Meta Description: Assessment and analysis of solar KPIs yields improved performance of the SPV thereby achieving optimized operation and development of the contractual KPI. Data obtained from contractual KPIs keeps you well informed about the on-going project and initiates the essential action to boost the Solar performance ratio of a mere 77%, which can degrade with time.
Contractual KPI refers to the key performance indicator between multiple stakeholders.
A Contractual KPI is a precise, achievable , quantifiable and time bound goal enclosed in an agreement which invokes the successful operation of its components. Solar KPIs personifies the overall contract objective
By undergoing a survey of KPI for solar power plant various technical and domestic issues can be addressed to further maintenance of plant at minimal operational cost.
Role of KPI in the power generation industry
Although the primary purpose of KPI is to discover inaccuracy related to design, improper installation, failure of apparatus, breakage, and untimely aging of equipments, a Solar Performance matrix is highly efficient when the size and no of solar panels are to be maintained to yield at least 25% of operational efficiency during cloudy days.
What happens when there is a lack of KPIs
Lack of Contractual KPIs can lead to low maintenance, roof - orientation and angle dislocation, shading and roof material discoloration incurring unexpected challenges in solar electrification to the entrepreneur.
Not providing the contracted energy can leads to critical issues to the Solar PV plant performance, hence in a saas agreement, a specification for solar as a service is the main objective
This requires the services providers to ensure the solar panels along with solar inverter mounting, and monitoring system as installed. Also it is required of the contractual KPI to specify the plan, longevity, surfacing, feature and functionality, etc of the PV systems
Brief layout for understanding KPI's in solar pv
Understanding solar KPIs allows depositors and shareholders to get a wider imagination of the information related to equipment, technology, area, design, layout, location, and exposure level .In this article a range of KPIs are going to be discussed, the fig below depicts the links between input and total solar energy production solar “KPI”, the figure shows commodities who are in charge of providing supply inputs, users of solar power, and the concerned by the solar KPI’s
Various organizations get hold of numerous Solar KPIs in their company, here are the five KPIs in SPV commonly used in assessment and yield optimized results in SPV:
Performance Ratio (PR) is a vital grade of metrics in general for power generation units. It is a ratio that compares the concrete electrical power generated against estimated theoretical values.
On running a plant at least for 25% efficiency and obtaining practical results shows that many factors such as weather, design of the site, and efficiency errors. A slight lower value of PR is a prime indicator of a prevailing technical issue that may be preventing a property from operating optimally.
When a simulation is carried on PV systems, the solar performance ratio of floating PV system is 76.39% and that of a rooftop PV system is 82.69%.
Although there is variation in the estimated values of solar performance matrix to the actual value, the performance ratio from mathematical calculations of the former is 80.24% and the later is 73.41%.
“Weather” has remarkably been playing a dominant role by altering PR by varying the module temperature. This is a striking feature of measure for most financiers because it helps you to decide the location which provides maximum productivity for the plant.
For example if you have to yield a higher PR and generate more electricity a colder site area is suitable. While this dependency on weather introduces a partial error in the measurement of PR, which may turn out to be risky for performance.
The following parameters bring in a natural change in the solar power plant output as the weather varies :
1. The plant output may change with the changes in temperature approximately ~0.5% per degree C.
2. Irradiance can typically vary from 5%-10%.
3. Subjective to a variation in the reaction of the Plant PV module and irradiance sensor spectrum can vary up to 3%.
A solar power plant moderately operates at higher temperatures and in isolation conditions but generally, a solar PV module is rated at 25 °C below 1 kW/m2
A worldwide accepted formula of the Performance Ratio (PR) of a solar plant time is:
PR= energy metric (in kWh)/(Irradiance(kWh/m2) on the panel x Active area of PV module(m2) x PV module efficiency).
According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the customary value of PR for a new C&I PV system is 77%, time and again the PR of the system is implicitly possible to degrade
Irradiation: Irradiance is measured as an immediate capacity of solar power spread over a particular area. It is the smallest amount of solar isolation that is essential to generate electricity is 100-200 W/m2 which is sufficient enough to operate one light and fan deliberately
Irradiation is defined as the quantity of solar radiation received on a unit area on a given surface (W/m2) whereas solar radiation is the total Electromagnetic radiation discharged by the sun
let’s check what is CUF(Capacity Utilization Factor means)?
It’s the ratio of the actual output from a solar plant over the year (kWh) to the maximum possible output from it for a year (kWh) under ideal conditions, given by
CUF=Actual plant Output in a year Installed plant capacity in kW*365*24
It is estimated that, DC CUF of 18-19% for fixed tilt plant in India and DC CUF of a tracker solar plant goes beyond 22-23% in India
While solar PV CUF in the US ranges between 13%-19% average rounded off to 16%, however the US Energy Information Agency published a table of result showcasing CUF average to be around 28% for a Utility sized plant in the US, and DC CUF of 18% for OECD Europe and for Non OECD Europe is 17%.
Plant Availability is a parameter which measures the total up-time of an SPV. The access to the plant decreases with the factors like offline servicing, down maintenance, or service disruption. Greater availability of the plant yields maximum production.
Factors which affect the plant availability are based on :
Time-based availability: Solar panels start operating at 6 am but the output is really low at this time due to scanty sun rays, steadily sun light starts to increase at mid-day, sun light reaches maximum and consequently, at the end of the day. SPV stops working early evening around 6 to 7 pm.
Here is the formula to calculate the peak solar irradiation, Solar peak hrs formula = 1 peak sun hour = 1000 W/m² of sunlight per hour.
Time and capacity-based availability: A device used to measure the SPV output in a day - for appropriate measuring is a multimeter (DC voltage and current measurement) and a few resistors that have a power rating a bit higher than the power rating of the solar panel.
The formula entails measuring the voltage across the panel by connecting it to different resistor tabs. This will let you establish the voltage-current curve for the panel.
Energy-based availability: For an SPV, if the plant is operating at 100% availability, the total energy output in watt-hours is a measure of power rating*number of hours the plant is running,
For example, if a 100 MW plant operating at its highest energy output for an entire day, max energy produced would be 100MW*24hrs=2400MWh
Variation in actual and expected production: This method of metrics allows you to identify the efficiency of the SPV plant by comparing actual v/s expected output.
The expected output is often governed by weather forecast data that is provided by the weather station, the accuracy of calculation depends on the location of the weather station and the real distance between them.
Your SPV panel should not be closely located to the weather station to avoid loss of production.
Annual Operating Score (AOP) of SPV this is a term called operating factor which is used to approximate the actual output from a PV module. A typical operating factor value ranges between 0.60 and 0.90 for a Solar KPI under normal operating situation, these factors also depend on temperature, dust or snow on the module, etc…certain operations govern the operating scores of a Contractual KPI for Solar ,they are:
1. Field Activities: Service providers of SPV take care of regular cleaning of solar cells and associated PV panels. This includes timely maintenance of all powered apparatus
Servicing of LT and HT side of types of equipment
Detection and testing of low-performing SPV
Testing and correction of circuits
Management of routine curves like IV and Thermal, measuring of earth values.
2. Major maintenance: regular repairs of Panel parts such as surface dust removal, washing with soft water, and gentle wiping of panels using a soft sponge.
Regular checking of dents and defects such as cracks, fogged glazing, discoloration, leaks, etc…coupled with regular replacement of ill-performing parts
Monitoring of module frames used for mounting the panel to ensure firmness, rust-free bolts and joints, wires, and casing checkups to be checked for rodents bites and chewing
3. Preventive maintenance: This is the task of performing regular checkups at the scheduled time to prevent future unexpected failures or collapses in apparatus, and ecological settings at the site like aquatic, flurry, pollen, moisture, sand, flora and fauna, and warranty issues.
4. Compliance Renewable: This is a long-term aspect of Contractual KPI through which a company consents to procure electricity straight from a renewable energy producer. This agreement brings financial certainty to you and the project producer, thereby removing a large barrier to building new renewable services.
5. Annual maintenance: for a successful long-term operation of SPV, an effective O&M approach is adopted such as regular unit cleanout.
Conclusion:
Solar KPIs provide assistance to the contractor’s to measure of advancement and achieve the targeted goals against agreements. Contractual KPIs play a significant role in driving forward the required action. Providing loads of information on solar plant performance is a growing challenge for operators and stakeholders, thereby accessing KPIs for solar is increasingly an essential tool to pick up data and improve the project’s proficiency.
Having the right KPIs in place for an investor gives him clarity and an ability to meet the expected ROI in terms of having a reliable and trustworthy data for the invested SPV.
The solar technology of the Renewable energy sector is increasingly aiming to evolve and adapt to higher rates of complexity which follow, but the energy sector is on the right path to solve the data redundancy.
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