JA Solar and BayWa r.e. have both participated in the development of new solar-wind hybrid facilities, with the former supplying modules for the largest project of its kind in South Korea.

JA Solar has supplied modules for what's claimed to be South Korea’s largest solar-wind hybrid project, featuring a total installed capacity of 133MW.

The 'Solar Module Super League' (SMSL) member has provided modules for the solar section, which features a capacity of 93MW and is built on the mountainous site of an existing 40MW wind farm.

This project uses the spare land of the wind farm for the installation of the solar park, with the entire project expected to generate 120 million kWh of electricity per year. “With this novel application of wind and solar energy generation, power supply reliability is improved and the costs reduced,” JA Solar said.

After setting up a South Korean branch in 2018, JA Solar went on supply its high-efficiency bifacial PERC modules for two 2.4MW PV projects in the country last year.

The project also uses outdoor central inverters supplied by Sungrow.

‘Cost-effective’ hybrid system built by BayWa r.e.

BayWa r.e. has highlighted the cost-effectiveness of hybrid systems after completing a 10MWp solar park in Germany connected to the grid of a 24MW wind farm.

The project, constructed 50km north of Bayreuth, was commissioned by a BayWa r.e. customer that manages the local property.

BayWa r.e. said the main challenge for the project was developing a design that guaranteed a high capacity connection while simultaneously generating power from both wind and solar energy.

“Solar-wind hybrid projects continue to be in the minority in Germany and thus we have limited experience with such systems. That applies to developers as much as grid operators. Both sides must work closely together to ensure the success of such projects,” Jan-Gerd Bayerk?hler, BayWa r.e. project manager, said.

Germany-headquartered BayWa r.e. noted that although increased co-operation and manpower may be necessary for these kinds of hybrid systems, they actually “prove to be very cost-effective” as they only require one connection to the grid. “We could only afford the solar park as we were able to use the existing connection to the wind farm”, Bayerk?hler added.

Due to the positive impacts on the electricity grid, BayWa r.e. believes hybrid systems will become more popular in the future. The company and its customer on the Bayreuth project are already exploring plans to increase the solar park by up to 22MWp.