Vigilant Energy Management is in the field assessing and managing PV systems every day to find innovative and cost-effective ways to maximize your production. When speaking with clients, we have found that many system owners have not considered the number of factors that may impact their system over the years. Here are just a few things we’ve seen in the field:
The Impacts of Nature on Your System
Unexpected wildlife has caused an issue for this client. Module breakage throughout the site was caused by seagulls dropping clams onto the new hard surface below. This also led to excessive soiling from bird droppings which created a potential production issue for the installation.
Weeds and aggressive plants can grow fast inside a typical ground mounted PV system. Weeds can cause localized shading and greatly reduce energy production- and thereby impact your return on investment.
The Human Impacts on Your System
A loose wire connection causes excessive heating, as shown in this infrared image. This may result in decreased production and even safety issues if the situation is not discovered during the system’s commissioning or an independent assessment.
An unchecked dirty inverter air filter can cause reduced performance or even inverter failure for a commercial-scale solar installation. Without regular maintenance – a small issue like this can turn into a major problem.
The Technological Impact on Your System
This NEMA 4 waterproof box had almost an inch of water in it when Vigilant took this picture. The cause of the water was humidity condensation traveling through the conduit. Could this be happening to your system’s combiner boxes and junction boxes?
Even the highest quality inverters will experience failures from time to time. Here the resistors on this inverter circuit board blew out and needs to be replaced. Having a maintenance agreement with Vigilant will ensure failures like this are resolved with minimal downtime.
This infrared image, taken 4 years after installation during an independent system assessment shows overheating in a considerable number of PV cells. The possible cause is manufacturer’s defect (cracked sells or bad solder joints). Vigilant will work with you to have modules like these lab tested and replaced under warranty if it is determined that their production falls below the manufacturers guaranteed output.
Don’t let these impacts affect your system’s production or your rate of return.
Request a Quote from Vigilant today and let us help you protect your system and its production.