Page 10 - North American Clean Energy May June 2015

solar energy

Data Analytics

The key to accelerating the adoption of solar
by Michael Herzig

IN THE EARLY DAYS OF THE SOLAR INDUSTRY, the focus was on Such cloud-based software applications allow asset and inverter problems. he prescriptive analysis provided
getting solar photovoltaic (PV) systems up and running. Now managers to collect, organize, and analyze performance by such software enables a speciic, detailed understand-
that solar PV is entering the mainstream, the focus is on getting data from a diverse set of solar PV assets. hrough ilters ing of which factors are most afecting the performance
the best inancial return. With the expansion in leet sizes, many accessed through customized dashboards, asset manag- of a solar PV system, and how the causes of the under-

owners and operators are running leets consisting of thousands ers now have an unprecedented level of control over how performance can best be addressed. For example, there’s
of systems, even small increases in performance, cost-cutting performance data is aggregated and displayed. Fleets can no need to send out a truck if a dip in performance is due
measures, and improvements in operations and maintenance be managed across multiple dimensions by installer, geo- to passing cloud cover.
(O&M) functions can translate to a big efect on the bottom line.
graphical region, system size, equipment type, install date, An important feature of the new data analytics pro-

Until recently, owners and operators of leets spread across wide inance partner, and many other criteria. For example, a grams is their open software platform, which allow them
geographical areas have relied on ineicient in-house asset manage- ilter can be created that tracks all projects in New Jersey to be integrated with any solar performance dataset,
ment solutions due to the lack of other options. hat is now chang- with inverters from a speciic manufacturer, that have including a customers’ own. Such programs can also be
ing with the introduction of sophisticated leet management and been installed in the last 60 days. Another strength of such integrated with other types of software, including O&M

data analytics software that provides them with clear, actionable software is its ability to handle data from a wide range of ticketing software. Users can use data analytics software
data on which to base O&M decisions. By collecting and analyzing sources, including inverter direct data, legacy monitoring to identify problems that lead to reduced performance,
data from a wide range of sources, solar analytics software provides systems, and third-party performance data sets.
then create maintenance tickets through O&M software
asset managers with insight into whether a system is performing But while sophisticated leet management software that deine the most appropriate next steps, including

up to expectations and the causes behind a system’s failure to per- lets asset managers know if a system isn’t performing
activities such as ordering and stocking critical parts or
form. he access to such intelligence can boost energy output and up to expectations, it doesn’t tell them why a system tracking equipment repairs, materials, and labor costs.
save on O&M costs, thus increasing return on investment.
isn’t performing up to expectations. his is where data he integration of data analytics with O&M software en-

analytics comes in. Data analytics software can be added hances the ability of asset managers to identify systems
to other leet management software platforms, provid- that aren’t meeting performance expectations and to
ing additional layers of system intelligence. Especially streamline O&M processes to improve worklow, mini- THE SPEED OF LIGHT
important is software that uses private and public his- mize the time and expense of addressing problems, and

torical and real-time data from weather stations, satellite reduce costly system downtime.
imagery, federal agencies such as NASA and NOAA, and Data analytics software also provides project develop- Does your smart inverter need
other sources to provide highly accurate, ground-level, ers with detailed information on the relative perfor- a revenue-grade power meter with
irradiance data across an install base or a geographic re- mance of systems that use diferent hardware types, that
a fast power (Opt FP) update rate?
gion. When used with other modeling data, i.e., the type are installed under diferent climatic conditions, and that
of panel or inverter, such software provides asset manag- are installed by diferent businesses. his creates a power-
ers with a truly accurate assessment of how much energy ful feedback loop that drives best practices in system de-
their systems should be producing based on the amount sign and installation, further decreasing the cost of solar

of sunlight that is hitting the ground at a speciic loca- PV by improving factors such as site selection, hardware
tion. his “big data” tool functions in a similar way to the vendor choice, warranty and insurance product structur-
gauge on a gas pump: Just as a driver needs to know how ing, and inancing optimizing. hese insights allow solar
much fuel goes into the tank in order to calculate mile- installers to price their services more competitively and

age, virtual irradiance measures the “fuel” that goes into increase their addressable markets.
a solar PV system, allowing stakeholders to determine if While solar PV is growing rapidly, it still comprises
it is performing as it should.
only a tiny percent of the U.S. energy supply. In order
he use of virtual irradiance software also eliminates for solar PV to play a signiicant role in the generation of

the need for on-site sensors, which are cost-prohibitive electricity, the industry will need increased access to real- WattNode Modbus with “Fast Power Option”
for small systems. In the case of systems where onsite time intelligence to optimize production at the point of updates the fast power reading every 200 msec.
sensors have already been installed, virtual irradiance use, save on costs, and improve O&M worklow. his can
software validates sensor data, which can become skewed only come from sophisticated leet management and data Allows for feed-in response time of 500msec.

due to factors such as soiling or miscalibration.
analytics software that draws on a wide range of avail- ®®®
he problem that remains, however, is the identiica- able data to provide asset managers with the insight they Modbus, BACnet, LonWorks, Pulse Output
tion of causes behind a system’s failure to perform. For- need to get the most out of their solar PV assets.
Certiied ANSI C12.1, PBI, UL, cUL
tunately, new data analytics programs have been devel-

oped that can determine if underperformance is due to Michael Herzig is the founder and CEO of Locus Energy
factors including weather uncertainty, snow downtime, 1-888-WattNode (928-8663) • ccontrolsys.com
shading, equipment downtime, equipment degradation,
Locus Energy | www.locusenergy.com

10 nacleanenergy.com
MAY/JUNE 2015