The Art of Operation & Maintenance (O&M) of Solar Assets · About Cleantech Solar Operations & Maintenance in Photovoltaics O&M in the System Design Phase O&M in the Project Execution

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Th e Art o f Op e ra t io n & Ma in t e n a n ce (O&M) o f So la r Asse t sDr. An d ré Nob reHe a d o f Op e ra t ion s & Ma in te n a n ceCle a n te ch En e rg y Corp ora t ion

SERIS In d u st ry Da y – PV Qu a lity & Asse t Ma n a g e m e n t , 14 Au g u st 20 17

About Cleantech Solar

Op e ra t ion s & Ma in te n a n ce in Ph otovolta ics

O&M in th e Syste m De sig n Ph a se

O&M in th e Pro je c t Exe cu t ion Ph a se

Pro je c t ru n n in g ! O&M a t it s b e st

Ch a lle n g e s in O&M w h e n m a n a g in g a fle e t o f PV syste m s in Asia

Con c lu d in g re m a rks

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14 Au g u st 20 17 SERIS In d u st ry Da y 2

Cleantech Energy Corporat ion (“Cleantech Solar”), founded in 20 15;

PV syste m d e ve lop e r, op e ra t in g u n d e r th e “Bu ild , Ow n , Op e ra te , Tra n sfe r” b u sin e ss m od e l (“OPEX”, “le a sin g ”), se llin g so la r e le c t ric ity to c lie n ts w h o p a y ze ro u p fron t ;

40 MUSD p a id u p ca p ita l;

6 0 sta ff, w ith HQ in Sin g a p ore . Oth e r o ffice s in De lh i, Mu m b a i, Pu n e , Hyd e ra b a d a n d Ch e n n a i (In d ia ), Ph n om Pe n h (Ca m b od ia ), Ba n g kok (Th a ila n d ) a n d Ma n ila (Ph ilip p in e s);

Asse t in sta lle d ca p a c ity: ~30 MWp ove r 4 cou n t rie s (~50 site s, a s o f m id -20 17). Port fo lio on ta rg e t fo r ~3x g row th ove r cu rre n t fisca l ye a r;

Focu s on d ist rib u te d rooftop b u sin e ss fo r Com m e rc ia l & In d u st ria l (“C&I”) sp a ce , p rim a rily ta rg e t in g MNCs.

Ab o u t Cle a n t e ch So la r

314 Au g u st 20 17 SERIS In d u st ry Da y

Ab o u t Cle a n t e ch So la r

4

2.6 MWp, Phnom Penh, Cam bodia 1.6 MWp, Singapore

1.8 MWp, Chennai, Ind ia 0 .9 MWp, Singapore

14 August 20 17 SERIS Indust ry Day








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Op e ra t io n s & Ma in t e n a n ce in PV


Bu sin e ss De ve lop m e n t

De sig n Sta g e

Con st ru c t ion Sta g e

Op e ra t ion Sta g e

0 -12 m on th s 2-3 m on th s 3-6 m on th s 20 ye a rs

0 -2 m on th s 1-2 m on th s 3-4 m on th s 20 ye a rs

TYPICAL DURATION

RAPID MARKET GROWTH DURATION

Op e ra t ion Sta g e >> O&M te a m re sp on sib ility

Op e ra t io n s & Ma in t e n a n ce in PV


Health, Safety and Environment

Operations & Maintenance UnitCleantech Solar

1. OPERATIONS ACTIVITIES 2. MAINTENANCE ACTIVITIES

1a. Monitoring systems hardware & software

1b. Systems performance assessment

1c. Test & commissioning take over

1e. Client dashboards & data access

1d. Invoicing & revenue forecasting support

2b. Predictive maintenance

2a. Preventive maintenance

2c. Reactive maintenance

2d. System cleaning activities

2e. Client management (technical matters)








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O&M + Syst e m De sig n St a g e


O&M + Syst e m De sig n St a g e


Jo in t d e c ision s on roof se le c t ion ;

Syste m sizin g (e .g . w e a th e r + c lip p in g of in ve rte rs);

Yie ld stu d ie s (e .g . irra d ia t ion sou rce s), p a ra m e te r se le c t ion (e .g . d e g ra d a t ion ), d e d u c t ion s (e .g . h a ze ), e tc .;

Wa lkw a y & w a te r lin e d e sig n ;

O&M offe r & p ric in g (jo in t -in te ra c t ion w ith Bu sin e ss De ve lop m e n t);

Mon itorin g e q u ip m e n t se le c t ion a n d syste m con t ro l (m a rke ts w h e re cu rta ilm e n t is n e e d e d );

Pe rform a n ce g u a ra n te e d e c ision s (e .g . yie ld vs. p e rform a n ce ra t io )

…

De sig n O&M








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O&M + Pro je c t Exe cu t io n St a g e



In te ra c t ion on ke y sa fe ty a sp e c ts o f th e site ;

EPC m a n a g e m e n t su p p ort ;

Re g u la tory su p p ort d u rin g e a rly sta g e s o f th e syste m d e p loym e n t ;

Mon itorin g syste m d e p loym e n t su p p ort & fu n c t ion a lity ch e cks;

Pro je c t p h a se w ra p -u p & sm ooth h a n d ove r (jo in t te st in g & com m ission in g );

Op t im u m p e rform a n ce ve rifica t ion & syste m com p le t ion g re e n -lig h t in g ;

Clie n t m a n a g e m e n t ta ke ove r;

…

O&M + Pro je c t Exe cu t io n St a g e

Proje c ts O&M








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Pe rfo rm a n ce ch e cks


Syst e m h e a lt h ch e cks


Da ily re p o rt s & a la rm syst e m s


O&M co n t ra c t o r m a n a g e m e n t


Da t a d isp la y & c lie n t m a n a g e m e n t


Sp e c ia l in ve st ig a t io n s


Ha n d lin g o f c rise s









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Ch a lle n g e s in O&M fo r PV Ap p lica t io n s

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Majority of system s in the world are NOT in the t rop ics

Lim ite d kn ow le d g e on PV syste m fie ld p e rform a n ce in th e se n ove l m a rke ts

A. M. Nobre, Thesis. “Short -term sola r irrad iance forecast ing and photovolta ic system s perform ance in a t rop ica l clim ate in Singapore”. 20 15 .

as of 20 14


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Soiling cond it ions/rates

Ra p id so ilin g a ccu m u la t ion d u e to in d u st ria l e n viron m e n ts a n d g e n e ra l site con d it ion s o f som e Asia n c it ie s

A. M. Nobre et a l. “Advanced ana lyses of loss m echanism s for PV system s in Delh i”. 32nd PVSEC Munich, 20 16 .


In situ checks on soiling conditions

In situ checks on soiling conditions

Different cleaning recipes performed


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Ra p id so ilin g a ccu m u la t ion d u e to in d u st ria l e n viron m e n ts a n d g e n e ra l site con d it ion s o f som e Asia n c it ie s


Un cle a n e d PV syste m in Va d od ra , In d ia Cle a n in g com m e n ce d …



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PV syste m s a re c le a n e d to 1-3x a m on th in In d ia , w h a t a b ou t PR ca lcu la t ion s? How ca n on e b e su re h ow th e site is d o in g ?

Use sa te llite d a ta ?



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Big solar farm s: tens of m illions of dollars in a centralized locat ion + alm ost always, sam e t ilt /azim uth, tailored to m axim izing solar resource

capture at site

Pre se n ce of d e d ica te d O&M te a m s (i.e . fu ll on -site a t te n t ion a va ila b le )



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1

3

2

4

5

6

1

23

456

Decentralized solar PV: w ith in roofs, m ult ip le com binat ions of t ilt /azim uths can be found

Exa m p le site w ith 6 d iffe re n t com b in a t ion s o f t ilt /a zim u th , e ve n w h e n m in or fo r sa m e ca se s



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Air pollut ion found in m ajor city centers

Ga u g in g so la r re sou rce on g rou n d , loss o f re ve n u e , a d va n ce d so ilin g , e tc .

PV syste m in De lh i, De ce m b e r PV syste m in Pu n e , De ce m b e r






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70 km

~3 MWp a t 10 sites.

Cleantech Sola r’s dep loyed and under-const ruct ion PV assets in the Delhi a rea

Access to site

Ha lf d a y t rip s to g o from p oin t A to B in c it ie s like De lh i



Ch a lle n g e s: su m m a ry

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Ge n e ra l fie ld op e ra t ion kn ow le d g e in n ove l PV m a rke ts (Asia + Sou th e a st Asia ) is lim ite d ;

Dist rib u te d PV: ch a lle n g e s o f m a n a g in g “on e b ig site o f 3 MWp ” vs. “te n sm a ll site s o f 30 0 kWp ”;

Soilin g !

Pro te c t in g re tu rn on in ve stm e n ts (b o th o f CAPEX a n d OPEX m od e ls) –p e rform a n ce t ra ckin g is ke y!

Cla ssic PR ca lcu la t ion m e th od : too m a n y roofs, too m u ch d irt on site !

Use sa te llite d a ta fo r p e rform a n ce a sse ssm e n t? Not so fa st ! Do m od e ls a ccou n t w e ll fo r a ir p o llu t ion ? Po te n t ia l g rou n d vs. sa te llite d isc re p a n c ie s…


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PV syste m in Ch e n n a i u n c le a n e d for 4 m on th s, d u rin g d ry se a son

Ad d re ssin g Ch a lle n g e s in O&M fo r PV


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All Da taR2 = 8 7%Mean Bias Error = -0 .22 (sa tellite show ing higher read ing than ground)

Fa ll and WinterMBE = -0 .38

Spring and Sum m erMBE = -0 .0 9

Ne w De lh i, In d ia



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North India

Central India

South India

Cambodia

Philippines

Singapore





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Pre-cleaning photography, geo-tagged and time-stamped, allows observation of dirt accumulation at sites;

Post-cleaning imagery allows the O&M team to assess the quality of the job executed by the contractors.








>> Deployed meteorological sensors in Cambodia>> Meteorological station in New Delhi



India Rooftop Solar Congress 2017 in category “Rooftop Solar Research & Academics Contribution of the Year”





Management & Board

Design & Engineering

Project Management

Operations & Maintenance

Business Development

FB e.g.: Energy generation and revenue forecasts

FB e.g.: Yield adjustments in models due to haze

FB e.g.: Best tilt/azimuth for a project

FB e.g.: Poor system section performance upon energization

Information exchange – Feedback Loop








Ou t lin e


Operat ions & Maintenance in PV (at least team involvem ent) should sta rt m u ch e a rlie r th a n w h e n th e PV syste m sta rt s p rod u c in g e le c t ric ity. In fa c t , it is a ke y focu s a re a th rou g h ou t th e e n t ire p ro je c t life t im e ;

Cu t t in g corn e rs in d e sig n a n d p ro je c t e xe cu t ion w ill fin d it s w a y to d e ve lop e rs/syste m ow n e r’s la te r;

Da ta is ke y! No d a ta = n o kn ow le d g e ca n b e g a in e d from you r a sse t n or c re a te d for th e g ood of Ph otovolta ics;

How e ve r, cost -e ffe c t ive n e ss o f O&M sp e n d in g is a c ru c ia l m e t ric fo r th e p ro je c t su cce ss, in lin e w ith b u sin e ss p la n e xp e c ta t ion s;

O&M p a rtn e rs/con t ra c tors: h ow m u ch a re th e y b rin g in g to th e ta b le ? Else b re a kd ow n scop e a n d re a lloca te ta sks a ccord in g to te a m /con t ra c tors st re n g th s & w e a kn e sse s;

20 ye a rs is a d a m n lon g t im e ! Reind l, Thom as (20 10 )

Co n c lu d in g Re m a rks


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Documents

The Art of Operation & Maintenance (O&M) of Solar Assets · About Cleantech Solar Operations & Maintenance in Photovoltaics O&M in the System Design Phase O&M in the Project Execution