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PV System Predictive Maintenance: Challenges, Current Approaches, and Opportunities

Author

Listed:
  • Lisa B. Bosman

    (Purdue Polytechnic Institute, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA)

  • Walter D. Leon-Salas

    (Purdue Polytechnic Institute, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA)

  • William Hutzel

    (Purdue Polytechnic Institute, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA)

  • Esteban A. Soto

    (Purdue Polytechnic Institute, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA)

Abstract

Within the United States solar energy industry, there is a general motto of “set it and forget it” with solar energy. This notion is derived from much of the research and reliability studies around the photovoltaic (PV) panels themselves, not necessarily the PV system as a whole (including the inverter and other components). This implies that maintenance and regular monitoring is not needed. Yet many things can go wrong to cause the actual performance to deviate from the expected performance. If failures and/or unanticipated degradation issues go undetected, they will lead to reduced energy generation (and associated electricity credits) and/or potential loss of component warranty because of manufacturer turnover. Given the size of the problem and gaps with current solutions, the authors propose that PV system owners need an unbiased third-party off-the-shelf system-level predictive maintenance tool to optimize return-on-investment and minimize time to warranty claim in PV installations. This paper reviews the literature highlighting challenges, current approaches, and opportunities for PV predictive maintenance. The paper concludes with a call to action for establishing a collaborative agenda toward prioritizing PV predictive maintenance.

Suggested Citation

  • Lisa B. Bosman & Walter D. Leon-Salas & William Hutzel & Esteban A. Soto, 2020. "PV System Predictive Maintenance: Challenges, Current Approaches, and Opportunities," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-16, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:13:y:2020:i:6:p:1398-:d:333453
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    7. Gallardo-Saavedra, Sara & Hernández-Callejo, Luis & Duque-Pérez, Oscar, 2019. "Quantitative failure rates and modes analysis in photovoltaic plants," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 825-836.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Marta Redondo & Carlos A. Platero & Antonio Moset & Fernando Rodríguez & Vicente Donate, 2023. "Soiling Modelling in Large Grid-Connected PV Plants for Cleaning Optimization," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-13, January.
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    4. Yousef Alharbi & Ahmed Darwish & Xiandong Ma, 2023. "A Comprehensive Review of Distributed MPPT for Grid-Tied PV Systems at the Sub-Module Level," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-23, July.
    5. Hamid Iftikhar & Eduardo Sarquis & P. J. Costa Branco, 2021. "Why Can Simple Operation and Maintenance (O&M) Practices in Large-Scale Grid-Connected PV Power Plants Play a Key Role in Improving Its Energy Output?," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-29, June.
    6. Hanif, Sarmad & Alam, M.J.E. & Fotedar, Vanshika & Crawford, Alasdair & Vartanian, Charlie & Viswanathan, Vilayanur, 2022. "Managing the techno-economic impacts of partial string failure in multistring energy storage systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 307(C).
    7. Ana Carolina Kulik & Édwin Augusto Tonolo & Alberto Kisner Scortegagna & Jardel Eugênio da Silva & Jair Urbanetz Junior, 2021. "Analysis of Scenarios for the Insertion of Electric Vehicles in Conjunction with a Solar Carport in the City of Curitiba, Paraná—Brazil," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-15, August.
    8. Duberney Murillo-Yarce & José Alarcón-Alarcón & Marco Rivera & Carlos Restrepo & Javier Muñoz & Carlos Baier & Patrick Wheeler, 2020. "A Review of Control Techniques in Photovoltaic Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-21, December.
    9. Michael W. Hopwood & Lekha Patel & Thushara Gunda, 2022. "Classification of Photovoltaic Failures with Hidden Markov Modeling, an Unsupervised Statistical Approach," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-12, July.
    10. Soto, Esteban A. & Bosman, Lisa B. & Wollega, Ebisa & Leon-Salas, Walter D., 2022. "Comparison of net-metering with peer-to-peer models using the grid and electric vehicles for the electricity exchange," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 310(C).
    11. Joong-Woo Shin & Kwang-Hoon Yoon & Hui-Seok Chai & Jae-Chul Kim, 2022. "Reliability-Centered Maintenance Scheduling of Photovoltaic Components According to Failure Effects," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-15, March.
    12. Esteban A. Soto & Andrea Hernandez-Guzman & Alexander Vizcarrondo-Ortega & Amaya McNealey & Lisa B. Bosman, 2022. "Solar Energy Implementation for Health-Care Facilities in Developing and Underdeveloped Countries: Overview, Opportunities, and Challenges," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-17, November.
    13. Gabriella-Stefánia Szabó & Róbert Szabó & Loránd Szabó, 2022. "A Review of the Mitigating Methods against the Energy Conversion Decrease in Solar Panels," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-21, September.
    14. Gianfranco Di Lorenzo & Erika Stracqualursi & Leonardo Micheli & Salvatore Celozzi & Rodolfo Araneo, 2022. "Prognostic Methods for Photovoltaic Systems’ Underperformance and Degradation: Status, Perspectives, and Challenges," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-6, September.

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