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5 Ways to Avoid Solar Downtime & Energy Loss Using Controls & Monitoring
For preventable PV downtime issues, data collected and analyzed by controls and monitoring can help significantly minimize downtime and energy loss.
5 Ways to Avoid Solar Downtime & Energy Loss Using Controls & Monitoring
SCADA systems can help prevent curtailment, overheated inverters, and tracker malfunctions.
By: Adam Baker
When solar downtime occurs, the last thing owners/operators want to be is in the dark. But I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen energy loss onsite and thought: This was totally preventable. If only they had installed (or correctly configured) a controls and monitoring system for their solar site.
QF sites less than 5MW rarely implement controls. After all, they’re not required. However, it may be in the owner’s best interest to put one in anyway. I want to talk about five specific scenarios of downtime or energy loss that I’ve personally seen that are completely avoidable through the use of a good SCADA system.
Of course, there are a few downtime scenarios controls can’t fix. For example, when an inverter shuts down because it detects an overvoltage due to a lightning strike. Or, when an inverter detects a ground fault. Those are just the unavoidable risks of owning a utility-scale solar plant, and fortunately don’t happen frequently.
But, for PV downtime issues that are actually preventable, the data collected and analyzed by your controls and monitoring system can help significantly minimize downtime and unnecessary energy loss.
Avoid Utility Discrete Curtailment Through Analog Curtailment
A common reason your site might encounter downtime is due to congestion on the distribution system. If there isn’t enough demand, the utility will open your site’s recloser.
I first ran into this problem in southern California. Imperial Irrigation District (IID), the utility, provides power to the patch of dirt southeast of San Diego. Their grid is full of solar and wind, but hardly any thermal generation. Providing power to farm land means their load is very light. In early spring and late fall, their excess of renewables and lack of load means certain curtailment. The load is so low that they remotely trip off sites up to 20MW on a daily basis.
If the utility has a congestion issue, they think they only have two options. Keep your site on, or cut access. In reality, there’s a third option…if you have the controls for it.
Obviously, it’s in your best interest to deliver some energy (over none). With active power curtailment configured in your site’s control system, you can work with the utility to keep your site running with a reduced output. All you need is the utility’s set point or parameter they use in their curtailment logic.
FYI – smaller utilities, especially co-ops, are much more likely to be on board with this idea than giant utilities, because giant utilities don’t typically have a set point for small sites. Rather, they have enough large units to be able to shed 20 5MW sites and keep the turbines spinning.
If you leave it up to the utility to decide if they want your facility online or not, you have no say in the matter. However, if you have the ability to run at less than full input, they are less likely to trip you offline altogether. After all, a generator that can ramp up quickly is better to have ready than starting up a whole spinning generator from idle.
In fact, in the California example I shared above, IID would shut gas plants off before the solar sites that had variable output. The sites that have the most flexibility stayed on the longest.
Monitor & Alarm On Inverter Internal Temperature
Another common reason an inverter may completely stop is due to a high internal temperature condition. This is a major downtime issue that will send an entire inverter offline and drag output well below acceptable levels.
The good news is, it’s completely preventable with a simple monitoring solution. A decent SCADA monitoring system is able to correlate inverter internal temperature variance with external temperature to determine if there are maintenance activities that would be required.
A clogged air filter, for example. If the air filter is clogged in an air-cooled inverter, the inverter will have reduced air flow and the internal temperature will rise above normal levels. This condition can be created quickly if a nearby farmer is turning a field, or if landscaping is mowing vegetation onsite.
Not only can a SCADA system detect that issue, but its alarming functionality can also warn the operator and help determine when maintenance activities should occur.
Monitor Max Current Load From Tracker Actuators
This situation is something I like to call soft downtime. It’s still negatively affecting energy output, but is less dramatic than curtailment and offline inverter issues.
Say a tracker actuator stops working. The good news is, for at least most the day, you’ll still make energy. The bad news is, you’re not running at optimal. If just one tracker goes bad, you might still be within a normal output range. If several defects affect multiple trackers, you might wind up with a big problem.
RELATED: Solar Tracker Monitoring: You’re Doing It Wrong
Use a monitoring system to gauge the max current load each tracker actuator draws over the course of the day. By trending each tracker’s normalized, max daily current over time, the data will visually indicate when problems start to develop.
Advantages & Disadvantages of Solar Energy
Adopt solar as your renewable energy source to save on your electricity bills. Learn about 10 compelling pros and cons of installing solar panels at home.
Pros and Cons of Solar Energy
Pros and Cons of Solar Energy What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages?
Did you know that the energy sun provides to the earth for one hour could meet the global energy needs for one year? Undoubtedly, the sun is a powerful energy source, and even though we are not able but to collect a fraction of this energy, yet harnessing this power by installing solar panels can make a significant difference to the planet.
While it has been widely criticised for being expensive or inefficient, solar energy has now proved to be extremely beneficial – not only for the environment but also for the private economy.
Thanks to available solar panel grants, as well as, the increasingly competitive prices in the market, solar energy has become the main source of energy for more and more families. The technology has been drastically improved the last years and has been complemented by solar battery storage systems, turning solar into a significantly more efficient source of clean energy.
However, there are always downsides no matter the energy source you choose to analyse. GreenMatch has outlined the key advantages and disadvantages of solar power in the following points:
Pros and Cons of Solar EnergyAdvantages of Solar Energy Disadvantages of Solar Energy
Renewable Energy Source Cost
Reduces Electricity Bills Weather Dependent
Diverse Applications Solar Energy Storage is Expensive
Low Maintenance Costs Uses a Lot of Space
Technology Development Associated with Pollution
Advantages of Solar Energy
1. Renewable Energy Source
Among all the benefits of solar panels, the most important thing is that solar energy is a truly renewable energy source. It can be harnessed in all areas of the world and is available every day. We cannot run out of solar energy, unlike some of the other sources of energy.
Solar energy will be accessible as long as we have the sun, therefore sunlight will be available to us for at least 5 billion years when according to scientists the sun is going to die.
2. Reduces Electricity Bills
Since you will be meeting some of your energy needs with the electricity your solar system has generated, your energy bills will drop. How much you save on your bill will be dependent on the size of the solar system and your electricity or heat usage.
For example, if you are a business using commercial solar panels this switch can have huge benefits because the large system size can cover large chunks of your energy bills.
Moreover, not only will you be saving on the electricity bill, but there is also a possibility to receive payments for the surplus energy that you export back to the grid through the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG). If you generate more electricity than you use (considering that your solar panel system is connected to the grid).
3. Diverse Applications
Solar energy can be used for diverse purposes. You can generate electricity (photovoltaics) or heat (solar thermal). Solar energy can be used to produce electricity in areas without access to the energy grid, to distil water in regions with limited clean water supplies and to power satellites in space.
Solar energy can also be integrated into the materials used for buildings. Not long ago Sharp introduced transparent solar energy windows.
4. Low Maintenance Costs
Solar energy systems generally don’t require a lot of maintenance. You only need to keep them relatively clean, so cleaning them a couple of times per year will do the job. If in doubt, you can always rely on specialised cleaning companies, which offer this service from around £25-£35.
Most reliable solar panel manufacturers offer 20-25 years warranty.
Also, as there are no moving parts, there is no wear and tear. The inverter is usually the only part that needs to be changed after 5-10 years because it is continuously working to convert solar energy into electricity and heat (solar PV vs. solar thermal). Apart from the inverter, the cables also need maintenance to ensure your solar power system runs at maximum efficiency.
So, after covering the initial cost of the solar system, you can expect very little spending on maintenance and repair work.
5. Technology Development
Technology in the solar power industry is constantly advancing and improvements will intensify in the future. Innovations in quantum physics and nanotechnology can potentially increase the effectiveness of solar panels and double, or even triple, the electrical input of the solar power systems.
The 2 Ways to Get the Best Solar Panel Deal
Solar Energy: Benefits and Drawbacks
What are the pros and cons of solar energy? Learn about the costs, materials, sustainability, and environmental issues related to solar energy.
INVESTING SUSTAINABLE INVESTING
Solar Energy: Benefits and Drawbacks
By MATTHEW JOHNSTON Updated August 05, 2022
Reviewed by JEFREDA R. BROWN
Fact checked by KATRINA MUNICHIELLO
Solar Energy: An Overview
With the growing threat of climate change due to the excessive release of carbon emissions, many nations are looking to clean energy alternatives to replace traditional fossil fuels.
Of all the clean energy alternatives, solar has arguably been the most expensive though prices have been declining. However, after considering the pros and cons along with the expectation that prices will continue to decline, the future of solar energy is looking rather bright.
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The pros of solar energy include that it is a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels and has a low impact on the environment and the potential for any country to produce it. The cons are that it only produces energy when the sun is shining, needs a significant amount of land, and that certain solar technologies require rare materials.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Solar energy is becoming an increasingly cost-competitive alternative to fossil fuels.
Solar energy is a sustainable energy source, has a low environmental impact, and promotes energy independence.
On the other hand, it is limited by how long the sun is out, may cause a scarcity of materials, and contains hazardous materials similar to electronics.
Pricey disadvantages of solar energy may be rendered negligible by technological advances that increase efficiency and storage capacity.
Increasing the incentives for the development of solar energy may be worthwhile.
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The Advantages of Solar Energy
Sustainability
The advantage of solar energy is that it is a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels. While fossil fuels have an expiration date that may be fast approaching, the sun is likely to be around for at least a few billion years.
Low Environmental Impact
Solar energy has a substantially reduced impact on the environment compared to fossil fuels. Its greenhouse gas emissions are inconsequential as the technology does not require any fuel combustion. Also, although concentrating solar thermal plants (CSP) are comparatively inefficient in their water usage depending on the type of technology being used, the right technology significantly increases efficiency while photovoltaic (PV) solar cells do not require any water when generating electricity.
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Solar energy technology is becoming an increasingly cost-competitive alternative to fossil fuels, though it remains somewhat expensive in certain markets.
Energy Independence
Since the sun shines across the globe, it makes every country a potential energy producer, thus allowing for greater energy independence and security. Solar energy doesn’t only promise to bring security and independence at the national level; solar panels can be installed on individual homes, providing power that does not depend on being connected to a larger electrical grid.
The Disadvantages of Solar Energy
Intermittency
One of the biggest problems that solar energy technology poses is that energy is only generated while the sun is shining. That means nighttime and overcast days can interrupt the supply. The shortage created by this interruption would not be a problem if there were low-cost ways of storing energy as extremely sunny periods can actually generate excess capacity. As the global capacity for solar power continues to rise, nations like Japan and other global leaders in solar energy technology are focusing on developing adequate energy storage to deal with this issue.
Land Use
Another concern is that solar energy may take up a significant amount of land and cause land degradation or habitat loss for wildlife. While solar PV systems can be fixed to already existing structures, larger utility-scale PV systems may require up to 3.5 to 10 acres per megawatt and CSP facilities require anywhere from 4 to 16.5 acres per megawatt.
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However, the impact can be reduced by placing facilities in low-quality areas or along existing transportation and transmission corridors.
Scarcity of Materials
Certain solar technologies require rare materials in their production. This, however, is primarily a problem for PV technology rather than CSP technology. Also, it is not so much a lack of known reserves as much as it is the inability of current production to meet future demand: Many of the rare materials are byproducts of other processes rather than the focus of targeted mining efforts. Recycling PV material and advances in nanotechnology that increase solar-cell efficiency could both help boost supply, but perhaps finding material substitutes that exist in greater abundance could play a role.
An Environmental Downside
The one environmental downside to solar technology is that it contains many of the same hazardous materials as electronics. As solar becomes a more popular energy source, the problem of disposing the hazardous waste becomes an additional challenge. However, assuming the challenge of proper disposal is met, the reduced greenhouse gas emissions that solar energy offers make it an attractive alternative to fossil fuels.