Drowning in solar data, but starving for knowledge?

March 19, 2015 #SolarWebinar

q  This webinar will be available afterwards at www.solarpowerworldonline.com & email

q  Q&A at the end of the presentation q  Hashtag for this webinar: #SolarWebinar

Before We Start

Moderator Greeting

Georgia Power 24 MWp – Alectris

Moderator Kelly Pickerel

Attendee Poll

We’d like to identity what types of companies are in the audience. Please let us know what type of firm you represent. Single Choice 1.  Solar Investor, Financier 2.  EPC / Developer 3.  O&M Services Provider 4.  Software Provider 5.  Manufacturer

Presenters

Ken Kostok Alectris

Emanuele Tacchino

Alectris

Vassilis Papaeconomou

Alectris

Our Agenda Today

•  Current Industry Challenges

•  Tools and Solutions

•  Case Study Georgia Power 24 MWp – Alectris

An Interactive Session

•  Polls

•  Question Box

•  Q&A at Conclusion

Current Industry Solar PV Data Challenges


Speaker Ken Kostok

What kinds of challenges do you face related to data to manage your solar assets?

Multiple Choice 1.  Data is not congruent 2.  I don’t get the kind of data I need 3.  Takes too much time to generate reports 4.  Data does not help me manage some aspects 5.  Data is too expensive

Attendee Poll

Approximately how many hours does your team spend on monthly reports for each solar PV plant?

Single Choice 1.  Less than 1 hour 2.  1-10 hours 3.  10-20 hours 4.  20+ hours 5.  Don’t know or other

Attendee Poll

Industry Analyst's Perspective

“Solar PV monitoring and data analysis solutions are

increasingly expected to enable efficiency and

productivity gains in operations & maintenance and

asset management activities. Early detection of faults

and underperformance conditions, remote diagnosis and

troubleshooting, and streamlining of processes are

paramount as solar portfolios grow in size and O&M

market prices continue to come down."


Cedric Brehaut Author GTM Research Reports: Megawatt-Scale PV O&M and Asset Management Global PV Monitoring

Challenges

Many Inputs to Consider Italy Biaxial Install – Alectris

High Frequency:

•  Monitoring

•  Connected Equipment

•  ISO (Grid)

•  Weather

•  SCADA

Challenges


Low Frequency:

•  Outages

•  Security System – Site Access and Alarms

•  Repairs

•  Plant Additions & Upgrades

•  Contractual Requirements

•  Warrantee

Challenges


Performance Maintenance:

•  Initial Commissioning

•  Panel Flash Tests

•  IV Curves

•  Thermal Scans

•  Visual Inspections

•  Calibrations

•  Software Upgrades

Challenges


Cost Factors:

•  Spare Parts

•  Grounds Maintenance

•  Operations

•  Maintenance

•  Insurance

•  Rents and Fees

•  Internal Labor

•  Subcontracted Labor

Results Driven

•  Time and Resources for review, reporting and action

•  The right amount of data capture

•  How to capture the data

•  How to use data to gain the best value for your asset


Results Driven

Georgia Power 1 MWp – Alectris In a Consolidating Market

Highest Asset Value =

Maximizing Monthly Revenues +

Minimize O&M Costs and

Requirements

( with a system to prove it don’t let the

“cloud” shade your arrays)

Solar PV Data Tools and Solutions


Speaker Vassilis Papaeconomou

What type of data platform or software do you use now to manage your solar PV plants?

Multiple Choice 1.  Manufacturer provided monitoring 2.  Software developed in house 3.  Purchased Software 4.  Spreadsheets 5.  Other or None

Attendee Poll

Where do you feel the industry needs to do a better job in terms of solar “big data?”

Multiple Choice 1.  Streamlining O&M in field efficiency 2.  Integrating monitoring into overall reporting 3.  Integrating O&M reporting with asset

management 4.  Asset Management related 5.  Other

Attendee Poll

OPEX reduction and reliability improvements of solar PV plant by using

sophisticated IT Platforms


Sola

r ER

P

Sola

r ER

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What does OPEX consist of?

•  Spare parts

•  Preventative maintenance labor

•  Corrective maintenance labor

•  Software Costs (Monitoring & Management platforms)

•  Asset Management cost and/or internal labor

•  Insurance , Security and surveillance costs

•  Communications

•  Rents and fees


What is a Solar ERP? ?A Solar ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning)

System integrates all the monitoring, operational

data and asset management requirements of a

plant or portfolio into a seamless suite of

actionable intelligence.


•  A full Asset Management and O&M package requires more than 96 single

(simple) tasks to be performed (excluding accounting)

•  Example: A 40 PV plant geographically distributed portfolio result will result in

40x96=3840 tasks!!!

Scaling requires evolved and suitable tools and an efficient internal and

external organization!!

? Why do I need a Solar ERP? Example for Asset Management:


? What is the difference between a Monitoring System and a Solar ERP?

A monitoring system passively captures the outcome

VERSUS

A management platform actively helps manage

efforts to improve the outcome



The Solar ERP closes the loop between measuring results and the actions to influence these results.

Monitoring Activities Management

Action planning

Measuring outcome of actions



A Solar ERP is a transactional system with defined processes and workflows together with an enhanced reporting interface.


Monitoring Technical Management Financial Management •  Measurements •  Contract Management/Compliance •  Contract compliance

•  Device Log Files •  Contractual Parameters (KPIs) •  Incident handling

•  Connectivity •  Incident management •  Warranty management

•  Communications •  Activtiy Scheduling •  Budget administration

•  Security System/Access Control •  Knowledgebase maintenance •  PPA administration

•  Alerts •  Spare Part Management •  Loan administration

•  Warehouse Administration •  Integrated document management

•  Field personnel evaluation •  Claim management

•  Field personnel training and

certification •  Cost management

•  Incident Impact and other statistics •  Revenue management

•  Equipment inventory administration

•  As-built information

•  Field personnel dispatch

Solar ERP Functionality


Basic Solar ERP Features

  Reporting: Extensive reporting capabilities with a combination of data of monitoring, technical and financial management

  Mobile: 100% web enabled application, runs on all known browsers and tablets

  Data quality: Data validation rules on web forms

  Real time: Information available to users as soon as a record is saved

  Custom workflows: User can define custom workflows according to their business processes

  Notification: Configuration of notifications in various events


Solar ERP Benefits: Overall


Increased Efficiency in Operations and Productivity Increased in Asset Management

Tighter Control

Reduced Solar PV Plant and Portfolio OPEX

Higher Profitability

Solar ERP development to manage DATA and reduce OPEX


Speaker Emanuele Tacchino

•  Classification of Operating PV Plants

•  Application and customization of Solar ERP

•  Case Study Results


Process Steps

1.  Good or Adequately

2.  Clearly Distressed

3.  Apparently Good


Classification


Remedial Process for “Clearly Distressed” Solar PV Plant

Solar ERP development to manage DATA and reduce OPEX Remedial Process for “Apparently Performing” Solar PV Plant


Continuous Improvement

•  Medium to long term process •  Gathering information and data from

DAS (Data Acquisition System) but also day-to-day activities and observations

•  Statistical evaluation of data (usually on yearly basis)

•  Action plan and prioritization based on impact of (set of) failures


Application of Solar ERP, ACTIS

•  Monitoring Capabilities: performance improvement

•  Service Management: operational optimization

•  Asset Management: financial, administration & reporting optimization


Case Study: a Solar ERP development and customization to Revive 7 Biaxial Tracker Plants Size: 7X1 MWp Location: Puglia and Marche, Italy Type: Double axis trackers Inverters: Kaco, Ingeteam Panels: SunPower, Suntech, CEEG


Status of Portfolio


Phase One Remedial Steps

Improvement via proper monitoring and technical management: •  Accurate in-depth technical inspection

•  Installation of ACTIS (collection and analysis of

telemetry data)

•  Technical fixing and turnaround of plant deficiencies (insulation and communication issues, broken components..)

•  Customization of ACTIS to trackers’ specific needs (remote control, alerting..)


Phase One Remedial Steps

perfect operation of tracking system after ACTIS implementation


Phase Two Remedial Steps

Improvement via Proper Service Management: •  ACTIS alerting fine-tuned to trackers’ typical

tendencies of failure

•  Customization of ACTIS service management functionalities to trackers specific needs

•  Appropriate and in time preventive maintenance

•  Predictive intervention capabilities

•  Dramatic decrease of intervention times


Continuous Improvement

Improvement via Automated Asset Management: •  Complete and automatic visibility on ACTIS of

every plant related contract (technical, administrative or financial) and on the relevant clauses, obligations and KPIs

•  Automatic contract deadline, financial alerting and extensive and customized reporting •  Constant and automatic cross comparison between

plants performances, incidents root causes and specific solutions to optimize performances and resolution services


•  Yield increase: +27%-33% achievable

•  Optimized returns: payback time of 2 months

•  Further plans (implementation of the further actions) : +3-7% PR

Outcome

Watch for Summary Article •  Solar Power World •  Alectris Solar O&M Blog

Connect Online

Find Us at Solar Asset Management

Thank You! More Information

Emanuele Tacchino [email protected] Western Europe & Middle East Mobile: +39-342-8835856

Makis Tzierakis [email protected] Eastern Europe & Africa Mobile: +30-6936-172152

Ken Kostok [email protected] US & LATAM Mobile: +1 562 756 3045

Vassilis Papaeconomou [email protected] Global Managing Director Mobile EU: +30-6944-464679 Mobile US: +1-669-888-6086

Kelly Pickerel Solar Power World [email protected] Twitter: @solarkellyp

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