Photovoltaic system reliability

Author

Maish, Alexander B. ; Atcitty, Christopher ; Hester, Steve ; Greenberg, Daniel ; Osborn, Don ; Collier, David ; Brine, Malissa

Author_Institution

Sandia Nat. Labs., Albuquerque, NM, USA

fYear

1997

fDate

29 Sep-3 Oct 1997

Firstpage

1049

Lastpage

1054

Abstract

This paper discusses the reliability of photovoltaic projects including SMUD´s PV Pioneer project, various projects monitored by Ascension Technology, and the Colorado Parks project. System times-to-failure range from 1 to 16 years, and maintenance costs range from 1 to 16 cents per kilowatt-hour. Factors contributing to the reliability of these systems are discussed, and practices are recommended that can be applied to future projects. This paper also discusses the methodology used to collect and analyze PV system reliability data

Keywords

maintenance engineering; photovoltaic power systems; power system reliability; Ascension Technology; Colorado Parks project; PV system reliability data; SMUD PV Pioneer project; Sacramento Municipal Utility District project; grid-independent systems; grid-tied systems; maintenance costs; photovoltaic system reliability; system times-to-failure; Cost function; Failure analysis; Laboratories; Maintenance; Manufacturing; Photovoltaic systems; Reliability; Silicon; Solar power generation; US Department of Energy;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 1997., Conference Record of the Twenty-Sixth IEEE

Conference_Location

Anaheim, CA

ISSN

0160-8371

Print_ISBN

0-7803-3767-0

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/PVSC.1997.654269

Filename

654269