Operations & Maintenance

The biodiversity benefits of a solar farm can help garner support. Tom Kenning looks at the scientific understanding of PV’s ecological impact.

Solar cannot be regarded as a 'set and forget' technology and must be fully maintained to prevent systemic underperformance.

Chinese, Indian and American companies have strengthened their positions atop the solar industry’s EPC rankings, according to Wiki-Solar.

As solar projects become more complex, Typical Meteorological Year data is holding the industry back, according to Solargis' Marcel Suri.

Speakers at LSSEU in Lisbon said that underperformance is a "massive" problem in the PV industry, which can be solved with "good data".

Inaccurate energy yield predictions can lead to financial miscalculations, suboptimal designs and unexpected underperformance of PV plants.

A recent report from the European trade association SolarPower Europe (SPE) has highlighted the use of data-driven techniques, industry 4.0 solutions and robotics as some of the key trends in operations and maintenance (O&M) for the solar industry.

Amid the transition to more decentralised energy systems, solar projects are exposed to new cybersecurity risks, says SolarEdge's Uri Sadot.

Damaging hailstorms can occur frequently across states like Texas and Illinois which have become major utility-scale solar markets.

A round-up of last week's news from China, including UtmoLight, the Mingyang Smart Energy Group and Leapting.