FEATURE
IMPROVING THE RETURNS ON PV
Christelle Barnes, UK Country Manager at SolarEdge Technologies, talks to Tomorrow's FM about how commercial businesses can not only increase revenue from their photovoltaic system, but also reduce operational costs.
As the pace of commissioning commercial photovoltaic (PV) solar systems increases and existing systems mature, the market is looking at PV systems as more than just a source of clean energy. Instead, they are now being viewed as long-term investments that need to be closely managed to improve their ROI and bottom line. Tomorrow's FM spoke to Christelle Barnes from SolarEdge Technologies to find out more.
Q: When it comes to increasing
do owners need to know? Christelle Barnes (CB): Maximising energy production is key to increasing PV system revenue, and this starts during the design and planning process. When analysing the PV options available, owners should select a system based on its ability to put more power on the roof. Many standard systems will reduce the number of modules that can be placed on the roof due to design limitations, for instance by not allowing for different modules layouts or string lengths, or due to objects on the roof that partially obstruct sunlight. By selecting a system that is designed to overcome these obstacles and thus allow more modules
22 | TOMORROW’S FM revenue from a PV system, what
on the roof, then a commercial PV system already becomes more profitable from day one.
Another way to increase energy production is to minimise power losses due to module mismatch. Commercial PV systems can be ‘future-proofed’ by implementing technology that mitigates mismatch and ageing losses and protect against unpredictable environmental changes, new obstructions (e.g., antenna erected, growing trees, etc.) and factors such as soiling. Technology, such as module-level power electronics (MLPE), helps to minimise energy losses to only the effected modules versus impacting the entire string, by optimising power production per module.
Q: What can be done to decrease PV system costs?
CB: Effective operation and maintenance (O&M) is essential to help reduce the lifetime cost of owning a PV system. While O&M used to be a very costly endeavour with slow response times, with the advent of module-level, cloud- based monitoring systems that allow automatic alerts, real-time detection, and remote troubleshooting, it is now a highly targeted practice that not only improves the efficiency of O&M, but also potentially decreases costs.
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