Plant Maintenance

Photovoltaic Systems Training
Session 4 ‐ Plant Maintenance
Javier Relancio & Luis Recuero
Generalia Group
September 28th 2010
http://www.leonardo-energy.org/training-pv-systems-design-
construction-operation-and-maintenance
PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM
Design, Execution, Operation & Maintenance
PLANT MAINTENANCE
Javier Relancio. Generalia Group. 28/09/2010
www.generalia.es
2
http://www.leonardo-energy.org/training-pv-systems-design-construction-operation-and-maintenance
INDEX
Importance of the plant maintenance during the

operation
Components to maintain
Types of maintenance
Spare parts & stock management
3
INDEX

operation
4
Operation & Maintenance Options (I)
Predictive:
It tries to predict the plant performance in the future, to prevent possible
malfunctions by certain actions. It is only used in plants with suntracking
systems
I.E: If an element life time is supposed to be X years, it can be programmed
to be substituted the year X-1, in order to avoid a serious failure
Preventive:
It tries to set periodical tasks to guarantee the plant lifetime
I.E.: Although the suntracker oil could last for 25 years, we can decide to
change it every 5 years
Corrective:
It tries to repair incidences which have already happened and try to avoid
their repetition.
IE.: Atmospheric phenomenon (such us wind, storms, etc) can damage any
element in the plant. Also, manufacturing defects.
5
Operation & Maintenance Options(II)
Influence of the in-force legislation
Every country can define within its own legislation any type of compulsory
maintenance or control task for PV facilities
If this is the case, this must be integrated in the plant maintenance program.
If there is no legislation for PV facilities, the criteria to implement the maintenance

program will be done according to our decisions, depending on the most important
factors for each plant
6
Operation & Maintenance Options(III)
There are many options to define how the plant maintenance should be done:
It will depend on the plant size
Key points
Issue Options
Maintenance The promoter or installer

Responsible A specialized maintenance company
Continuous presence
Plant staff Intermittent presence
Presence only if an incidence happens
Control & Advanced monitoring system

Supervision Simple monitoring system
System Only inverter monitoring system
Personal
Surveillance
Remote Surveillance System
System
Combination
7
Operation & Maintenance Options (IV)
Depending on the plant size and technology, we should answer the following questions:
Who? How? With which tools?
POWER MW WITH SUNTRACKER WITHOUT SUNTRACKER
0,1‐0,5 MW 1 PERSON. INTERMITTENT INFORMATION FROM THE INVERTERS
0,5‐1 MW 1 PERSON. HALF‐TIME INFORMATION FROM THE INVERTERS
1 PERSON. FULL TIME
1‐2 MW 1 PERSON. HALF‐TIME
WITH MONITORING SYSTEM
2 PERSONS. FULL TIME 1 PERSON. FULL TIME
2‐5 MW
WITH MONITORING SYSTEM WITH MONITORING SYSTEM
FOR EACH 5 MW ADDED .+ 2 PERSON. FULL TIME .+ 1 PERSON. FULL TIME
8
Operation & Maintenance Costs (I)
1. Plant operation & maintenance staff
The training of the maintenance supervisor is essential:

The reparation of possible breakdowns must be done as efficient as
possible
The maintenance responsible must be independent
In a functional level: enough skills to manage the maintenance of one
or several plants by himself
In a documentary level: skills to create and update the records of
maintenance, records of incidents, etc; and to treat the information
Its cost will depend fundamentally on the number of persons (half-
NOTE:
time/full-time) and their skills It is essential for
2. Spare Parts stock management the personnel's
efficiency a
A bad management of supplies can mean complete days of stop of an correct
management of
installation
the spare parts
It is essential to have an updated list of all the spare parts in the plant and consumables
and to assure there is enough quantity
3. Consumable stock management: oil, paint, etc
9
Operation & Maintenance Costs(II)
4. Surveillance system
The reparation, substitution of equipments and other possible defects in the

plant due to thefts, can mean a high cost
Even if we have an insurance: lost production, labor cost for
reinstatements, etc
This reverberates in the need to reduce to 0, as far as possible, this type of
incidents
Options: physical vigilance, TV - vigilance or combination of both
5. Monitoring system
A well implemented supervision of the plant can mean huge savings in the
corrective maintenance
It is important to detect any possible incident before it causes a serious
breakdown
NOTE: for further information about these points: “Webinar 3: Plant Operation”
10
Operation & Maintenance Costs(III)
6. Insurance
It is important to have an insurance that covers from all the effects of

meteorological conditions
it can suppose an important saving
Also the risks of theft or possible damages due to vandalism
There are insurances that they even cover the losses of production
7. Land renting contract
It must clearly specify:

The surface
The terms
The cost*
8. Supplies: Water, light, internet…

* Including the increases
9. Taxes during the years
Depending on each country, we have to consider the cost of the

different taxes
11
Operation & Maintenance Costs(IV)
Conclusion
The annual maintenance & operation costs, referred to the plant cost
can be considered:
Solar plant without suntracker – 1 %
Solar plant with suntracker – 1,3 %
Solar Roof– 0,7 %
Notes:
It has not been taken into account the cost of physical surveillance, which can raise the operation costs,
except for large plants where the unitary repercussion on the production is not so important.
As a rough estimation, the cost per hour of a guard from an outsourcing company is around 11 € per
hour in Spain
12
INDEX

operation
13
Components to be maintained:
The PV module (I)
It is the most massive element within the facility

It has a guarantee for manufacturing defects during its first period of life
Usually, from 3 to 5 years
It has a guarantee for producing with a minimal performance during 25 years
Due to these reasons, this element should never be repaired.

We analyze the panel, if it has any defect, it is replaced by the manufacturer
Panel Analysis: Manufacturing defects
They should be detected visually

Defective frames
Yellowing (The panel becomes yellow)
Defective connection boxes
Broken glass
14
The PV module(II)
Panel Analysis: Production defects (I)
They are harder to be detected, as other components may be involved

It is important to isolate the defect, and confirm it has been produced in the panels
Testing mechanisms
1. To detect which array has the issue
a. Within large facilities: The monitoring system

could control each array separately
b. Within small facilities: we have to do a manual

testing for each array
15
The PV module (III)
Panel Analysis: Production defects (II)
2. To detect the defective panels within the array:
a. Test both the voltage and the current for each panel:
The voltage may be reduced if a cell has any defects
b. The hot spots may produce a voltage

reduction:
They can be detected visually, but a

thermographic camera can help to find
them out
16
The inverter (I)
Type of inverter
The maintenance strategy may vary depending on the type of inverter

Small inverters: to be placed on the wall
Big inverters: to be placed on the ground
Small inverters maintenance
We should have a number of inverters in stock, ready to replace

any defective one
When a malfunction is detected:
The inverter is replaced by one in stock
And it is sent to the factory for its reparation
NOTE: This operation can be done really fast, so that we can avoid
production losses, as if we have a stock we do not depend on third
parties
17
The inverter (II)
Big inverter maintenance

We can find two options:
Manufacturer maintenance Maintenance by our own company

Pros
No need of qualified personnel in the plant The reparation might be done faster
Third party dependence when any incidence happens Need of qualified personnel in the plant,

Cons
It might be profitable from a certain installed
power
Try to avoid sending the inverter to be repaired in the In this case, the spare parts stock
factory management is really important
For large inverters, the cost of the spare parts
It may take more than a week to be repaired can be important
Observaciones
In the contract, it is essential to add a clause for indemnity
in case of production losses
If the reparation takes more than a certain period, the
indemnity may be executed
This period should be less than 48 hours (weekends
included)
NOTE: in any case, if we want to guarantee a fast

reparation we must have spare parts in the plant
18
Components to maintain:
The suntracker
The suntracker has software, mechanical & electrical devices
Mechanical:
Its preventive maintenance is very important:

Motor lubrication
Sensor state supervision
Any corrective measure will be more expensive
Control
The software must be always updated to the last version

The possibility to remotely update the software can reduce the
time to update it locally
NOTE: As in the inverters case, depending on the amount of units, it can be

interesting either to outsource the maintenance of the suntrackers, or to
employ qualified personnel to do it ourselves.
19
Control cabinets, protections & cables (I)
Control cabinets
Preventive: Visual inspection is very important to know

their state.
Punctual: if they are in the open air, if it is important to

check their state after bad weather conditions
For example, after a hard storm, water could have

gone inside the cabinet
If the control cabinet has lost its capabilities, it must be

replaced as soon as possible
20
Control cabinets, protections & cables (II)
Protections
Preventive:
Periodical tests to the protections that allow them will be

done.
Periodical inspections will be done, specially in the

connections
If any defect is detected, the device will be immediately

replaced. The spare part stock is important
NOTE: A bad connection can produce an electrical arc, that may raise
the temperature and cause the device breakdown
21
Control cabinets, protections & cables (III)
Cable
Preventive
To check the connections between the different
equipments
To check those parts where the cable cover can
be damaged
Facilities without suntracker: once the cable installation

has been verified, and its voltage and connection have
been checked, the cable shouldn’t have any problems
Facilities with suntracker: it is important to periodically
check the cable route and test if there are any important
mechanical tensions at any point, which may cause a
serious problem in the future
22
The meter
The meters are solid devices
They have a critical function
Once they are installed and the plant has been commissioned,
the electric company seals them to avoid being operated
Anyway, a preventive maintenance should be done:
To check if the data being sent by the meter is logical, and is the same as the one
we can read at the display
When handling any incidence, we must contact the electric company:
They can send their own personnel
They can allow us to operate the meter
23
INDEX

operation
24
Preventive Maintenance (I)
The preventive maintenance must:

Go as far as possible and as structured as possible.
Be present in all steps: design, execution & operation
Before the plant operation, the preventive maintenance must be taken into
account:
In the plant design In the components provisioning
In the equipment guarantees In the components reception
In the insurance contracting
We cannot think about the plant maintenance

as: “A man with his tools”
25
Preventive Maintenance (II)
During the plant design (I):
Have the parameters of radiation and tilt of the modules been

well studied?
Are we sure that we are not demanding to the plant

operator a performance over the real capabilities of the
plant, due to an optimistic study?
Has the shadowing study been done properly, especially on those plants with suntracking
systems?
We always have to take into account a balance between the losses for shading versus
the optimization of the plot
Has a study of the wind been developed in the zone, in order to properly determine the
suntracker specs?
Have we taken into account the salinity and humidity of the local atmosphere that could
influence the structure and screws?
26
Preventive Maintenance (III)
During the plant design (II):
Has the quality of the soil been studied to verify the

absence of materials that attack the concrete and
may debilitate the fixation to the soil?
Have we checked that all the equipments have the minimal protection level, IP65, to be
installed outdoor?
Are the important components protected by voltage dischargers?
In case of control cabinets or control rooms which contain various devices, such us
inverter or transformers... Do they have an appropriate cooling system?
27
Preventive Maintenance (IV)
During the plant design(III):
Do the electrical cabinets have the enough dimensions to

dissipate the heat of their components, specially during
summer?
Is the section of the cables adapted to avoid voltage drops below the
desirable 0.5 - 1%?
Have we tried to distribute the main elements in several isolated rooms, to

avoid losing the whole production in case of fire or flood?
28
Preventive Maintenance (V)
In the supply of components:

The chosen modules …
Are they certified by a certified laboratory?
Do they fulfill the standard EN 61.215?
Or the one applicable for each country?
Are they a “class II”?
The inverters …
Do they a have reasonable European efficiency, between 94 and 96 %?
Do they a have suitable galvanic protection?
Are the structures galvanized with a minimum thickness of 80 microns

(or equivalent treatment)?
29
Preventive Maintenance (VI)
In the required guarantees for the devices (I)
Nearly all the modules manufacturers guarantee a degradation of

less than 20 % after 25 years, but …
What guarantees does the chosen manufacturer offer for

manufacturing defects?
Is it over 2 years? Is it close to 5 years?
Does the manufacturer guarantee a degradation of less than 10% after 10 years?
NOTE: this point should be specially verified for thin-film modules:
They do not always guarantee it
They can suffer a strong initial degradation
30
Preventive Maintenance (VII)
In the required guarantees for the devices (II)
Is it either the manufacturer or the distributor the one who offers the
guarantee?
If it is the distributor … is he established in our country?
If he is not… does he have the right to sell out of his country?
Is it “guaranteed” the “chain of guarantees"?
Does the contract detail all the guarantees adequately?
For the inverters, have the guarantees been extended to the maximum number of
years (at a reasonable cost)?
Does the manufacturer offer a replacement service, within 24-48 hours?
Does he have a hotline service?
31
Preventive Maintenance (VIII)
At the component reception
Have we done a visual inspection of the modules?
Have we done a selection of the modules by power?
It is not practical a “module by module” electrical measurement
But the classification of the manufacturer " flash list “ can be very useful.
NOTE: For module tolerances of around 5 %, two classifications can be enough
Are the components stored in the suitable conditions during the period of assembly?
Are this same conditions applied for the storage of the spare parts?
32
Preventive Maintenance (IX)
At the insurance contract signature
Has the insurance been contracted with the suitable coverage …?
Atmospheric phenomena
Electrical damages
Thefts
Production Losses
Civil responsibility
With reasonable excess
33
Preventive Maintenance (X)
Preventive maintenance during the plant operation (I)
Key points:
Preventive maintenance Spare parts in the plant
Training Meteorological predictions
Incidence detection Grid connection breakdown

(Electrical company side)
Physical/Remote Surveillance
34
Preventive Maintenance (XI)
Preventive maintenance during the plant operation (II)
It is necessary to define the maintenance tasks and their periodicity

And then create a record of preventive maintenance on every element, with the
date of accomplishment.
Example: Preventive maintenance calendar 20XX
TASK PERIODICITY DATE
Checking the cables state Yearly dd/mm/yyyy
Retightening of the electrical connections Yearly dd/mm/yyyy
… … …
35
Preventive Maintenance (XII)
Preventive maintenance during the plant operation (III)
List of tasks that generally require preventive maintenance:
Earthing system checking in transformers and rest of the facility
Retightening of the electrical connections in the control-cabinets
Voltage dischargers checking
Cable state checking
Module dirtiness checking
Suntrackers deviation according to the position of the sun
Lubrication of the components of the suntrackers
Retightening of the suntrackers screws
Maintenance required by the electrical Companies in the Transformation Center *
36
* It is usually outsourced to the installer of the center
Preventive Maintenance (XIII)
Preventive maintenance during the plant operation (IV)
Maintenance tasks follow-up
Every maintenance task must be logged in individual records for

every device or component
Example: Suntracker record
DATE TASK OBSERVATIONS
15/02/2010 Cable checking Routine
06/03/2010 Suntracker lubrication Routine
… … …
37
Preventive Maintenance (XIV)
Preventive maintenance during the plant operation (V)
Training
This is really important specially if the final client has decided to do the plant
maintenance by his own
The person in charge of the plant maintenance must have an important electrical
formation and reasonable knowledge on solar power.
If the plant is with suntracker, he must also have electromechanical formation
Meteorological predictions
It is really important in plants with suntrackers.
The wind may cause serious damages to the suntrackers
It is a requirement for the suntracker to have protections against the wind:
It can automatically be positioned horizontally when receiving a signal

from the central anemometer
It is recommended that each suntracker has its own wind sensor
38
Preventive Maintenance (XV)
Preventive maintenance during the plant operation (VI)
Incidence detection mechanisms
As the detection of a fire in any building:
Transformation center Meter room
Grid isolating center Control & Supervision Room
Grid breakdown detection (From the company side)
Certain issues from the electrical company can cause the plant disconnection from the
grid
It is important to notify it to the responsible as soon as possible
By an acoustic alarm
By SMS. Specially important during the weekends
NOTE: All these breakdowns could be unnoticed for the electrical company
or, sometimes ignored, and if they are not demonstrable they might not be
recognized or compensated
39
INDEX

operation
40
Stock & Spare Part Management
Spare parts in the plant

If the plant is larger than 500 kW, we have to store spare parts in situ
The “List of Spare parts” must be done evaluating:

If the element is critical (1 - 5)
Malfunction probability (1 - 5)
Delivery time (1 - 5)
MALFUNCTION DELIVERY
ELEMENT CRITICAL TOTAL
PROBABILITY TIME
INVERTER 5 1 3 15
MAGNETOTHERMIC 5 2 1 10
GEAR MOTOR 5 1 4 20
TRANSFORMER 3 1 3 9
… … … …
41
Stock & Spare Part Management
Depending on: Material Material

Each element evaluation Input Output
SOLAR PLANT
Each element price
SUPPLIER
A percentage of Devolution
elements in stock is
Reparation
determined
Between 0,5 to 2%
Management
Note: It can reach a 3% if
the element price is very
Stock
low
Time
42
End of Session 4
Thank you for attending
http://www.leonardo-energy.org/training-pv-systems-design-
construction-operation-and-maintenance
43

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Photovoltaic Systems Training

Importance of the plant maintenance during the

Spare parts & stock management

Importance of the plant maintenance during the

Spare parts & stock management

Influence of the in-force legislation

 If there is no legislation for PV facilities, the criteria to implement the maintenance

Maintenance  The promoter or installer

Control &  Advanced monitoring system

 Who?  How?  With which tools?

POWER MW WITH SUNTRACKER WITHOUT SUNTRACKER

0,1‐0,5 MW 1 PERSON. INTERMITTENT INFORMATION FROM THE INVERTERS

0,5‐1 MW 1 PERSON. HALF‐TIME INFORMATION FROM THE INVERTERS

FOR EACH 5 MW ADDED .+ 2 PERSON. FULL TIME .+ 1 PERSON. FULL TIME

1. Plant operation & maintenance staff

 The training of the maintenance supervisor is essential:

 The reparation, substitution of equipments and other possible defects in the

 It is important to have an insurance that covers from all the effects of

7. Land renting contract

 It must clearly specify:

8. Supplies: Water, light, internet…

 Depending on each country, we have to consider the cost of the

 Solar plant without suntracker – 1 %

 Solar plant with suntracker – 1,3 %

 Solar Roof– 0,7 %

Importance of the plant maintenance during the

Spare parts & stock management

 It is the most massive element within the facility

 Due to these reasons, this element should never be repaired.

Panel Analysis: Manufacturing defects

 They should be detected visually

Panel Analysis: Production defects (I)

 They are harder to be detected, as other components may be involved

1. To detect which array has the issue

a. Within large facilities: The monitoring system

b. Within small facilities: we have to do a manual

Panel Analysis: Production defects (II)

2. To detect the defective panels within the array:

b. The hot spots may produce a voltage

They can be detected visually, but a

 The maintenance strategy may vary depending on the type of inverter

Small inverters maintenance

 We should have a number of inverters in stock, ready to replace

Big inverter maintenance

Manufacturer maintenance Maintenance by our own company

No need of qualified personnel in the plant The reparation might be done faster

Third party dependence when any incidence happens Need of qualified personnel in the plant,

NOTE: in any case, if we want to guarantee a fast

 The suntracker has software, mechanical & electrical devices

 Its preventive maintenance is very important:

 The software must be always updated to the last version

NOTE: As in the inverters case, depending on the amount of units, it can be

 Preventive: Visual inspection is very important to know

 Punctual: if they are in the open air, if it is important to

 For example, after a hard storm, water could have

 If the control cabinet has lost its capabilities, it must be

 Periodical tests to the protections that allow them will be

 Periodical inspections will be done, specially in the

 If any defect is detected, the device will be immediately

 Facilities without suntracker: once the cable installation

 The meters are solid devices

 They have a critical function

If there is no legislation for PV facilities, the criteria to implement the maintenance

Maintenance The promoter or installer

Control & Advanced monitoring system

Who? How? With which tools?

The training of the maintenance supervisor is essential:

The reparation, substitution of equipments and other possible defects in the

It is important to have an insurance that covers from all the effects of

It must clearly specify:

Depending on each country, we have to consider the cost of the

Solar plant without suntracker – 1 %

Solar plant with suntracker – 1,3 %

Solar Roof– 0,7 %

It is the most massive element within the facility

Due to these reasons, this element should never be repaired.

They should be detected visually

They are harder to be detected, as other components may be involved

The maintenance strategy may vary depending on the type of inverter

We should have a number of inverters in stock, ready to replace

The suntracker has software, mechanical & electrical devices

Its preventive maintenance is very important:

The software must be always updated to the last version

Preventive: Visual inspection is very important to know

Punctual: if they are in the open air, if it is important to

For example, after a hard storm, water could have

If the control cabinet has lost its capabilities, it must be

Periodical tests to the protections that allow them will be

Periodical inspections will be done, specially in the

If any defect is detected, the device will be immediately

Facilities without suntracker: once the cable installation

The meters are solid devices

They have a critical function

When handling any incidence, we must contact the electric company:

They can send their own personnel

They can allow us to operate the meter

Have the parameters of radiation and tilt of the modules been

Are we sure that we are not demanding to the plant

Has the quality of the soil been studied to verify the

Are the important components protected by voltage dischargers?

Do the electrical cabinets have the enough dimensions to

Have we tried to distribute the main elements in several isolated rooms, to

Are they certified by a certified laboratory?

Do they fulfill the standard EN 61.215?

Or the one applicable for each country?

Are they a “class II”?

Do they a have reasonable European efficiency, between 94 and 96 %?

Do they a have suitable galvanic protection?

Are the structures galvanized with a minimum thickness of 80 microns

Nearly all the modules manufacturers guarantee a degradation of

What guarantees does the chosen manufacturer offer for

Is it over 2 years? Is it close to 5 years?

NOTE: this point should be specially verified for thin-film modules:

They do not always guarantee it

They can suffer a strong initial degradation

If it is the distributor … is he established in our country?

If he is not… does he have the right to sell out of his country?

Is it “guaranteed” the “chain of guarantees"?

Does the contract detail all the guarantees adequately?

Does the manufacturer offer a replacement service, within 24-48 hours?

Does he have a hotline service?

Have we done a visual inspection of the modules?

Have we done a selection of the modules by power?

It is not practical a “module by module” electrical measurement

Has the insurance been contracted with the suitable coverage …?

With reasonable excess

It is necessary to define the maintenance tasks and their periodicity

Earthing system checking in transformers and rest of the facility

Retightening of the electrical connections in the control-cabinets

Voltage dischargers checking

Cable state checking

Module dirtiness checking

Suntrackers deviation according to the position of the sun

Lubrication of the components of the suntrackers

Retightening of the suntrackers screws