Best Practices in Solar Operation & Maintenance PDF
Best Practices in Solar Operation & Maintenance PDF
Best Practices in Solar Operation & Maintenance PDF
INDEX
1. Who we are?
2. EGP, how we work today within O&M
3. Maintenance strategy
4. Operational Efficiency and Diagnostic Analysis
5. O&M Innovative Solutions
▪ Solar cells optimizers
▪ PID Solution
▪ Drones for O&M
▪ Digitalization / Big Data
2
Who we are?
We are the world's largest producer of renewable energy
30 countries
We speak from Spanish, Italian, English,
Portuguese, Romanian, Greek and even Russian
+ 1,400 plants
You would need 4 whole years to visit each of
them
+42 GW
Generation capacity
675 MW
+1.7 GW
INSTALLED CAPACITY
52 MW 992 MW
EGP
.
MÉXICO
EOLIC ENERGY HIDRO ENERGY SOLAR ENERGY
4 PROYECTOS 4 PROYECTOS
UNDER CONSTRUCTION UNDER EXECUTION
Goal
Optimize O&M Solar strategy, processes and activities
following solar significant growth at global scale,
with large plants (>100 MW) in emerging solar markets
for a total of 4,3 GW to be managed by 2Q 2018
Project work-streams
Dec 2016 Jun 2017 Dec 2017 April 2018 ✓ Communication to boost involvement
of all EGP colleagues on Solar
5
Maintenance strategy
Relevant features
7
Operational Efficiency and Diagnostic Analysis
Examples Unavailability Events without an alarm
9
O&M Innovative Solutions
Innovative PV Cleaning: use cases
Project objective
Assessing the best innovative solutions for PV modules’ cleaning to be applied in EGP PV Plants by using customized cleaning robots.
KPIs
✓ Self-Powered
✓ Being automatic or semi-automatic (operated with some, or totally without human
intervention)
✓ Suitable to be mounted on solar tracking structures
✓ Without (or with very short) water usage for cleaning
✓ Suitable to guarantee a soiling recovery (dust, sand) ≥ 95%
✓ Deployed with a target price according to EGP economical requirements (e.g.
LCOE reduction criterion) Highlights
Smart modules replace the bypass diodes in the module with the optimizer chip in order to push the MPPT function deep into the PV
system. Cell string optimizers allow to produce the most energy possible regardless of shading issues and mismatch, without the
complexity of DC Optimizers and with simplified system design, improving also the reliability of the modules .
Advantages
1. Increase energy yield (each cell string delivers maximum power at the
best current)
2. Increase ground coverage and improve land utilization (allows 10%-
20% tighter row pitch at the same energy production per panel)
3. Higher reliability: Minimize power degradation over the panel and Avg 0.8%
eliminate hot spots
4. No additional BOS (control unit, network cabling, network configuration)
11
O&M Innovative Solutions
PID solution
• The PID - Potential Induced Degradation - is a specific Failure Mode occurring at PV Modules and leading to a Performance
Degradation. The combination of several environmental stressors, quality of PV materials and exposure to a negative voltage
potential is responsible for its occurrence.
• When PID affect our PV plant, a lower yearly revenue will be obteined with a direct impact on our total financial profit. The impact of
PID could be so strong to invalidate the investment.
PID effect
Profit
Yearly Energy Production Loss
Profit and Revenue reduction
PID Impact PID recovery Impact
Loss
PV Plant Profit Loss
COD 24-01-2013
Operating LifeTime 27 years (30-35 years is typical value for EGP plants)
➢ Aircrafts that can be remotely controlled or fly semi- New and innovative technique to
autonomously through software-controlled flight plans, reduce costs and timing of
working in conjunction with global positioning system (GPS) operation, maintenance and
construction activities
➢ Utilized in multiple industries, driven by a growing need to Substitute human workers during
improve productivity and efficiency via automation. Global inspections, reducing risks related to
market revenue is estimated to reach $6.66 bln by 2020 people operating at height and confined
areas
Applications
14
O&M Innovative Solutions
Drones for O&M
Highlights
The Aim of the project is the development of Fully automated System for PV Inspections and data acquisition & reporting allowing to
• OPTIMIZE STANDARD PV INSPECTION (up to 4MW/day of 4 hours covered with drone flight, 30’ battery VS. 2%/plant only with manual
inspection)
• REDUCE COSTS of PV Manual Inspections
Plant
• Permanent robotic system that includes drones that are autonomous; Plant 1 Plant 2 Plant 3
n
16
O&M Innovative Solutions and Practices
Business Case: USA
Combining these 2 capabilities for Innovate Mass
17
O&M Innovative Solutions
Digitalization
➢ Solar Digitization…What for?
▪ Reducing the Technical Risks
▪ Increasing Efficiency, Safety and Sustainability
1 Cloud Computing 2 Remote Sensoring 3 Digital Field Worker ▪ Reduction of Operational Costs
▪ Increasing of Solar Assets Lifetime
4 Autonomous Drones 5 Satellite Forecasting 6 Spares 3D printing
➢ Solar Digitization...How?
1. Cloud Big Data Computing with using Industrial Connectivity Data
Platforms and Predictive Patterns-components specific to manage Plant Data
and reduce emergency and periodic site visits
6. 18 and costs
3D Printing to reduce spares in storage and theirs management
decreasing lead times
O&M Innovative Solutions and Practices
Digitalization: Proactive strategy
DRONES SWARMS:
Self-organized devices that
autonomously detect failed modules
and plant components
AUTOMATIZED O&M
INTERVENTION
Exploiting plant robotized solutions
for automatic maintenance work
19
O&M Innovative Solutions and Practices
Digitalization
Plant documentation archived on CSK (Company Knowledge System) in cloud and available globally to all users O&M
Objectives Benefits
➢ Global access to a unique system in cloud (web application)
➢ Create a unique document management and collaboration platform cross countries
and functions ➢ All O&M Power plant documentation available and well organized following IO 117
➢ Recuperate, store and digitalize all critical plant documents - currently stored in ➢ Collaboration instrument aimed at facilitating communication, project and knowledge
local files systems, facilities and power plants - to guarantee access, improved archiving management.
and retrieval of missing documentation.
➢ Lever for cross-functional & cross-country business process integration &
➢ Integration with other core systems (i.e SAP, Archibus, MDM) optimization
PLANT
Documentation Management System (DMS)
Handover and as-built
documentation
Solar PV plant documentation is crucial for an in-depth understanding of design,
Agreements with Legal permissions, configuration and technical details thereof. It is Asset Owner´s responsibility to provide those
local stakeholders concessions and restrictions
documents and if not available, they shoul, as best practice, be recreated at the Asset
Owner´s cost. There are two important aspects related to the management of this
Plant Reports Property document
information:
Maintenance plan
✓ Information type and depth of detail
✓ Management and control
Spare part Contracts and
documentation warranties
Manufacturer technical
manuals 20
*Operation & Maintenance, Best Practices Guideline/ verison 2.0,
2018, Solar Powe Europe
O&M Innovative Solutions and Practices
Digitalization
2200000
1700000
2.163.000
O&M DOCUMENTS DIGITALIZED 2041000
2145000
2093000 2163000
1690000
1569000
1491000
1350000
1200000 1270000 1350000
1200000 1300000
1100000 1240000
1000000
700000
815000
555000
398000
200000 316000
170000
96000 128000 227000
100 8000 37000 66000
-300000
Complete the implementation of the Quality Check-list process for the EGP Perimeter by 1H 2018
Complete the upload of Latam documentation and implementation of the Quality Check-list process by 2Q 2018
Completion of documents upload process with further ~200.000 documents by 2Q 2018
21
O&M Innovative Solutions and Practices
Big data analysis
The models approaches for the generation and monitoring of predictive warnings at inverter level have been investigated:
CLOUD
Case Prahova1
Operator Dashboard
Events Predictability > 80%
~3 days in advance