Plant Performance

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.

Rarely does the planning and design phase of solar farms consider the subsequent operational management and its costs. Jörn Carstensen, managing partner at greentech, explores how unforeseen effects from development, procurement and construction can have a significant impact on the economic viability of PV plants.

Using an in-house tool and PVsyst simulation software, a team from Chint New Energy Technology Co. analyse the LCOE of utility-scale solar systems in various countries based on three technologies: PERC, TOPCon and HJT.

With accurate power forecasting becoming more essential than ever for solar asset owners, Yoojin Lee, a systems engineer and power forecast specialist at Enerparc, reveals how the company’s artificial intelligence approaches are used to make day-ahead forecasts more accurate.

With numerous markets reporting problems with overly optimistic P50 estimates, attention has also been drawn to similar issues with PAN files. TÜV Rheinland’s Yating Zhang and Christos Monokroussos discuss the subject at length.

With PV cleaning robots posing significant advantages for solar O&M, Ben Figgis of the Qatar Environment & Energy Research Institute of Hamad bin Khalifa University, explores recent developments of standards in the field.

With solar operations and maintenance experiencing significant price pressure, adequate fault detection that occurs as quickly as possible has become increasingly important for asset operators. Here, 3E’s Julien Deckx explores early fault detection strategies for solar PV plants.

Last year analysis by renewables performance aggregator and insurance provider kWh Analytics highlighted the extent of solar asset underperformance against P50 estimates in the US. Here, the company’s Sarath Srinivasan details some of the reasons behind that underperformance.