Plant Performance

Replacing outdated inverters can significantly boost the yield of a PV power plant and rectify equipment failures. Jörn Carstensen of Germany-based greentech looks at the technical, financial and logistical considerations involved in a successful inverter repowering project.

As a fast-growing segment of the industry, floating solar is also a novel technology that comes with a variety of new operational risks. Bobby McFadden, kWh Analytics, Chris Bartle of Ciel & Terre and James Markos of Willis Towers Watson explore some of these and their implications from an insurance perspective.

Digitalisation offers PV plant operators the opportunity to shift from preventive to predictive maintenance practices. Eduardo Sarquis reports on research aimed at shedding further light on the system performance benefits of moving to a predictive O&M strategy

PVTech Power reporter George Heynes got in touch with Solargis, a Slovakia-based weather data and software provider for solar power investors and operators, for a deep dive into maximising solar technologies in hot locations.

Tristan Erion-Lorico, VP of Sales and Marketing at PV Evolution Labs (PVEL), on the Inflation Reduction Act and its implications for the selection of materials going into producing solar modules.

Jason Kaminsky, CEO, kWh Analytics, on how renewable asset owners and their insurers are adapting the way they assess risk from natural catastrophes and extreme weather events.

Stuti Gupta, Solar Lead at Prescinto, an AI-powered asset performance management platform for solar, wind and energy storage assets, and Prescinto Performance Excellence Head Abhishek Puttanna on the role of artificial intelligence in monitoring and optimising photovoltaic assets.

While bifacial modules promise advantages in power production, they can create complex performance monitoring challenges. That will need to be resolved if project production uncertainties are expected to remain at levels and expectations currently set with the deployment of mono-facial modules, write Ajay Singh and Derek Jones of Campbell Scientific Inc.

Amid an increasingly unpredictable environment and a rise in extreme weather events, the solar industry must properly use its available data to protect assets and reduce risks, writes Gareth Brown, CEO of digital asset performance technology provider Clir Renewables.

Presenting findings on the exposure of PV panels to the harsh environment of the Arabian Desert, a team from the Qatar Environment & Energy Research Institute details the multiple mitigation approaches to solar soiling.