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Importance of good maintenance procedure in the plant operation. • Components to be maintained. o PV Panel. o Inverter. o Transformer. o Solar tracker. o Cabinet. • Types of maintenance o Corrective maintenance. o Preventive Maintenance. • Supplies. o Critical elements. o Guarantees. • Management of spare parts and stock. • Types of inspections and reach o Visual inspections. o Deep inspections. o Frequency of revisions.
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Photovoltaic Systems Training
Session 4 ‐ Plant Maintenance
http://www.leonardo-energy.org/training-pv-systems-design-construction-operation-and-maintenance
Javier Relancio & Luis RecueroGeneralia Group
September 28th 2010
PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM
Design, Execution, Operation & Maintenance
PLANT MAINTENANCE
Javier Relancio. Generalia Group. 28/09/2010www.generalia.es
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INDEX
Importance of the plant maintenance during the operation
Components to maintain
Types of maintenance
Spare parts & stock management
3 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
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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 (I)
Types of maintenance
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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(II)
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There are many options to define how the plant maintenance should be done:
It will depend on the plant size
7
Operation & Maintenance Options(III)
Key points
Issue Options
MaintenanceResponsible
The promoter or installer
A specialized maintenance company
Plant staff
Continuous presence
Intermittent presence
Presence only if an incidence happens
Control & SupervisionSystem
Advanced monitoring system
Simple monitoring system
Only inverter monitoring system
SurveillanceSystem
Personal
Remote Surveillance System
Combination
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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
1‐2 MW1 PERSON. FULL TIME
WITH MONITORING SYSTEM1 PERSON. HALF‐TIME
2‐5 MW2 PERSONS. FULL TIME
WITH MONITORING SYSTEM
1 PERSON. FULL TIME
WITH MONITORING SYSTEM
FOR EACH 5 MW ADDED .+ 2 PERSON. FULL TIME .+ 1 PERSON. FULL TIME
Depending on the plant size and technology, we should answer the following questions:
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Operation & Maintenance Options (IV)
Who? How? With which tools?
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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-
time/full-time) and their skills
2. Spare Parts stock management
A bad management of supplies can mean complete days of stop of an
installation
It is essential to have an updated list of all the spare parts in the plant
and to assure there is enough quantity
3. Consumable stock management: oil, paint, etc
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Operation & Maintenance Costs (I)
NOTE: It is essential for the personnel's
efficiency a correct
management of the spare parts
and consumables
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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
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Operation & Maintenance Costs(II)
NOTE: for further information about these points: “Webinar 3: Plant Operation”
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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…
9. Taxes
Depending on each country, we have to consider the cost of the
different taxes 11
Operation & Maintenance Costs(III)
* Including the increases during the years
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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 %
Operation & Maintenance Costs(IV)
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
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INDEX
Importance of the plant maintenance during the operation
Components to maintain
Types of maintenance
Spare parts & stock management
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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
They should be detected visually
Defective frames
Yellowing (The panel becomes yellow)
Defective connection boxes
Broken glass
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
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Components to be maintained:The PV module(II)
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
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
Panel Analysis: Production defects (I)
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Components to be maintained:The PV module (III)
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
Panel Analysis: Production defects (II)
b. The hot spots may produce a voltage
reduction:
They can be detected visually, but a
thermographic camera can help to find
them out
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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
Components to be maintained: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
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Components to be maintained: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
Cons
Third party dependence when any incidence happens Need of qualified personnel in the plant, It might be profitable from a certain installed power
Observacion
es
Try to avoid sending the inverter to be repaired in the factory
It may take more than a week to be repaired
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)
In this case, the spare parts stock management is really importantFor large inverters, the cost of the spare parts can be important
NOTE: in any case, if we want to guarantee a fast reparation we must have spare parts in the plant
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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
Components to maintain:The suntracker
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.
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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
Components to maintain:Control cabinets, protections & cables (I)
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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
Components to maintain:Control cabinets, protections & cables (II)
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Components to maintain:Control cabinets, protections & cables (III)
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
Cable
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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
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
Components to maintain:The meter
Anyway, a preventive maintenance should be done:
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INDEX
Importance of the plant maintenance during the operation
Components to maintain
Types of maintenance
Spare parts & stock management
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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:
Preventive Maintenance (I)
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”
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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?
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Preventive Maintenance (II)
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?
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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?
Preventive Maintenance (III)
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?
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During the plant design(III):
Do the electrical cabinets have the enough dimensions to
dissipate the heat of their components, specially during
summer?
Preventive Maintenance (IV)
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?
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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)?
Preventive Maintenance (V)
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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?
Preventive Maintenance (VI)
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
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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?
Preventive Maintenance (VII)
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?
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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?
Preventive Maintenance (VIII)
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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
Preventive Maintenance (IX)
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Key points:
Preventive maintenance Spare parts in the plant
Training Meteorological predictions
Incidence detection Grid connection breakdown(Electrical company side)
Physical/Remote Surveillance
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Preventive Maintenance (X)
Preventive maintenance during the plant operation (I)
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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
… … …
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Preventive Maintenance (XI)
Preventive maintenance during the plant operation (II)
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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 *
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Preventive Maintenance (XII)
Preventive maintenance during the plant operation (III)
* It is usually outsourced to the installer of the center
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DATE TASK OBSERVATIONS
15/02/2010 Cable checking Routine
06/03/2010 Suntracker lubrication Routine
… … …
Preventive Maintenance (XIII)
Maintenance tasks follow-up
Preventive maintenance during the plant operation (IV)
Every maintenance task must be logged in individual records for every device or component
Example: Suntracker record
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Preventive Maintenance (XIV)
Meteorological predictions
Preventive maintenance during the plant operation (V)
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
Training
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
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Preventive Maintenance (XV)
Grid breakdown detection (From the company side)
Preventive maintenance during the plant operation (VI)
As the detection of a fire in any building:
Incidence detection mechanisms
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
Transformation center
Grid isolating center
Meter room
Control & Supervision Room
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
INDEX
Importance of the plant maintenance during the operation
Components to maintain
Types of maintenance
Spare parts & stock management
40 http://www.leonardo-energy.org/training-pv-systems-design-construction-operation-and-maintenance
Spare parts in the plantIf 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)
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Stock & Spare Part Management
ELEMENT CRITICALMALFUNCTION
PROBABILITY
DELIVERY
TIMETOTAL
INVERTER 5 1 3 15
MAGNETOTHERMIC 5 2 1 10
GEAR MOTOR 5 1 4 20
TRANSFORMER 3 1 3 9
… … … …
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Depending on:
Each element evaluation
Each element price
A percentage of
elements in stock is
determined
Between 0,5 to 2%
Note: It can reach a 3% if
the element price is very
low
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Sto
ckTime
SUPP
LIER
SOLA
R PLAN
T
Material Input
Material Output
Devolution
Reparation
Management
Stock & Spare Part Management
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End of Session 4
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