On Grid System Maintenance

Published by firstgreen on

Having a solar PV system requires one to conduct an annual inspection of the system, usually before summer. But in general, there are no costs incurred for wear and tear of materials, except the PV inverter with expected 10-15 years operating time.

Damages to the components are generally low.
In a PV system, the weakest component may be the inverter.

PV ON-GRID  MAINTENANCE 

  • Controling energy yields, the produced electricity and incomes (comparison of periods)
  • Status control of the PV inverter, visually or best via Bluetooth or LAN based monitoring.
  • Is the fan on the inverter permeable? (dust, dirt)
  • Visual inspection of the Dirtiness of  PV modules (glued tree leaves or bird droppings)
  • Shadows or glass breakage on the PV modules
  • Overall visual inspection to visible components (generator, PV inverter, cables, connectors)

Other inspections include checking for loose parts within the mounting system (mainly between roof hooks and profiles), the connections on the DC/AC site, strings and grounding measurement, lightning protection or over-voltage protection.

Inverter Troubleshooting

When an inverter goes offline, technicians must determine why and correct the error as quickly as possible. They can check the HMI for reported errors, and then follow the actions noted in the table below.

                        <figure>
                                    <img width="533" height="434" src="https://dcsgroups.in/temp/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Screen-Shot-2020-09-08-at-4.53.40-PM.png" alt="" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/www.firstgreen.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Screen-Shot-2020-09-08-at-4.53.40-PM.png?w=533&amp;ssl=1 533w, https://i0.wp.com/www.firstgreen.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Screen-Shot-2020-09-08-at-4.53.40-PM.png?resize=266%2C217&amp;ssl=1 266w, https://i0.wp.com/www.firstgreen.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Screen-Shot-2020-09-08-at-4.53.40-PM.png?resize=150%2C122&amp;ssl=1 150w" sizes="(max-width: 533px) 100vw, 533px" />                                         <figcaption>Common reported inverter issues</figcaption>
                                    </figure>
    <p>The ground fault fuse and even ac fuses can be non-standard items that are difficult to purchase. Keep replacements on hand, especially if there are multiple inverters of the same size on site or in the portfolio. Having qualified technicians available and properly equipped with common replacement parts helps maximize system uptime