Engineering services company Solar Support has rolled out a diagnostic equipment maintenance program that uses analytics to assess the health of central inverters in utility-scale PV systems. Backed by 22 years of inverter and power electronics troubleshooting, the program supports both predictive and corrective O&M.
Solar Support engineers analyze internal inverter data to evaluate components, pinpoint impending issues and failure trends, and help plant managers identify and source the right parts for rapid repairs.
Solar Support
“With thousands of aging inverters in the field — many under high utility PPAs and elapsing warranties — accurate diagnostic maintenance is more important than ever,” said Cliff Myers, Solar Support chief engineer and co-founder. “Unlike service alternatives that can take days, we help asset owners understand and correct the cause of their inverter issues in under 24 hours.”
The maintenance program comprises two intelligent services: data analysis, which diagnoses failures once they occur and predictive data analysis, which evaluates failure trends before they become a problem. Both services include prescriptive recommendations and can be combined with technical troubleshooting support and training to help teams resolve tough equipment issues. Solar Support also provides detailed replacement part recommendations to ensure field efficiencies.
Solar Support data analysis capabilities currently include inverters from major manufacturers.
“We’ve seen incredible success with our data analyses,” Myers said. “With 7,800 utility inverters in our network, our analyses have resolved 100% of issues—98% after one review. This keeps truck rolls at a minimum.”
From the start, Solar Support founders recognized the industry’s need for an open-source database of inverter fault code resolutions to help technicians anywhere troubleshoot equipment. Today the company’s online knowledge portal offers complimentary and open access to nearly 1,000 inverter fault resolutions. Solar Support welcomes collaboration with all manufacturers to help equipment users access diagnostics easily.
News item from Solar Support
Great input Solarman! Thanks for sharing your valuable perspectives.
We are all working towards the same goal of keeping valuable PV equipment running at their peak. OEMs are constantly innovating new features and advantages through R&D and product development to further plant efficiencies. After-sales service is important but at times harder to support in a scalable, cost-effective way.
Solar Support is focused on just that. Aftermarket solutions to keep vintage equipment running better, longer. Our approach is to support the industry and our OEM partners with reliability solutions — like the ones described here in this announcement. We compliment O&M providers in offering specialty parts and other resources to minimize production and revenue losses associated with equipment failures.
Over the past two years our business has matured and evolved to meet the needs of utility PV. We started out with an utopian idea of providing a free and open-source equipment fault-code and diagnostics database — for all technicians everywhere. Here we are a couple years later with a portfolio of aftermarket and reliability solutions. Look forward to a future with more ideas to support utility, C&I, and residential solar.
““With thousands of aging inverters in the field — many under high utility PPAs and elapsing warranties — accurate diagnostic maintenance is more important than ever,” said Cliff Myers, Solar Support chief engineer and co-founder. “Unlike service alternatives that can take days, we help asset owners understand and correct the cause of their inverter issues in under 24 hours.””
In the renewable energy sector, R&D on inverter and inverter technologies are changing at a rapid rate. Just a few years ago solar PV inverters for industrial applications were relegated to the 10 year warranty. Now manufacturers are beginning to offer 25 year warranty products. One could use a 10 year O&M or a CIP to swap out inverters and even solar PV panels or wind turbine nacelles for the latest/greatest technology and keep current with both technology, as well as reliability and efficiency. Since just two years ago, solar PV inverters are now being manufactured in 1,500 VDC buss, high temperature SiC IGBTs and 25 year warranties. Changing out inverters every 10 and up to 25 years allows better service plans.
Inverters as a whole are a sub set of the well known and mature technology of Variable Frequency Drives. VFDs like inverters have their weak points. First, dust intrusion into electronics cabinets, usually due to poor O&M and regular changing of electrical cabinet filters. Bad cooling fans for the output switching transistors. Bad cooling fans stress the unit’s power supply and regulator failure on one of the control power supplies is common, also when one ignores trip codes and resets the unit remotely, it can also overheat the switching finals and destroy usually the out put IGBT’s and transistor driver board, feeding back to the power supply. Now all four will have to be replaced before confirmation Ohm’s checks and powering up the unit to test it online. When you (know) your product, troubleshooting and repair are relatively easy and efficient. Most inverter manufacturers know their product and can advise on a “spare parts kit” for each model in their line.