How to formulate solar farm operation and maintenance measures?

Do solar farms require maintenance? The answer is yes, those who feel that solar farms can continue to generate electricity without maintenance may be that the panels are getting less and less efficient. Without a solid maintenance schedule, solar production can be hampered. This could also lead to significant capex and safety concerns in the future.

Implementing a maintenance process can:

1. Improved efficiency and energy delivery (MWh/MW)

2. Reduced downtime (hours/year)

3. Extend the service life of solar installations

4. Reduce the total cost of operation and maintenance

5. Mitigate the risk of hazardous events

6. Limit the need for financing and warranty support

The types of operation and maintenance activities can be divided into four parts: management, monitoring, preventive maintenance and corrective maintenance.

1.The purpose of administrative operations is to manage the billing and accounting process. This includes dealing with warranty claims that can be worth thousands of dollars more than purchasing replacement components. Management operations should consider the long-term staffing, budget, and training required for ongoing support and minimizing downtime.

2.Daily monitoring of solar production is important for keeping tabs on revenue trends, alert triggering, and the ability to diagnose problems in real time. When systems degrade, production trends can be used to plan future maintenance. Use the production report to confirm that billing was processed correctly.

3.Preventive maintenance of solar assets is a proactive strategy that reduces the likelihood of failures causing unplanned downtime. Preventative strategies can include regular cleaning, component replacement, and system repairs. Overall, it should improve the running performance of the device. Preventive maintenance can be scheduled in advance and recorded as a long-term and short-term expense.

4.Additional budget for corrective maintenance must be included to address unplanned incidents. To minimize loss of revenue, these incidents should be acted on immediately with the right people. The most likely events early on are inverter failure or loss of a single string due to wiring errors. However, there are other types of unplanned events such as vandalism, high winds and hail.

The above points need to be considered when planning your solar farm maintenance and operation procedures. Investing time and effort in organizing and documenting these tasks will go a long way in protecting your renewable energy investment.