Solar System Operations and Maintenance Analysis
For optimizing the balance between reducing operations and maintenance (O&M) cost and improving performance of photovoltaic (PV) systems, NREL collects data, models performance and costs, and provides expertise to industry.
As PV deployment continues to increase, ongoing O&M of these systems is critical. However, various factors—such as evolving technologies, weather, and resources for maintenance—contribute to O&M. Optimizing the O&M of PV systems is vital to lowering the levelized cost of energy for solar energy.
A team of experts in PV system performance from NREL, Sandia National Laboratories, and Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory is working with industry and standards-making organizations to study and optimize PV O&M by:
- Analyzing performance data on large numbers of PV systems, including coincident climate data
- Modeling O&M costs and lost production, employing artificial intelligence to analyze data
- Modeling the effect of performance ratio and availability on systems’ life cycle cost and levelized cost of energy
- Providing deep subject matter expertise on special topics related to reliability, performance, and financial challenges
-
Analyzing the impact of severe weather, insurance, and the effect of hardening measures.
NREL is also conducting related work under the PV Fleet Performance Data Initiative to collect plant operation data in a secure, central database.
Publications
Read about the work NREL and partners are conducting in the PV O&M space.
Featured Publications
Best Practices in Operation and Maintenance of PV Systems and Energy Storage Systems, Third Edition, NREL Technical Report (2019)
Model of Operation-and-Maintenance (O&M) Costs for Photovoltaic Systems, NREL Technical Report (2020)
Weather Impacts on Solar PV Operations Summary of the Current Body of Knowledge and Implications for Further Investigation, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Technical Report (2021)
Other Publications
Note: These standards are published and sold by the International Electrotechnical Commission, but NREL facilitated their development.
IEC/TS 63019 Ed. 1.0 en:2019 Photovoltaic Power Systems (PVPS) – Information Model for Availability, International Electrotechnical Commission (2019)
IEC TR 63292:2020 Photovoltaic Power Systems (PVPSs) – Roadmap for Robust Reliability, International Electrotechnical Commission (2020)
DS/IEC TS 63265:2022 – Reliability Practices for the Operation of Photovoltaic Power Systems, International Electrotechnical Commission (2022)
Weather Impacts on Solar PV Operations Summary of the Current Body of Knowledge and Implications for Further Investigation, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Technical Report (2021)
Evaluation of Extreme Weather Impacts on Utility-scale Photovoltaic Plant Performance in the United States, Applied Energy (2021)
PV Fleet Performance Data Initiative: Performance Index-Based Analysis , NREL Technical Report (2021)
Performance of Photovoltaic Systems Recorded by Open Solar Performance and Reliability Clearinghouse (oSPARC), NREL Technical Report (2020)
Operations, Maintenance, and Cost Considerations for PV+Storage in the United States, Sandia Report (2022)
Masking of Photovoltaic System Performance Problems by Inverter Clipping and Other Design and Operational Practices, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews (2021)
Cybersecurity in Photovoltaic Plant Operations, NREL Technical Report (2021)
Insurance in the Operation of Photovoltaic Plants, NREL Technical Report (2021)
A Machine Learning Evaluation of Maintenance Records for Common Failure Modes in PV Inverter, IEEE Access (2020)
Evaluation of Component Reliability in Photovoltaic Systems Using Field Failure Statistics, Sandia Report (2020)
Contact
Share
