With solar operations and maintenance experiencing significant price pressure, adequate fault detection that occurs as quickly as possible has become increasingly important for asset operators. Here, 3E’s Julien Deckx explores early fault detection strategies for solar PV plants.
PV Evolution Labs (PVEL) and Quantified Energy Labs (QE Labs) are to offer drone inspection services for the US solar market after the duo signed an exclusive agreement.
As solar finds itself deployed in further and more far flung climes, it is also having to operate in increasingly harsher climates. In this article, VDE Renewables assesses how such climates affect PV performance and what must be taken into consideration when formulating O&M strategies.
Prior to 2019, there was an ample number of insurers willing to provide renewable energy insurance, leading to plentiful, affordable cover being available for solar power project finance transactions. However, with increased claims and risks, price rises and lower availability of cover is impacting the sector. Duncan Gordon, head of Renewable Energy at specialist energy insurance brokerage and risk management firm Gallagher, provides an overview of how solar power project owners can navigate a challenging insurance market.
Solar PV has taken off in the MENA region in recent years, driven by positive governmental policy, prominent tenders and decarbonisation targets. But challenges remain, both for smaller companies wishing to enter the market and in the operation of plants. Molly Lempriere takes a look at the market drivers and the challenges of competing.
Later this year, a new set of industry guidelines will for the first time codify a set of best practices for EPC contractors. Ahead of publication, members of Solar Power Europe’s O&M task force look at some of the critical areas of PV system integration where high-quality EPC work can most effectively influence a project’s lifetime performance
The use of unmanned aerial vehicles in solar operations and maintenance can reduce costs and save hours of painstaking labour, but only if applied correctly. Aline Kirsten Vidal de Oliveira, Mohammadreza Aghae and Ricardo Rüther explore the optimal use of aerial inspections and emerging methods for analysing the data they gather to identify faults.
