Mexico, PV technology status and prospects - Contribution to the Annual report 2002

Mexico
PV technology status and prospects
Jaime Agredano, J. Huacuz Villamar
Electrical Research Institute (IIE)

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General Framework

Satellital Education System Powered by PV in a Rural Community.

Good sunshine availability throughout the year makes the use of PV systems an attractive option for remote power supply as well as grid-connected applications in Mexico. Solar home systems, small water pumps and a variety of professional applications, mostly for rural electrification and telecommunications, have been installed for more than a decade in this country. More recently, a few small pilot grid-connected systems have also been installed.
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National Programme

Still no national PV program has been instrumented by the central government. Nevertheless, almost 600 kW of SHS were installed during 2002, mainly through poverty alleviation programs operated by municipal authorities.
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Research and Development

Grid-connected PV R&D activities continued during 2002. Five pilot systems installed for peak power sharing in northwest Mexico are being monitored to determine system’s performance. A new 1 kWp system was installed in 2002 and its operation being monitored in a joint project between the Mexican Electrical Research Institute (IIE), the local municipality and a commercial company, in the northern state of Nuevo Leon. This system provides a portion of the load for air conditioning in a kiosk retrofitted to house a number of desktop computers which provide Internet services to the youngsters in town (see photograph). The company plans to replicate this concept, being called “cyber-kiosk” in other localities through-out the country.

PV-wind hybrids research continued during 2002. Strategies for system control were tested in connection with productive processes to foster the use of this technology in rural areas.

In yet another pilot, a PV rural electrification project carried out in a mountain village in the southern state of Oaxaca, the concept of Regional Center for Energy-Based Services (RECEBS) is being tested. The idea here is to create a model that could be replicated in other regions of the country, in which a community complying with a number of given criteria, is provided with basic services such as clean water, health center, school, telecommunications with satellite links, etc., for its population and that of the neighboring smaller communities.
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Implementation

Cyber-Kiosk in San Pedro, Nuevo Leon, Mexico

The federal government is in the process of launching a new effort to increase the coverage of rural electrification with renewable energy.

The emphasis is still on poverty alleviation, and the programs will be operated and managed by municipal and state authorities. This time the effort will be focused on native rural communities to provide them with services under the scheme of RECEBS mentioned above, while at the same time, promoting the use of renewable energy technology for productive activities.
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Industry Status

Mexican industry is fit to manufacture almost all BOS components for small off-grid PV installations, but small market volumes keep this a low profile activity. Power inverters in the range of a few kilowatts and up, for both grid-connected and off-grid applications, are being imported, as well as some battery banks for professional installations.

Late last year Sanyo Electronics announced the construction of a new assembling facility for PV modules as part of its industrial complex in the Mexican city of Tijuana, just across the border from California. The production capacity of this facility will be 10 MW, and all the PV modules produced there will be shipped for the US market.
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Market Development

The Mexican PV market for 2002 was close to 1200 kW, which represents an increment of about 14 % with respect to the previous year. The market segmentation was as follows: rural electrification was again the main application, with an installed capacity of 594 kW in 2002; telecommunications, 237 kW; off-shore oil platforms, 237 kW; water pumping and cathodic protection 120 kW. Cumulative PV installations in Mexico by the end of 2002 amounted to 16 159 kWp. The Mexican PV industry forecasts that the 2003 market will double with respect to the previous year.
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Future Outlook

In the Mexican National Energy Programme 2001 – 2006, the Federal Government has declared renewable energy of national interest. Policy actions are being instrumented to encourage private sector participation in new renewable energy projects, and to expand the scope of previous programs such as PV rural electrification.
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