Page 21 - North American Clean Energy May/June 2020 Issue

require new parts. This helps to keep the best personnel active at all times.
Real-world example – Wind damage from 2 hurricanes After a rogue storm tore through a PV power plant with 60 to 80 mile-per-
hour winds, damaging 15 percent of its trackers, it was discovered that more than one-quarter of the site’s trackers weren’t operational before the winds hit, making it impossible to maneuver them into a protective stow position. As a result, 233 of 1,600 full trackers were damaged and had to be restored.
Initially, the plant owner relied on O&M personnel to assess the damage and submit insurance claims. Four months later, restoration work had yet to begin.
Within four weeks of contracting a restoration and recovery specialist, they had a plan in place for deconstruction of the damaged areas, a testing process to determine viability for salvage, sourced components that needed to be replaced, and a flexible restoration plan to minimize revenue loss and maximize production output.
Ultimately, the original, older technology was successfully married with the new, modern equipment required
to repower the site — all without a significant (and costly) redesign.
Perhaps even more importantly, while the asset owner anticipated replacing
a large number of the damaged components for roughly $1.75 million, they were instead able to benefit from
a salvage plan for the modules, saving 1.3M and recovering 70 percent more modules than their original budget. Other savings came from reduced business interruption claims and a more efficient timeline, and staggered approach to the execution, which resulted in substantial savings.
- Interruption savings: $381k in business interruption damages
- Restoration time: 126 days faster than alternative
- Competitive advantage: 40 percent lower cost than alternative
- Total saving: $3.3M
Recover with the right partner
When the floods recede and the winds die down, you’re going to want expert help getting your crucial assets back online. While many O&M providers say they do recovery and restoration work, few have hard-won experience to back them up. Select a partner with expertise in damage assessment, salvage work, insurance claim management, and rapid restoration. The best option is to find a team that you manage through
a single touchpoint – with an end-to- end solution that will mitigate your production losses and gets your PV back to peak performance.
Auston Taber is CEO and Founder of Solar Support, a restoration and recovery specialist that also offers equipment repair and component supply for utility-scale systems. Auston has spent nearly 15 years in the solar industry across
various technical and service roles, offering deep expertise in PV equipment and site O&M across residential, C&I and utility environments. Auston’s experience resolving complex inverter and plant O&M issues spans leadership roles.
Solar Support /// www.solar-support.com
As Director of DEPCOM Power’s Plant Restorations, Repowering, and Recertification business, Clifford Myers, PE drives restoration excellence, bringing
his expertise in solar systems fault resolution and performance optimization to DEPCOM Power.
He is a Navy Veteran with over 14 years combined experience in utility PV technology and power conversion systems. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Arizona State University with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering.
DEPCOM Power /// www.depcompower.com
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