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INSTALLERTECHNOLOGY


Maintaining investment 24


Solar panels are a long term investment that you can’t just fit and forget Howard Stark, MD of Stark, explains how including smart meters as part of a PV installation will enable installers to closely monitor performance – helping them to maintain optimum output and ensuring investors achieve their ROI.


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wrong. Whether you are a single householder or a housing association installing thousands of solar panels, your PV installation is first and foremost an investment that needs to be looked after. So the current practice of getting the householder to submit a FiT meter reading to their electricity supplier once a quarter is hardly the way to manage such an asset.


Automatic meter reading


hen you install photovoltaic (PV) panels on the roof of a house, it’s


not simply a case of fitting them and thinking that’s the job done. That’s because the only way to manage the investment of a PV installation is to closely monitor its performance. After all, each of the stakeholders involved needs to receive regular information updates on how the panels are working:  The investor needs to know they are achieving the expected return on their investment.


 The PV installer needs to be sure each installation is working to optimum efficiency.


 The householder wants to know how much energy is being generated and how much electricity their house is using.


As PV installations (and FiT payments) last for 25 years, it’s unrealistic to expect things not to go


A key feature for the future of the solar industry will be to provide evidence of the life expectancy currently offered. That’s why Stark believes each PV installation should be linked to a smart meter enabling the data required to demonstrate a return on investment. There are a whole host of advantages by going down an automatic meter reading route:  Half hourly data is collected from the meters on a daily basis (Day +1), not a single reading once a quarter.


 Meters are read remotely and aren’t dependent on householders having to read them manually.


 The meter reads are accurate, timely and reliable.  The PV installer can remotely monitor the performance of the PV system on a daily basis


Stringent KPIs


The major investors in PV are placing onerous performance criteria on the company that installs and maintains the solar panel equipment. Because, if faults are not quickly identified and


www.solar-pv-uk.com Issue IV 2011


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