Optimal plant performance in the hands of experts

The fast-growing PV industry in India demands well managed operation & maintenance (O&M) services to keep plant performance at par with the needed expectations as well as applicable regulations. As utilities embrace and rely on solar PV grid-connected plants for both commercial and industrial applications, Argon Electrotech has the capabilities as well as experience in all aspects of solar plant O&M to help deliver optimal power. Compared to other power generating technologies, solar PV power plants have low maintenance and servicing requirements. However, as International Financial Corporation warns, “proper maintenance of a PV plant is essential to maximize both energy yield and the plant’s useful life. Optimal operations must strike a balance between maximizing production and minimizing cost”. Indeed, while solar energy does require almost no maintenance at all as compared to the other generation sources, PV solar plants are investments that are likely to last for 20–25 years or more, and that’s why to arrive at an accurate ROI figure, one needs to address the operation and maintenance issues.

Scope of service
 

Operate: We operate the facility in accordance with applicable safety, occupational health and environmental regulations.

Verify and report: We verify and record all information on electricity generation, loss in generation due to grid disturbance, and consumption of electricity within facility.
 

Monitor and supervise: We offer SCADA enabled remote monitoring facility for all the operational units. Photovoltaic monitoring systems (SCADA) are software driven devices which provide real time and historical data, performance-based alerts, web based / cellular based monitoring.

Prevention and corrective maintenance: Inspection, testing, cleaning and preventive maintenance and / or corrective repairs and replacements are carried out, if necessary, as a part of good O&M practices.

Infrastructure training: We provide all necessary O & M training and required set of onsite testing instruments and equipment. We also provide associated power evacuation arrangements to the housekeeping staff on the client’s side for successful takeover of plant in due course of time.

Manpower deployment and maintenance schedule: Our O&M team comprises of qualified and trained personal who know their job precisely. 

 

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O&M Issues in PV Solar Energy 
 

• Natural Degradation

• Grounding and Lightning Protection

• Component Failures (panels, inverters, trackers)

• Panel cracking

• Visual discoloration

• Hotspots

• Inverters failure

• Trackers and Panel Orientation

• Structural Integrity

• Weather Conditions (snow, wind, soiling)

• Other issues

• O&M Approaches and Activities

• Scheduled Maintenance

• Unscheduled Maintenance

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• Preventative maintenance (PM) encompasses routine inspection and servicing of equipment — at frequencies determined by equipment type, environmental conditions, and warranty terms in an O&M services agreement — to prevent breakdowns and unnecessary production losses. This approach is becoming increasingly popular because of its perceived ability to lower the probability of unplanned PV system downtime. However, the upfront costs associated with PM programs are moderate and the underlying structure of PM can engender superfluous labor activity if not optimally designed. 

 

• Corrective or reactive maintenance addresses equipment repair needs and breakdowns 
  after their occurrence and, as such, is instituted to mitigate unplanned downtime. The historical industry standard, this “break-fix” method allows for low upfront costs, but also brings with it a higher risk of component failure and accompanying higher costs on the back end (perhaps placing a premium on negotiating extended warranty terms). Though a certain amount of reactive maintenance will likely be necessary over the course of a plant’s 20-year lifetime, it can be lessened through more proactive PM and condition-based maintenance (CBM) strategies.

 

• Condition-based maintenance (CBM) uses real-time data to anticipate failures and 
  prioritize maintenance activities and resources. A rising number of third party integrator and produce maintenance process challenges caused in part by monitoring equipment monitoring software and hardware requirements. Moreover, the relative novelty of CBM can increased efficiency, however, comes with a high upfront price tag given communication and turnkey providers are instituting CBM regimes to offer greater O&M efficiency. The malfunction and/or erratic data collection.

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