PROJECT RELIABILITY
Wireless networks hold the key to protecting utility solar projects BY G I A N S C H E L L I N G | R E N E WA B L E S B U S I N E S S D E V E L O P M E N T M A N AG E R | H I TAC H I E N E R G Y
Developers
across the country are building large-scale solar projects at an incredible pace, helping the industry do its part to move the world toward a more sustainable future. But the auction-driven push to lower the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) combined with changing weather patterns are forcing energy companies to rethink how they optimize overall yield, further decrease LCOE and keep PV plants online in harsher environmental conditions. Unfortunately, large solar plants are becoming increasingly vulnerable to extreme weather from climate change: storms, temperatures and precipitation continue to grow unpredictably.
This puts arrays at risk of decreased output or being knocked ofļ¬ine completely, creating penalty payments for unplanned outages or reduced production as well as costly maintenance and repairs. Communications systems give operators visibility into onsite weather conditions and enable remote-automated or manual equipment control. Massive data from deployed sensors like anemometers, irradiation sensors and the arrays themselves allows operators to predict extreme conditions and take action to keep systems up and running remotely from a central operations center. Still, building large communication networks capable of handling the explosion of monitoring and performance data is
Hitachi Energy
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SOLAR POWER WORLD // 2022 RENEWABLE ENERGY HANDBOOK
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