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Insights
To ensure the highest possible yield from your solar system, efficient operation and uptime are essential. Studies show that even small reductions in maximum performance can lead to significant losses in yield.
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A US study of more than 100,000 solar photovoltaic installations showed that 7 per cent of installations on commercial buildings had faults that reduced production by 20 per cent on average. For a typical solar plant in Norway, a production loss of 20 percent would result in a yield that is over 2 percentage points lower.
“This may not sound like much, but for an investment with a regular IRR below 10 per cent, this is significant,” says Adrian Bergem, CFO of Sunday Power.
The study also showed that facilities with professional operation and monitoring performed substantially better. This is one of the reasons why Sunday Power focuses on the continuous development of software that catches any discrepancies.
See also: The most common mistakes with solar systems
Undercommunicated in the industry
Why is this interesting? The operation and monitoring of photovoltaic systems is a very under-communicated topic in the industry. Many of today's monitoring systems are not good enough, which can lead to significant production losses without the owner being aware of it,” says Product Manager Alexander Rydfjord.
He explains that their advanced software, SundayOS, can pick up bugs to ensure maximum returns.
Many large solar plants in Norway are now entering the peak season with failures that can reduce production and collect less important data, something that no one benefits from.
Effective bug tracking with SundayOS
“At Sunday Power, we can detect errors quickly, assess whether they are within normal limits, and take appropriate action based on our extensive expertise. Through our software, we can even turn the plant on and off to solve problems without having to send out expensive professionals.
This is a service we offer through our premium package, which includes both advanced software and comprehensive monitoring. We use this solution for all the facilities we own as part of our Solar as a Service product.
Significant upside with good monitoring
It is difficult to estimate how much production and income will be lost due to poor monitoring and operation, but we hope that in the future more solar installations will make use of professional systems and operating partners.
“This will help ensure optimal performance and maximum return for the owners,” concludes Rydfjord.
