The International Energy Agency Photovoltaic Power System Programme (IEA-PVPS) Task 13 has published new guidelines to help PV asset owners with operation and maintenance for utility-scale PV plants in different climate zones. In the “Guidelines for Operation and Maintenance of Photovoltaic Power Plants in Different Climates” report, the experts of PVPS Task 13 provided a series of climate-specific O&M programmes for four climate zones – moderate, hot and dry, hot and humid, and deserts at high elevation areas. It also looked at extreme conditions such as floods, cyclones, and snow.
Comprehensive guidelines for climate-specific O&M programs have yet to be developed. With this gap in mind, this report aims to provide comprehensive guidance for customized O&M service in seven different climate zones. The first four are for conditions which broadly prevail in large parts of the world (moderate, hot and dry, hot and humid, desert at high elevation), while the latter three are for extreme conditions (flood-prone regions, cyclonic regions, snowy regions). These guidelines can assist PV plant engineers and designers, financing parties, and investors in designing and maintaining PV plants, as well as in determining operational risk related to investment decisions.
The report presents these guidelines according to the following topics: O&M performance indicators and standard O&M operator services, guidelines for monitoring, forecasting, and analysis of PV plant performance and safety, the different types of maintenance services and advanced inspections, and finally the recommendations for climate-specific O&M along with field experiences encountered that affected reliability, performance and safety.
In conclusion, a combination of well–designed O&M specifications, proactive monitoring systems and a flexible and tailored O&M regime that considers both possible weather impacts on systems as well as possible changes to grid requirements are good practices to ensure that PV systems perform according to or even beyond expected lifespans. Reducing risks by ensuring that personnel are trained and equipped for O&M operations, as well as employing PV forecasting to reduce possible downtimes, also contribute to maintaining PV
The Technical Report is available for download from the IEA-PVPS website: Reliability and Performance of Photovoltaic Systems - IEA-PVPS.
Ulrike Jahn, Germany, PVPS Task 13 Manager of 120 international experts, PPRE 1989/90 plant performance according to specifications.