue for implementation of
the photovoltaic power generation project. The
airfield areas are relatively open and cover a large
Li, B., Zhang, W., Xu, J. and Wang, J.
Research on Solar Photovoltaic Power Generation in the Airfield Area at Civil Airports.
In 3rd International Conference on Electromechanical Control Technology and Transportation (ICECTT 2018), pages 97-101
ISBN: 978-989-758-312-4
Copyright © 2018 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved
97
area with many unused spaces, such as green spaces
and soil surface areas surrounding the runways.
Without prejudice to the safety of flying and climbing
and landing for planes, the airfield area can be used
as one of the best sites for photovoltaic power
generation.
According to the functions and features of the
airport, photovoltaic power generation in the airfield
area shall meet the following basic conditions:
Solar energy resource in the airport area is
relatively abundant with the ideal conditions
for solar photovoltaic power generation.
Wind power and wind direction in the airport
area meet the requirements of photovoltaic
power generation system. In case of areas
with frequent heavy winds at disaster grade,
it is unfit for constructing the photovoltaic
power generation system.
The site of solar photovoltaic power
generation project shall be selected from the
unused lands in the airfield area, such as soil
surface area and green space around the
runways by the side, meeting the
requirements of safety and height in the areas
relating to plane approach, transit, go-around,
clearance, etc., and free from glare or
electromagnetic interference.
3 ANALYSIS OF SOLAR
PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER
GENERATION IN THE
AIRFIELD AREA
3.1 Analysis of Influence on Flight
Safety
To install the solar photovoltaic modules near
runways, it is required to consider airplane
overrunning the runway by accident and bumping
into the solar cell panels and it shall be ensured to
minimize damages to airplanes.
By technical researches, the solar cell panel
support can be manufactured as a mounting support
that is easy to fold. Since the solar cell panel is brittle
under impact, an additional infrared ray detection
system for early warning can be installed. In the case
that an airplane is about to crash to the solar cell panel
or has crashed onto the solar cell panel system, the
whole system could lie down to the ground instantly
with its height lowered to a level below the height of
the tires on the landing gear, so that the aircraft will
be refrained from any damages and the occurrence of
a disaster can be minimized. As for airplanes taking
off or landing on other runways, since the airplanes
are far enough in spacing and are not located right
ahead of the pilot's compartment, and equipped with
complete and mature navigation systems, the
research indicates that the safe departure and landing
by the pilot will not be affected even if the panels
could reflect light.
The foldable photovoltaic support system is
adopted, and the photovoltaic module shall be
arranged and mounted vertically, and the detailed
form of the foldable support is as follows:
Figure 1: Drawing of the Photovoltaic Support
In Figure 1, the hinged joints 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 are
connected with bolts, which can rotate freely on the
support plane; the hinged joint 7 is connected with a
pull pin, which can also rotate freely on the support
plane; the hinged joint 5 is fixed with rigid chain,
which is in fixed condition under normal conditions,
providing sufficient rigidity for the rear column. The
pull pin of the hinged joint 7 and the rigid chain of the
hinged joint 5 are connected with the motor. When an
airplane overruns the runway by accidenttouches
the infrared ray surrounding the photovoltaic field
and the motor is started, the pull pin of the hinged
joint 7 is removed, making the hinged joint 5 rotate
and the rear column lose rigidity, thus making the
photovoltaic support been folded easily, so as to
minimize damages to the airplane. Detail drawing of
the folded support is as the following Figure2:
Figure 2: Drawing of Folded Support
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98
3.2 Analysis of the Impact on the Air
Traffic Control and the Navigation
Station
As we all know, the frequency of direct current is
equivalent to zero. Without alternating electric field
and magnetic field, there is hardly any
electromagnetic radiation in the direct current part.
The electromagnetic radiation of a photovoltaic
system is mainly concentrated at the part of
equipment with alternating current. The photovoltaic
module will not generate any electromagnetic
radiation during power generation, however, in order
to convert the direct current generated by the
photovoltaic module into alternating current and
connect to the power grid, many electrical equipment
and electronic devices are generally needed, and such
equipment and devices will have impact on the
surrounding electromagnetic environment during
operation. In the power field, the 50 Hz (or 60 Hz)
frequencies are usually called the "power frequency"
(the "PF"). The household electric appliances used in
our daily life, such as, television, vacuum cleaner,
fridge, electric blanket, electric razor and other
appliances will generate power frequency
electromagnetic field. With scientific measurement,
the values in the electromagnetic environment of the
solar photovoltaic power generation system are
within the limited values of each indicator, and the
values of the electromagnetic environment of the
solar photovoltaic power station in the range of power
frequency are even lower than values produced by
common household appliances during normal
operation, therefore, the system will have no
electromagnetic interference with the navigation
station as long as it is not located in the protective
area of the navigation station.
The grid-connected inverter selected for the
photovoltaic system in the Airfield area uses a metal
case for shielding, therefore, the inverter will not
produce excessive electromagnetic radiation beyond
standard, and will have no impact on the airport
navigation and flights. While the boosting
transformer and other power switch cabinets and
devices mainly generate power frequency radiation
with relatively small amount of radiation energy, and
they will have no impact on the airport navigation and
flights, neither. Meanwhile, all distribution
equipment can employ metal cases for shielding and
grounding, so as to reduce electromagnetic radiation
outward and reduce the impact on the system from
external lightning. All cables outside of the earth
surface use metal raceways or metal tubes for
shielding protection, and the 10 KV cables are wired
and connected with cable trenches under the earth
surface. As a result, there are no circumstance that
would affect the navigation station.
3.3 Analysis of Light Reflection
The light pollution of the photovoltaic power
generation project mainly comes from the solar
photovoltaic modules. Triple technologies can be
adopted for solar cells to reduce the reflection of
light, improve the utilization of optical energy and
improve the conversion efficiency and quantity of
power generation.
3.3.1 Anti-reflection Property of Crystalline
Silicon Wafer
In order to improve the performance of solar cells,
textured structure is usually manufactured on the
surface of the silicon wafer. The effective textured
structure causes the incident light to be repeatedly
reflected and refracted on the surface, which can
increase the absorptivity of light. Textured cells have
a less reflection loss than glossy cells.
3.3.2 Anti-reflection Coating
When light hits the planar silicon wafer, a part of light
is reflected; even when light hits the textured silicon
surface, absorption increases due to multiple
reflections of the incident light, but there still is about
11% reflection loss. A layer of anti-reflection coating
on it can greatly reduce the light reflection. As anti-
reflection coating is of good optical properties, and
the refraction index is about 1.3 - 2.4, it can reduce
the reflection of sunlight, and improve the
absorptivity of light.
3.3.3 Anti-reflection Property of Special
Glass Panel for Solar Energy
The main products of packaging glass for solar cells
are low-iron tempered textured glass, which has a
light transmittance of more than 91% in the
wavelength range of the solar cell spectrum response
(320-1,100 nm) and a high reflectivity of the infrared
light greater than 1,200 nm. In order to improve the
photoelectric conversion efficiency, glass cover with
surface provided with a pyramid concave and convex
design can be used. Such concave and convex pattern
can inhibit the reflection of sunlight on the glass
surface, so that more sunlight could reach the solar
cells.
Compared with the natural surface reflectivity of
common materials, the reflectivity of solar modules
Research on Solar Photovoltaic Power Generation in the Airfield Area at Civil Airports
99
is lower, which is even less than the curtain wall of
the outer wall of terminal. The impact on people in
high-rise buildings or aircraft pilots is weaker than
common situations on ground in the natural world.
3.4 Benefit Analysis
Solar energy is inexhaustible. Attributable to its
nature of environmental protection, low carbon and
emission reduction and zero consumption of energy
resources, solar photovoltaic power generation is the
new energy industry strongly supported and
encouraged for development by the government. At
present, subsidies are granted to distributed
photovoltaic power generation projects in accordance
with national policies, which will last 20 years.
Relevant policies have also been promulgated by
various localities to give financial subsidies to
photovoltaic power generation projects.
According to the professional research data, each
1 kWh of electricity generated by photovoltaic power
generation saves 0.4kgce and 4L of clean water, and
reduces 0.272kg carbon dust, 0.997kg CO
2
, 0.03kg
SO
2
and 0.015kg NO
X
at the same time. As it can be
seen that social benefits, economic benefits and
environmental benefits of the solar photovoltaic
power generation project are remarkable.
4 CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
4.1 Conclusions
Through the analysis of impact on flight safety of
solar photovoltaic power generation system, the
analysis of impact on air traffic control and
navigation station, the analysis of impact on light
reflection, and the analysis of comprehensive
benefits, it can be acknowledged that the construction
of solar photovoltaic power station in the Airfield
area will not affect the operational safety of aircrafts,
and as long as appropriate safety assessments and
demonstrations are made, PV modules can be
installed in areas beyond taxiway and climbing and
descending belt. From this perspective, solar energy
utilization in airports has a very optimistic prospect
as an important manifestation of the construction of
green airports, which provides a new path for energy
conservation and emission reduction for airports and
even the civil aviation industry.
4.2 Recommendations
(1)After the completion of the airport photovoltaic
power generation system, grid-connected power
generation is required. The effective and reasonable
grid integration of photovoltaic power generation
system is a major issue to be solved in the power
system of an airport, because the grid integration of
photovoltaic power generation system involves the
overall impact on the power grid of the whole airport.
The airport power grid needs to carry out an
optimized control for the grid-connected photovoltaic
power generation system. Therefore, the grid
integration of photovoltaic power generation must be
addressed properly, power grid access shall be
properly implemented, solar power grid integration
shall be ensured, and the power generation and
operation dispatch shall be rationally arranged, so as
to improve the stability of grid-connected operation
of photovoltaic power generation system, and
enhance the power quality and the economy of entire
power grid operation, making full use of solar energy
resources in the airports.
(2) In consideration of the high initial investment
in solar photovoltaic power generation, a large
number of professional and technical personnel are
required in the process of construction, operation and
maintenance. It is suggested that the airport solar
photovoltaic power generation project adopt the BOT
mode (build-operate-transfer); the airport provides
the site for the construction of photovoltaic power
station and introduces social capital and specialized
companies for investment, building and operation of
the photovoltaic power generation projects.
Professional companies and airport operation units
shall sign relevant agreements, according to which
fees shall be collected from users within the
concession period as specified therein to recover the
investment and make a profit. At last, the project shall
be transferred to the airports in accordance with the
agreements. The advantages of this model lie in
reducing investment by the airport, avoiding a great
deal of engineering risks, and being able to
effectively utilize the advanced technology and
management experiences of professional companies,
which is beneficial to the smooth implementation of
the entire photovoltaic power generation project.
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100
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This work is funded by The major projects of civil
aviation scientific and technological innovation guide
fund”. (MHRD20130111).
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