Operation &

Maintenance
Best Practice Guidelines
Jordan edition
Foreword

Welcome to the Jordanian edition of the Operation & Maintenance (O&M) Best Practice Guidelines. Based on Version 4.0 of
SolarPower Europe’s O&M Best Practice Guidelines, this edition is adapted to the Jordanian context. It is a joint effort between
SolarPower Europe and EDAMA, the Jordanian renewable energy association.

Jordan is a country that has limited conventional energy sources and has traditionally been reliant on energy imports,
with imported energy answering 88% of the country’s energy demand in 2021. To insulate itself from regional geopolitical
upheavals, Jordan is increasingly turning to solar PV as a way of ensuring its energy independence. The solar potential in Jordan
is enormous, with over 3110 hours of sunlight per year. Seizing the opportunities that this potential presents will mean ensuring
that PV power plants are able to reliably achieve performance targets. The key to doing this is ensuring quality O&M practices
and procedures throughout the operational phase of an asset’s lifecycle. Yet there are still significant quality discrepancies
between services from different providers.

To address these challenges, SolarPower Europe joined forces with EDAMA, supported by the Jordanian-German Energy
Partnership, funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, and implemented by the Deutsche
Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, to develop the Jordanian edition of the O&M Best Practice
Guidelines; Our joint Jordanian-European O&M working group was launched in November 2021, assembling 24 leading solar
experts from Jordan and Europe. The kick-off meeting was followed by a series of online working meetings, in which we updated
Version 4.0 of SolarPower Europe’s O&M Best Practice Guidelines to reflect the market and business conditions in Jordan. The
result is a guide that we hope will help Jordanian solar stakeholders improve the quality of the O&M segment. This document
is aimed at O&M service providers, as well as other parties involved in the operation of solar power plants, such as owners and
investors, lenders, technical advisors, and data-related service providers. It will help establish common standards and increase
transparency in the sector. It is also worth noting the solar O&M is especially value intensive as a segment, supporting many
local jobs, and driving important solar innovations, notably in the field of digitalisation.

In the Jordanian edition, all chapters of the original document have been thoroughly reviewed and revised with a focus on
the unique aspects of the country. The recommendations have been updated to include key processes and codes related to
environmental protection within the country, and the legislative framework governing health and safety. The recommendations
also reflect the latest version of the Jordanian grid code. There is also a new section dedicated to repowering combiner boxes.
To make this document useful to operators and owners of power plants with storage facilities, we have included a chapter on
O&M for these types of installations. This includes a detailed overview of the legislative framework governing the use and safe
disposal of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS). We have also considered that dust and water scarcity may be an issue
in Jordan and operators are encouraged to reduce the amount of water used for module cleaning. These are only some of the
examples from the many updates we have implemented to make these guidelines as useful as possible for solar businesses in
Jordan.

We encourage all solar operators in Jordan to consider adopting these Guidelines and to reach out to EDAMA with any questions
or suggestions.

Anwar ElHalah Christiana Hageneder Walburga Hemetsberger

General Manager, EDAMA Head of Secretariat, CEO, SolarPowerEurope
Jordanian-German
Energy Partnership

2 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

Chair of the SolarPower Europe Lifecycle Quality workstream: Adele Ara, Lightsource bp.
Vice-Chairs of the SolarPower Europe Lifecycle Quality workstream: Alden Lee, ABO Wind; Timo Moeller, NovaSource Power
Services
Coordinators of the Jordanian-European O&M working group: Benjamin Clarke, SolarPower Europe, Rashed Manna' EDAMA,
Noor Eldin Alkiswani, EDAMA, Fayzah Assaf, EDAMA
Contact: info@[Link]
Contributors and co-authors
Amer Kattan, ASTRACO; Samir Kattan, ASTRACO; Sulaiman Salman, ASTRACO; Mouath Odetallah, Belectric Gulf; Yasar Hidmi,
Catalyst Private Equity; Ennis Rimawi, Catalyst Private Equity; Firas Rimawi, Catalyst Private Equity; Noor Eldin Alkiswani,
EDAMA; Rashed Manna, EDAMA; Iyad Muslih, EDAMA; Raed Rabadi, Edama Solar; Francois Jandeaux, Finergreen; Antoine
Poussard, Finergreen; Mariella Doppelbauer, Fronius; Fadi Marji, Izzat Marji Group; Salam Tadrous, Izzat Marji Group;
Mahmoud Salameh, Kawar Energy; Tareq Khalifeh, MASE Energy; Ady Madanat, MASE Energy; Haya Shahatit, MASE
Energy; Yassir Almir, NovaSource Power Services; Mohannad Ashab, SAGER Drone; Benjamin Clarke, SolarPower Europe;
Mohamed Melhim, Spitak Trading Co; Mariya Stoyanova, STS Certified; Wolfgang Rosenberg, TCO Solar; Elena Ortiz, UL;

Acknowledgements
SolarPower Europe would like to extend special thanks to all the Task Force members that contributed to this report with their
knowledge and experience, and to the Jordanian-German Energy Partnership. This work would never have been realised without
their continuous support.
Project information
The Jordanian edition of SolarPower Europe’s O&M Best Practice Guidelines reflects the experience and views of a considerable
share of the Jordanian and European O&M industry today. It is based on Version 4.0 of SolarPower Europe’s O&M Best Practice
Guidelines and has been adjusted to the Jordanian national context in a joint effort between SolarPower Europe and EDAMA. The
development of the Jordanian edition was supported by EDAMA and the Jordanian-German Energy Partnership.
Disclaimer
Adherence to the SolarPower Europe O&M Best Practices Guidelines report and its by-products is voluntary. Any stakeholders
that wish to adhere to the O&M Best Practices Guidelines are responsible for self-certifying that they have fulfilled the
guide requirements through completing the self-certification procedure offered by the “Solar Best Practices Mark” (www.
[Link]). This report has been prepared by SolarPower Europe, in collaboration with EDAMA, and with the
support of the Jordanian-German Energy Partnership. It is being provided to the recipients for general information purposes only.
Nothing in it should be interpreted as an offer or recommendation of any products, services or financial products. This report
does not constitute technical, investment, legal, tax or any other advice. Recipients should consult with their own technical,
financial, legal, tax or other advisors as needed. This report is based on sources believed to be accurate. However, SolarPower
Europe, EDAMA, and the Jordanian-German Energy Partnership do not warrant the accuracy or completeness of any information
contained in this report. SolarPower Europe, EDAMA and the Jordanian-German Energy Partnership assume no obligation to
update any information contained herein. SolarPower Europe, EDAMA, and the Jordanian-German Energy Partnership will not be
held liable for any direct or indirect damage incurred by the use of the information provided and will not provide any indemnities.
Design: Basil Tahboub, EDAMA.
ISBN: 9789464518641
Published: November, 2022

3 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

Supported by:
Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit and the Jordanian-German Energy Partnership.

SolarPower Europe would like to thank the members of the Jordanian-European O&M working group that contributed to this
report including:

Sponsor Members of SolarPower Europe:

4 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

Table of Contents
Foreword 2 7.3. Predictive Maintenance 42
Contributions and co-authors 3 7.4. Extraordinary Maintenance 43
Acknowledgements 3 7.5. Additional services 44
Project information  3 8. Revamping and Repowering 46
Disclaimer 3
8.1. Definition and rationale of revamping and
Executive summary 9 repowering  46
1. Introduction 12 8.2. Module Repowering 47
8.3. Inverter Repowering  47
1.1. Rationale, aim and scope 12
8.4. General Repowering Considerations 49
1.2. How to benefit from this document 14
9. Spare Parts Management 50
2. Definitions 18
10. Data and monitoring requirements 52
3. Environment, Health & Safety 22
10.1. Data loggers 52
3.1. Environment  22
10.2. Data Quality & Curation 53
3.2. Health and Safety  22
10.3. Monitoring (web) portal 54
4. Personnel & Training  25 10.4. Data format 54
5. Technical Asset Management 26 10.5. Configuration 54
5.1. Technical reporting 26 10.6. Interoperability 55
5.2. Site Visits and non-intrusive inspections 28 10.7. Internet connection and Local Area Network 56
5.3. Management of ancillary service providers 28 10.8. Data ownership and privacy 57
5.4. Interface with local energy authorities & regulatory 10.9. Cybersecurity 57
compliance 28 10.10. Types of data collected through the monitoring
5.5. Warranty management 29 system 58
5.6. Insurance claims 30 10.11. Data collected by specialised PV module field
inspections 60
5.7. Contract management (operational contracts) 31
5.8. Asset optimisation (technical) 31 11. Key Performance Indicators 64
5.9. Environmental management 31 11.1. PV power plant data 65
5.10. Health & safety management 32 11.2. PV power plant KPIs 65
5.11. Technical risk management 32 11.3. O&M service provider KPIs 69
6. Power Plant Operation 33 11.4. PV power plant/O&M service provider KPIs 70

6.1. Document Management System (DMS) 34 12. Contractual Framework 74

6.2. Plant performance monitoring and supervision 36 12.1. Contractual Risk Allocation 75
6.3. Performance analysis and improvement 37 12.2. Scope of the O&M contract 76
6.4. Optimisation of O&M 37 12.3. O&M contract fee 77
6.5. Power plant controls 37 12.4. Contractual guarantees 77
6.6. Power Generation Forecasting 37 12.5. Availability guarantee 77
6.7. Grid code compliance  38 12.6. Response Time price adjustment  78
6.8. Management of change 38 12.7. Bonus Schemes and Liquidated Damages (LDs) 78
6.9. Power plant security 39 12.8. Service standards 79
6.10. Reporting and Technical Asset Management 39 12.9. O&M service providers’ qualification 79
7. Power Plant Maintenance 40 12.10. Responsibility and accountability 79
12.11. Spare Parts Management  79
7.1. Preventive Maintenance 41
12.12. Power plant remote monitoring 79
7.2. Corrective Maintenance 41
12.13. Reporting 80

5 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

Tablel of contents / continued
13. Innovations and trends  81
13.1. Smart PV power plant monitoring and data-driven
O&M 81
13.2. Advanced aerial thermography  81
13.3. Automated plant performance diagnosis 83
13.4. Predictive maintenance for optimised hardware
replacement 84
13.5. PV plant yield forecasting 85
13.6. Internet of Things (IoT) and auto-configuration 85
13.7. Future best practices in document management
systems 86
13.8. Retrofit coatings for PV modules 86

14. O&M for PV power plants with storage 88

14.1. Types of storage systems 88
14.2. Environment, Health & Safety 88
14.3. Operation & Monitoring  89
14.4. Maintenance 89

15. O&M for Rooftop Solar 90

15.1. C&I rooftop solar 90
15.2. Operations 91
15.3. Maintenance 92
15.4. Spare parts management 93
15.5. Distributed residential solar portfolios 93
15.6. Operations 93
15.7. Maintenance 94

References 95
Annex 97
a) Applicable international standards for solar O&M 97
b) Proposed skill matrix for O&M personnel 98
c) Documentation set accompanying the solar PV plant
 99
d) Important examples of input records in the record
control 102
e) Annual Maintenance Plan 104

6 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

List of figures List of tables
Figure 1. Overview of a selection of applicable standards for Table 1. Proposed indicators/values required for the
O&M (Status: 2019). Note: This list is not exhaustive and reporting27
new standards are under development. 13
Table 2. Examples for additional maintenance services 45
Figure 2. Roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders
in the field of O&M. Asset Manager and O&M service Table 3. Minimum list of spare parts (non-exhaustive) 51
provider responsibilities can overlap, and Technical Asset
Management can be assumed by either party. 16 Table 4. Examples of data integration options 55

Figure 3. Overview of the most important tasks in power Table 5. The advantages and disadvantages of different
plant operation 33 types of internet connections. 56

Figure 4. Support levels in Fault Management 36 Table 6. Overview of different types of Key Performance
Indicators and their purposes 72
Figure 5. Overview of the different types of Power Plant
Maintenance40 Table 7. Examples for additional maintenance services and
general market trends 76
Figure 6. Differences between revamping and repowering
and their main drivers 46 Table 8. Examples for Fault classes and corresponding
minimum Response Times. Fault classes and the
Figure 7. Energy flow in a grid-connected photovoltaic corresponding Response Time guarantees applied even if
system with parameters, yields and losses 52 the duration of the respective power loss is less than the
corresponding Response Time guarantee, provided. 78
Figure 8. Example UV-Flourescence images after a severe
hailstorm, taken from W. Muehleisen (2018) 62 Table 9. Aerial IR thermography – post-processing subtasks.
Source: BayWa r.e. 82
Figure 9. left: Schematic of 3 BB solar cell, „x“ indicates the
position of broken ribbon; center: Bx magnetic field in 2D Table 10. Methods suggested for the collection of reference
representation and more visual 3D on the right side (Lauch yield91
et al, 2018; Patzold et al, 2019). 63
Table 11. Incidents covered by O&M service agreements for
Figure 10. Overview of different types of KPIs  64 rooftop solar systems 92

Figure 11. Various periods of time for the calculation of the

Technical Availability 68

Figure 12. Acknowledgement Time, Intervention Time,

Response Time, Resolution Time 69

Figure 13. Various periods of time for the calculation of

Contractual Availability  71

Figure 14. Overview of the six template contracts

developed under the Open Solar Contracts initiative 74

Figure 15. Overview of the template contracts needed

during Operation and Maintenance of PV Plants 75

Figure 16. Data mining foundations. Adapted from: www.

[Link]81

Figure 17. Automated plant performance diagnosis by

Achim Woyte, 3E 84

Figure 18. Predictive maintenance for optimised hardware

replacement84

7 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

List of abbreviations
AC Alternating current kW kilowatt
AMP Annual Maintenance Plan kWh kilowatt-hour
AMR Automatic meter reading kWp kilowatt-peak
AMS Annual Maintenance Schedule LAN Local area network
API Application Programming Interface LCOE Levelised cost of electricity
CCTV Closed Circuit Television LTE-M Long-power wide-area network
Computerised maintenance LPWAN
CMMS
management system Long Term Evolution, category M1
COD Commercial operation date LV Low voltage
CSMS Cybersecurity management system MAE Mean absolute error
DC Direct current MIT Minimum irradiance threshold
DMS Document management system MPPT Maximum Power Point Tracking
DOR Division of responsibility MV Medium voltage
DSCR Debt service coverage ratio MW Megawatt
DSL Digital Subscriber Line NCC National Control Centre – in Jordan
EDCO Electricity Distribution Company - in Jordan National Electric Power
NEPCO
EH&S Environment, health and safety Company – in Jordan
Energy and Minerals O&M Operation and Maintenance
EMRC
Regulatory Commission OEM Original equipment manufacturer
EMS Energy Management System OS Operating system
EPC Engineering, procurement, construction PAC Provisional acceptance certificate
EPI Energy Performance Index POA Plane of array
ERP Enterprise Resource Planning System PoCC Point of Common Coupling
ESS Energy Storage System PPA Power purchase agreement
FAC Final acceptance certificate PPC Power Plant Controller
FIT Feed-in tariff PPE Personal protective equipment
FTP File Transfer Protocol PR Performance Ratio
GPRS General Packet Radio Service PV Photovoltaic
H&S Health and safety RMSE Root mean square error
HV High voltage ROI Return on investment
Irbid District Electricity Distribution RPAS Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (drone)
IDECO
Company – in Jordan SCADA Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition
IEC International Electrotechnical Commission SLA Service-level agreement
IGBT Insulated-Gate Bipolar Transistors SPV Special purpose vehicle
IPP Independent power producer Standard Test Conditions
STC
IR Infrared (1000 W/m2, 25°C)
IRENA International Renewable Energy Agency TF Task force
Intermittent Renewable Resources (IRR) UPS Uninterruptible Power Supply
IRR-DCC-MV Wind & PV – Distribution Connection
Code (DCC) At Medium Voltage (MV)
Intermittent Renewable Resources
IRR-TIC (IRR) Wind & PV – Transmission
Interconnection Code (TIC)
Jordanian Electric Power
JEPCO
Company ltd. – in Jordan
KPI Key performance indicator

8 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

Executive summary
The Jordanian solar PV market is unique. It has grown steadily products that may be used by the O&M service provider
from 291 MW of installed capacity in 2016 to a total of 1.75 such as herbicides and insecticides. In Jordan, water scarcity
GW cumulative installed capacity in 2021. According to should be considered, and it is important to consider whether
SolarPower Europe market data, installed capacity could more dry cleaning of modules is a more effective use of capital and
than double to around 3.6 GW by 2026 in a business-as-usual natural resources.
scenario, and reaching just over 4 GW in a best case scenario.
Traditionally, the country has been largely reliant on energy In many situations, solar plants offer an opportunity to
imports to satisfy its energy demand. However, persistent provide for agriculture and are a valuable natural habitat for
political and social tensions in the region have exposed the plants and animals alongside the primary purpose of power
precariousness of Jordan’s position. With huge solar potential, production. Solar plants are electricity generating power
the Jordanian government is increasingly looking to exploit stations and have significant hazards present which can
this, ensuring energy autonomy, and providing Jordanians result in injury or death. Risks should be reduced through
with inexpensive, clean electricity. As Jordan looks to hit proper hazard identification, careful planning of works,
its ambitious renewable energy targets, ensuring the long- briefing of procedures to be followed, documented and
term health of these assets will be indispensable in shoring regular inspection, and maintenance. Personnel training
up public support for solar PV. Operation and Maintenance and certification and personal protective equipment are
(O&M) has become a standalone segment within the solar required for several tasks. Almost all jobs have some safety
industry and it is widely acknowledged by all stakeholders requirements such as fall protection for work at heights and
that high-quality O&M services mitigate potential risks, electrical arc-flash, lock-out tag-out, and general electrical
improve the Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCOE) and Power safety for electrical work; eye and ear protection for ground
Purchase Agreement (PPA) prices, and positively impact the maintenance.
return on investment (ROI). Responding to the discrepancies
that exist in today’s solar O&M market, the Jordanian edition
of the O&M Best Practice Guidelines make it possible for
Personnel & training
all to benefit from the experience of leading Jordanian and
European experts in the sector, and increase the level of It is important that all O&M personnel have the relevant
quality and consistency in O&M. These Guidelines are meant experience and qualifications to perform the work in a safe,
for O&M contractors as well as investors, financiers, asset responsible, and accountable manner. These Guidelines
owners, asset managers, monitoring tool providers, technical contain a skills’ matrix template that helps to record skills and
consultants and all interested stakeholders in Jordan. In this identify gaps.
edition, the requirements presented in SolarPower Europe’s
O&M Best Practice Guidelines version 4.0 have been updated Technical Asset Management
to reflect the Jordanian market context. One such example is
the inclusion of O&M best practices for smaller Commercial
Technical Asset Management (TAM) encompasses support
& Industrial (C&I) installations, in the 100s of kW scale, in
activities to ensure the best operation of a solar power plant
these Guidelines.
or a portfolio, i.e., to maximise energy production, minimise
downtime and reduce costs. In the Jordanian context, O&M
This document begins by contextualising O&M, explaining
service providers assume some TAM tasks such as planning
the roles and responsibilities of various stakeholders such as
and reporting on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to the
the Asset Manager, the Operations and Maintenance service
asset owner. However, in cases where the technical asset
providers, and by presenting an overview of technical and
manager and the O&M service provider are separate entities,
contractual terms to achieve a common understanding of
close coordination and information sharing between the two
the subject. It then walks the reader through the different
entities is indispensable. TAM also includes ensuring that the
components of O&M, classifying requirements into “minimum
operation of the PV plant complies with national and local
requirements”, “best practices” and “recommendations”.
regulations and contracts, and also advising the asset owner
on technical asset optimisation via repowering investments,
Environment, Health & Safety for example.

Environmental problems are normally avoidable through Power plant operation

proper plant design and maintenance, but where issues
do occur, the O&M service provider must detect them
Operation is about remote monitoring, supervision and
and respond promptly. Environmental compliance may
control of the PV power plant and it is an increasingly active
be triggered by components of the PV system itself, such
exercise as grid operators require more and more flexibility
as components that include hazardous materials and by-
from solar power plants. Power plant operation also involves

9 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

Executive summary / continued
liaising with or coordination of the maintenance team. A timely manner, for Preventive and Corrective Maintenance,
proper PV plant documentation management system is minimising the downtime of a solar PV plant. As best practice,
crucial for operations. A list of documents that should be spare parts should be owned by the asset owner while
included in the as-built documentation set accompanying maintenance, storage and replenishment should be the
the solar PV plant (such as PV modules’ datasheets), as well responsibility of the O&M service provider. It is considered
as a list of examples of input records that should be included best practice not to include the cost of replenishment of
in the record control (such as alarms descriptions), can be spare parts in the O&M fixed fee. However, if the asset owner
found in the Annex of these Guidelines. Based on the data and requires the O&M service provider to bear replenishment
analyses gained through monitoring and supervision, the O&M costs, a more cost-effective approach is to agree which are
service provider should always strive to improve PV power "Included Spare Parts" and which are "Excluded Spare Parts".
plant performance. As there are strict legal requirements for These Guidelines also include a minimum list of spare parts
security services in Jordan, PV power plant security should be that are considered essential. In the Jordanian context, when
ensured by specialised security service providers. setting spare parts’ stocking levels, the availability of spare
parts needs to be considered as components need to be
procured from overseas, leading to extended waiting times.
Power plant maintenance
Maintenance is usually carried out on-site by specialised Data and monitoring requirements
technicians or subcontractors, according to the Operations
team’s analyses. A core element of maintenance services, The purpose of the monitoring system is to allow supervision
Preventive Maintenance involves regular visual and physical of the performance of a PV power plant. Requirements
inspections, functional testing, and measurements, as well for effective monitoring include dataloggers capable of
as the verification activities necessary to comply with the collecting data (such as energy generated, irradiance, module
operating manuals and warranty requirements. The Annual temperature, etc.) of all relevant components (such as
Maintenance Plan (see an example in Annex b) includes a list inverters, energy meters, pyranometers, temperature sensors)
of inspections and actions that should be performed regularly. and storing at least one month of data with a recording
Corrective Maintenance covers activities aimed at restoring granularity of up to 15 minutes, as well as a reliable Monitoring
a faulty PV plant, equipment, or component to a status Portal (interface) for the visualisation of the collected
where it can perform the required function. Extraordinary data and the calculation of KPIs. Monitoring is increasingly
Maintenance actions, usually not covered by the O&M fixed employing satellite data as a source of solar resource data to
fee, can be necessary after major unpredictable events in be used as a comparison reference for on-site pyranometers.
the plant site that require substantial repair works. Additional As a best practice, the monitoring system should ensure
maintenance services may include tasks such as module open data accessibility to enable an easy transition between
cleaning and vegetation control, which could be done by the monitoring platforms and interoperability of different
O&M service provider or outsourced to specialist providers. applications. As remotely monitored and controlled systems,
PV plants are exposed to cybersecurity risks. It is therefore
vital that installations undertake a cyber security analysis and
Revamping and repowering implement a cybersecurity management system.

Revamping and repowering are usually considered a part

of extraordinary maintenance from a contractual point of Key Performance Indicators
view. However, revamping and repowering’s significance has
increased rapidly in solar O&M markets around the world, and Important KPIs include PV power plant KPIs, directly reflecting
Jordan is no exception to this. It is expected that revamping the performance of the PV power plant; O&M service provider
and repowering will gain traction in Jordan in the years to come KPIs, assessing the performance of the O&M service provided,
as assets age and new technologies arrive on the market. and PV power plant/O&M service provider KPIs, which
Therefore, these Guidelines address them in a standalone reflect power plant performance and O&M service quality
chapter. Revamping and repowering are defined as the at the same time. PV power plant KPIs include important
replacement of old, power production related components indicators such as the Performance Ratio (PR), which is the
within a power plant by new components to enhance the energy generated divided by the energy obtainable under
overall performance of the installation. This chapter presents ideal conditions expressed as a percentage, and Uptime (or
the best practices in module and inverter revamping and Technical Availability) which are parameters that represent,
repowering and general, commercial considerations to keep as a percentage, the time during which the plant operates
in mind before implementation. over the total possible time it can operate. O&M service
provider KPIs include Acknowledgement Time (the time
between the alarm and the acknowledgement), Intervention
Spare Parts Management Time (the time between acknowledgement and reaching
the plant by a technician) and Resolution Time (the time to
Spare Parts Management is an inherent and substantial part resolve the fault starting from the moment of reaching the
of O&M aimed at ensuring that spare parts are available, in a PV plant). Acknowledgement Time plus Intervention Time

10 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

Executive summary / continued
are called Response Time, an indicator used for contractual three important factors: (1) a different set of stakeholders
guarantees. The most important KPI which reflects PV power – owners of rooftop systems not being solar professionals
plant performance and O&M service quality at the same time but home owners and businesses, (2) different economics
is the Contractual Availability. While Uptime (or Technical – monitoring hardware and site inspections accounting for
Availability) reflects all downtimes regardless of the cause, a larger share of investment and savings, and (3) a higher
Contractual Availability involves certain exclusion factors to incidence of uncertainty – greater shade, lower data accuracy
account for downtimes not attributable to the O&M service and less visual inspection.
provider (such as force majeure), an important difference for
contractual purposes.

Contractual framework
In Jordan, whilst there is no requirement, O&M service
providers will give Performance Ratio guarantees in some
cases. PR guarantees can be useful when installation an
O&M are performed by the same entity. If this is not the case,
then it is best practice to use Availability and Response Time
guarantees instead. A best practice is a minimum Availability
of 98% over a year should be guaranteed, with Contractual
Availability guarantees translated into Bonus Schemes
and Liquidated Damages. When setting Response Time
guarantees, differentiating between periods with high and
low irradiance levels is recommended. The same applies for
fault classes, i.e. the (potential) power loss.

Innovations and trends

O&M contractors are increasingly relying on innovations
and more machine and data-driven solutions to keep up
with market requirements. The most important trends and
innovations shaping today’s O&M market are summarised
in this chapter, and include the use of technology to perform
increasingly accurate and targeted data-driven O&M, and
coatings for PV modules to improve their performance.

O&M for PV power plants with storage

This chapter assists in the application of the best practices,
detailed in the previous chapters of the document, to PV
installations with storage. All best practices mentioned
in these Guidelines could be theoretically applied to the
smallest systems. However, Battery Energy Storage Systems
(BESS) require different O&M services to ensure the effective
management of energy supply and demand. The chapter
discusses the various types of BESS that are in use in Jordan
and details best practice recommendations for quality
management of these systems.

O&M for rooftop solar

All best practices mentioned in these Guidelines could be
theoretically applied to even the smallest solar system for
its benefit. However, this is not practical in nature due to a
different set of stakeholders and financial implications. This
chapter assists in the application of the utility-scale best
practices to distributed solar projects, which are shaped by

11 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

1 Introduction
1. Introduction
1.1. Rationale, aim and scope Since the operational phase covers by far the longest
period during the lifetime of the of a PV power plant project,
increasing the quality of O&M services is important and,
According to SolarPower Europe’s market data, Jordan had
in contrast, neglecting O&M is risky. According to several
a cumulative installed solar PV capacity of around 1.75 GW
studies, yield can be reduced by up to 70% if a PV power plant
in 2021. This is the result of solid growth since 2016. As the
is not well monitored or maintained. In exceptional cases,
country seeks to achieve energy independence, this number
temporary yield losses of up to 100% have been reported.
is expected to more than double by 2026 under a business-
Inoperative situations or performance issues need to be
as-usual scenario. As more capacity comes online in the
detected instantly to avoid serious yield losses. By way of
ensuing years, ensuring that PV installations run efficiently
example, just the effect of soiling resulting from regular, wind
over the course of their lifetime will be vital to ensuring that
induced, dust carry-over can result in a performance loss of
solar becomes the backbone of Jordan’s new electricity
10%+ within two weeks, and of 30%+ within a matter of six
system. Today, O&M has become a standalone segment
weeks.
within the solar industry, with an increasing number of
companies in Jordan providing specialised services. Yet there
The O&M services segment of the solar PV industry is
are still significant quality discrepancies between services
relatively young and serious harmonisation of best practices
from different providers.
is yet to take place. Although this is partly logical, reflecting
the specificities of each system, topologies, installation
A professional Operation & Maintenance (O&M) service
sites, and legislative requirements, there is some confusion
package ensures that the photovoltaic system will maintain
and a lack of clarity on the part of asset owners and finance
high levels of technical, safety and consequently economic
providers (investors and/or banks) as to what the minimum
performance over its lifetime. Currently, it is widely
requirements (scope) should be.
acknowledged by all stakeholders that high quality O&M
services mitigate the potential risks, improve the levelised
Today, existing standardisation still does not fill in all the gaps
cost of electricity (LCOE) and Power Purchase Agreement
or clarify all the requirements and their implementation.
(PPA) prices and positively impact the return on investment
Although in Maintenance, there are a number of technical
(ROI). This can be highlighted if one considers the lifecycle
international standards that can be followed and which also
of a PV project which can be broken down into the 4 phases
cover tasks related to planning, scheduling and administrative,
below. The O&M phase is by far the longest:
but when it comes to the practical Power Plant Operation,
» Development (typically 1-3 years) there are many shortcomings. Therefore, it is crucial to
develop and disseminate best practices to optimise Power
» Construction (a few months) Plant Operation and thus energy production, power plant
management and resulting benefits. Best practices that set
the quality bar high will enhance investors’ understanding and
» Operation & Maintenance (typically 30+ years)
confidence.

» Decommissioning and disposal (a few months)

12 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

1 Introduction / continued

FIGURE 1. OVERVIEW OF A SELECTION OF APPLICABLE STANDARDS FOR O&M (STATUS: 2019).

NOTE: THIS LIST IS NOT EXHAUSTIVE AND NEW STANDARDS ARE UNDER DEVELOPMENT.

EN 13306
IEC 62446-1:2016
General O&M IEC 62446-2
IEC TS 63049:2017
activities IEC 60364-7-712:2017
EN 50380
IEC 62548
IEC 61215 (all parts)
IEC 61439
IEC 61557 (all parts)
IEC 61730 (all parts)
PV components IEC 62093
and BOS IEC 62109 (all parts)
IEC TS 62804 (all parts)
IEC 61724-1:2017 IEC TS 62915
IEC TS 61724- 2:2016 System performance IEC TS 63126
IED TS 61724-3:2016
IEC TS 61724-4 and monitoring
IEC TS 63019:2019
ISO 9847:1992

IEC TS 62446-3:2017
Specialised technical IEC 61829:2015
IEC TS 61836 inspections IEC TS 60904-13:2018
IEC TS 62738:2018
IEC TR 63149:2018
IEC TS 62548
IEC 60891:2009 Other supporting
IEC 61853-1:2011 standards
IEC 61853-2:2016
IEC 61853-3:2018
IEC 61853-4:2018
IEC 61854-5:2011
IEC 60904-4

This report also features best practices and to avoid importance and the specifics of BESS technology means that
misunderstandings in wording and doing. For more detailed stakeholders from asset owners to O&M service providers
information, please refer to Annex a. will be required to understand how to best take care of these
installations and the cost of doing so.
The Jordan edition of the O&M Best Practice Guidelines is
a key tool to set quality standards for service providers and The content covers technical and non-technical requirements,
enhance investors’ understanding and confidence. Their classifying them when possible into:
design has been industry-led and is based on the knowledge
and experience of leading O&M service provision, project 1. minimum requirements, below which the O&M service
development and construction (EPC), and asset management is considered as poor or insufficient, and which form
firms, alongside utilities, manufacturers, and monitoring a minimum quality threshold for a professional and
tool providers. In this edition, the requirements presented in bankable service provider;
SolarPower Europe’s O&M Best practice Guidelines version 4.0 2. best practices, which are methods considered to be
have been adapted to match the Jordanian market context. state-of-the-art, producing optimal results by balancing
the technical as well as the financial side;
3. recommendations, which can add to the quality of the
Thus, the scope of the current work also includes smaller
service, but whose implementation depends on the
scale solar PV installations in the 100s of kW scale such as
considerations of the Asset Owner or Asset Manager,
C&I and residential rooftop installations that are prevalent
such as the available budget.
in the Jordanian market. Recommendations related to O&M
for distributed solar installations are explained in Chapter 15. As for the terminology used in this document to differentiate
O&M for rooftop solar. New to this edition of the O&M Best between these three categories, verbs such as “should”
Practice Guidelines is a chapter on Battery Energy Storage indicate minimum requirements, unless specified explicitly
Systems (BESS). Given the need for grid reinforcement in the otherwise, as per this example: “should, as a best practice”.
Jordanian market to integrate larger amounts of renewable
energy generation capacity, BESS are becoming increasingly
popular when coupled with rooftop systems. Their growing

13 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

1 Introduction / continued
1.2. How to benefit from this document large impact on the long-term performance of solar power
plants. Many EPC service providers also offer O&M services
This document includes the main considerations for successful to the solar power plants they develop. They often provide a
and professional O&M service provision. It can be used by all 2-year performance warranty period lasting from the COD
stakeholders to help improve understanding of the mandato- until the delivery of an FAC. In certain mature markets the
ry requirements and importance of O&M, whilst providing key role of the EPC service provider is increasingly split between
recommendations for inclusion in service packages. Any stake- different entities. For more information, see SolarPower
holders in the following section can benefit from the quality Europe’s EPC Best Practice Guidelines.
advice and recommendations that this work has to offer, and Asset Manager
it serves as a baseline for assuring the maximum efficiency of
The service provider responsible for the overall management
.solar PV plants
of the SPV, from a technical, financial, and administrative
Although the focus is Jordanian, most of the content can be point of view. The Asset Manager ensures that SPV and service
used in other regions around the world. The requirements de- providers fulfil their contractual obligations. Asset Managers
scribed in the maintenance part can be useful for regions with also manages the site to ensure optimal profitability of the
similar conditions and additional requirements or modificati- PV power plant (or portfolio of plants) by supervising energy
ons can easily be made for other regions with unique characte- sales, energy production, and O&M activities. Asset Managers
ristics. With regards to the operations and technical asset ma- furthermore ensure the fulfilment of all administrative,
nagement part, the requirements apply to PV assets regardless fiscal, insurance and financial obligations of the SPVs. Asset
of their location. Stakeholders and roles Managers review the performance of the sites regularly
and report to Asset Owners and seek to balance cost, risk,
Usually, multiple stakeholders interact in the O&M phase and and performance to maximise value for stakeholders. In
therefore it is important to clarify as much as possible the diffe- some cases, when the SPV belongs to large Asset Owners,
rent roles and responsibilities. These can be abstracted to the such as utilities or Independent Power Producers (IPPs),
:following basic roles the AM activity is done in-house. For more information,
see SolarPower Europe’s Asset Management Best Practice
Asset Owner Guidelines (available at [Link]).
Asset Owners are the stakeholders that finance the EPC phase, O&M service provider
and the overall operation of a PV power plant. They can be a
The entity that responsible for the O&M activities as defined in
single investor or part of a group and can be classified as either
the O&M contract. In some cases, this role can be subdivided
private individuals, investment funds, IPPs, or utilities. The pre-
into:
ferred model for asset ownership is an SPV, i.e., limited liability
companies, specifically incorporated for building, owning, and » Technical Asset Manager, serving as an interface
operating one or more PV plants. In some cases, when the SPV between some of the technical O&M activities and the
belongs to large Asset Owners, such as utilities or IPPs, some, Asset Owner. This person is responsible for providing
or all, of the roles of Asset Owners, Asset Managers, project high-level services such as performance reporting to
developers, O&M and EPC service providers may be done in- the Asset Owner, managing contracts, and managing
.house invoicing and the warranty agreement

Lender » Operations service provider is responsible for the

monitoring, supervision, and control of a PV power plant
The lender or debt provider (financing bank) is not considered alongside maintenance coordination
as an Asset Owner even if the loans are backed up by
securities (collateral). The lender normally measures the risk » Maintenance service provider carries out maintenance
of providing debt service based on the debt service coverage The three roles are often assumed by a single entity through
ratio (DSCR) of an Asset Owner. The role of the lender is a full-service O&M contract. A comprehensive set of O&M
evolving, with enhanced considerations and involvement activities (technical and non-technical) is presented in this
regarding the requirements for the debt provision. Some report.
projects also have a mezzanine lender providing junior debt
services, where another layer of debt is provided at a higher Technical AdvisorsTechnical Advisors and Engineers
risk than in the original lender’s case.
Individuals or teams of experts that provide specialised
EPC service provider services (e.g., detailed information, advice, technical
The entity in charge of the engineering, procurement, and consulting). Their role is important as they ensure that
construction of a solar power plant. An EPC service provider procedures and practices are robust enough – according to
is responsible for delivering a complete PV power plant to the standards and best practices – to maintain high performance
Asset Owner, handling all aspects from seeking authorisation levels from a PV plant. Technical advisors can represent
for the construction to commissioning and securing a grid different stakeholders (e.g., investors and lenders) but often
connection. Their role is very important in procuring quality an independent engineer is employed in an attempt to
components and ensuring quality installation, which have a minimise the risk of bias towards any party.

14 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

1 Introduction / continued
Specialised suppliers behaviour. It is vital for ensuring that prompt action is taken
once a fault has been identified and providing important
Providers of specialised services (e.g., technical, or operational
information on potential areas of underperformance. There is
systems consulting) or hardware (e.g., electricity generating
a tendency in the industry to opt for solutions that integrate
components or security systems).
all the above-mentioned systems and platforms into one
Authorities software. There are several advantages to this approach, and
it can be considered a recommendation.
Local (e.g., the municipality), regional (e.g., the provincial or
regional authorities supervising environmental constraints),
The aforementioned stakeholders and roles should support
national (e.g., the national grid operator) or international (e.g.,
the provision of the necessary services and transfer the
the authors of a European grid code) bodies with competence
guidelines of this report to real life situations. For example,
in areas that relate to stages of a project’s lifecycle.
in cases where either one stakeholder/party may take
Off-taker over several roles and responsibilities or one role might be
The entity that pays for the electricity produced. This role is represented by several parties:
still evolving and is often subdivided according to national » an investor may take asset management responsibilities
renewable power support schemes: » an Asset Manager may take over a more active role and
» The state or national grid operator / electricity seller(s), intervene in operations
or specific authorities for renewable energy in an FiT » an Asset Manager may even take over full O&M
scheme
» an O&M service provider’s role may be subdivided or may
also include some asset management activities such as
» Energy traders or direct sellers in a
specified below (e.g. reporting, electricity sale, insurance,
direct marketing scheme
fiscal registrations, etc)
» End customers in schemes that support » the end customer (or electricity buyer) may at the same
autonomy in energy supply time be the Asset Owner, Asset Manager, and O&M
service provider (e.g., a PV power plant on an industrial
Aggregator site to cover its own energy needs).

An entity that combines multiple customer loads or Figure 2 on the following page shows the classification
generated electricity for sale, purchase, or auction in any and distribution of the responsibilities among the different
electricity market. This is useful for Asset Managers and O&M stakeholders and, in particular the Asset Manager (Asset
service providers as aggregators can provide them access Management), the O&M service provider (Operation &
to electricity markets, balancing markets, and other future Maintenance) and the Engineers (Technical Advisors). This
flexibility markets, helping them to sell power produced by figure is redesigned and based on a figure of GTM (2013).
distributed assets or stockpiled in storage assets and unlock
new revenue streams from providing flexibility services. In general, the O&M service provider will have a more
technical role (energy output optimisation) and the Asset
Data-related service providers Manager will undertake more commercial and administrative
Companies that provide hardware and software solutions responsibilities (financial optimisation). The technical
such as monitoring systems, asset management platforms, aspects of Asset Management are called Technical Asset
CMMS, or ERP. Other players in this segment provide advanced Management, a role that is often assumed by the O&M service
data analysis by using site data to calculate KPIs (analytical provider. The O&M service provider sometimes even assumes
tools) or provide a repository for key site information whilst some tasks related to procurement. These Guidelines handle
facilitating some administrative workflows. Data is crucial Technical Asset Management as part of the core roles that can
to ensuring that Owners, Asset Managers and O&M service be provided by the O&M service provider and thus dedicates a
providers are aware of on-site conditions, including equipment standalone chapter to Technical Asset Management.

15 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

1 Introduction / continued
FIGURE 2. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF DIFFERENT STAKEHOLDERS IN THE FIELD OF
O&M. ASSET MANAGER AND O&M SERVICE PROVIDER RESPONSIBILITIES CAN OVERLAP,
AND TECHNICAL ASSET MANAGEMENT CAN BE ASSUMED BY EITHER PARTY.

Lifecycle project management.

Support to the owner throughout the project phases:
» Development » Contract scoping
» Construction » Risk identification & tracking
» Operation » Cost management
» Decommissioning » Execution of obligations
Commercial and Financial Asset Management.
» Strategy management » Cash flow managment
» Corporate administrative services » Working capital reconciliation
» Financial reporting » Financial control
» Accounting » Contract management
» Customer relationship » Suppliers account management
» Accounting assistance » Suppliers penalties invoicing
» Invoicing/ billing and payments » Interface with banks and investors
» Revenue control » Equity/debt financing management
» Tax preparation, filing and administration
Engineering
Procurement
» Plant
(re)commissioning » Supplier selection and evaluation
» Supply account control
» Quality » Supply chain control
audit/inspection Technical Asset Management
Engineering

» Re-powering and » Reporting to asset owner » Insurance claims

upgrades » Site visits and non-intrusive inspections » Contract management
» Management of ancillary service providers » Asset optimisation
» Monitoring » Interface with local energy authorities » Environmental management
install/ » Regulatory compliance » Health & safety management
retrofit » Warranty management
Power Plant Operation
» As-built design
documentation » Documentation Management System » Reporting to Technical Asset Manager
» Plant performance monitoring » Management of change
» Plant design and supervision » Power plant security
overview » Performance analysis and improvement » Maintenance scheduling
» Optimisation of O&M » Spare parts management
» Power plant controls » Decommissioning
» Power generation forecasting
» Grid code compliance
Power Plant Maintenance
» Preventive maintenance
» Corrective maintenance
» Predictive maintenance
» Extraordinary maintenance
» Additional services:
• PV site maintenance (panel cleaning, vegetation
control, PV waste disposal & recycling, etc.)
• General site management (pest control, waste
management, buildings maintenance, etc.)
• On-site measurements (meter readings, thermal inspections, etc.)
• Spare parts storage

Operation & Maintenance

16 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

1 Introduction / continued
This grey zone of responsibilities makes it difficult to successful and impactful implementation of services. That
standardise properly the responsibilities of each stakeholder. will require Asset Managers to have technical skills in-house
With this perspective, it is important that contracts define or by hiring an independent technical advisor (engineer)
as precisely as possible scope, rights and obligations of each for a meaningful supervision and proper assessment of the
party and the general work order management. technical solutions, and O&M service providers to have the
ability to cost-assess and prioritise their operational decisions
However, all stakeholders should have a good understanding and maintenance services.
of both technical and financial aspects in order to ensure a

17 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

2Definitions
2. Definitions
This section introduces a basic set of definitions of important different types of maintenances or operational tasks).
terms that are widely used in the O&M field (contracts) and
is necessary for all different stakeholders to have a common Indeed, it is more challenging for terms in the Operational field
understanding. In general, there are standards in place that since those are less technical and not standardised as in the
explain some of these terms, however, it is still difficult in case for Maintenance. The chapter provides a short list which
practice to agree on the boundaries of those terms and what is not exhaustive but reflects the different sections of this
exactly is expected under these terms or services (e.g. the document. Below are definitions and Jordan Specific terms.

Actions and/or works performed, managed, or overseen by an O&M service provider, which
are not (but can be if agreed) part of the regular services and normally charged “as-you-go”
Additional Services
(e.g., ground maintenance, module cleaning, security services etc.). Some of the additional
services can be part of Preventive Maintenance, depending on the contractual agreement.

A software package or suite of tools that is used by the Asset Manager to store and manage
technical, and non-technical data and information collected from and relating to the solar
Asset Management
asset, portfolio or Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV). It combines the abilities of a Computerised
Platform
Maintenance Management System (CMMS) and an Enterprise Resource Planning System
(ERP).

Computerised
Software designed to measure and record various O&M Key Performance Indicators (KPIs),
Maintenance
such as Acknowledgement Time, Intervention Time, Reaction Time, Resolution Time, and
Management
equipment performance, including Mean Time Between Failures, to optimise maintenance
System (CMMS)
activities.

Managing the rights and obligations of contracts to ensure they are fulfilled. For Asset
Managers this involves building, developing, and maintaining business relationships with
counterparties of different contracts. This includes selecting service providers, negotiating
Contract management
with banks, landowners, and operations providers, managing insurance and warranty claims,
as well as ensuring compliance of the contractual obligations, such as notifying, filing, and
reporting. For service providers this involves fulfilling their agreed contractual obligations.

An agreement with specific terms between an Asset Owner and a service provider. This
agreement defines the scope of the services to be provided, the management and interfaces
Contractual Framework
of those services, and the responsibilities of each party. Liquidated damages and bonus
schemes are also part of the contractual commitments.

Control Room Services

Comprehensive actions like PV plant monitoring, performance analysis, supervision, remote
(also known as
controls, management of maintenance activities, interaction with grid operators, regulators,
Operations Centre
Asset Managers and Asset Owners, and the preparation and provision of regular reporting,
Services
performed by experienced and qualified staff in a control room, during operational hours for
or Remote Operations
365 days/year.
Centre)

Measures (immediate or deferred) taken to correct failures, breakdowns, malfunctions,

anomalies, or damages detected during inspections, or through monitoring, alarming, or
Corrective maintenance
reporting or any other source. These measures are designed to restore a PV system to regular
operating status.

18 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

2 Definitions / continued

Technical and functional specifications for both software and hardware systems used to
Data and monitoring
collect, transmit and store production, performance, and environmental data for power plant
requirements
management.

Defects Liability
A period post-construction (usually from the COD) where the EPC service provider is liable
Period (DLP)
for any defects reported by the customer. This can, in principle, last for several years and
(or Defects Notification
terminates with the issuance of a Final Acceptance Certificate (FAC) to the EPC service
Period (DNP))
provider.

A management system that records, manages, and stores documents required for O&M
and AM. These include previous and current versions of technical plant and equipment
documentation and drawings, maintenance manuals, photos, reports, reviews, and approvals.
Document Management
DMS also define proper document formats and the processes for information exchange. Due
System (DMS)
to the increasing complexity of documents and to enable advanced analytics, electronic DMS
with the ability to handle meta-tags and searchable, editable documentation are becoming
best practice.

Environment, Health and Safety indicates the activities performed to ensure environmental
Environment, Health
protection, occupational health and safety at work and on site. These activities cover staff
& Safety (EH&S)
and visitors and are determined by national regulations and legislation.

Enterprise Resource
Business management software that allows a company (such as an O&M service provider
Planning
or an Asset Manager) to gather, store, manage and analyse all types of data relevant to their
System (ERP)
operations.

Actions and/or works performed in case of major unpredictable faults, such as serial defects,
Extraordinary
force majeure events etc, that are generally considered outside of the ordinary course of
Maintenance
business.

A legal term, often used in contracts, good industry practice is synonymous with best
practice throughout SolarPower Europe’s guidelines. The term refers to practices, methods,
techniques, standards, codes, specifications, acts, skills, and equipment that go beyond the
established minimum acceptable baseline in the international solar power industry (including
Good industry practice in the construction and installation of solar power facilities). They are adhered to by high-
quality service providers and are designed to help accomplish the desired result of a decision
or action (or lack thereof), in line with applicable laws and permits. Good industry practices
are reliable and safe, economically efficient, protect the environment and are done with the
degree of skill, diligence and prudence that would ordinarily be expected.

Grid code compliance Equipment, procedures, and actions required by a grid operator to comply with grid safety,
requirements power quality and operating specifications.

Grid Code
The test which is applied to confirm the compliance of a plant with the Grid Code requirements.
Compliance Test

The entity or entities responsible for operating distribution and transition networks. In Jordan,
Grid Operator JEPCO, EDECO, or IDECO operate different distribution networks. The transmission system
operator (TSO) is called NEPCO.

An application to an insurer, from a customer, for reimbursement based on their insurance

Insurance claims
policy terms.

Key Performance SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound) parameters used to evaluate
Indicator (KPI) relative performance against a set of fixed objectives.

Management of change defines the way to handle necessary adjustments of the design
Management of change of a PV power plant after the Commercial Operation Date (COD). Changes require a close
cooperation between the Asset Owner and the O&M service provider.

19 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

2 Definitions / continued

The time granted to an EPC, or O&M service provider to mobilise the equipment and personnel
Mobilisation period
required to commence work.

The digital platform used for the overall management of PV plants or a PV plant portfolio. It
allows for centralised monitoring of the functioning, energy generation and reference data of a
PV plant and its components. Ideally, this would be performed through a real-time monitoring
module that retrieved data from local Supervisory Control & Data Acquisition (SCADA)
Monitoring System
systems. It also includes operational modules such as ticket dispatching, analytics, and
reporting. The centralised monitoring module receives data for 24 hours a day, all year from
in-plant SCADA systems, purpose-built sensors for measuring irradiation and temperature
and other sources such as meteorological information.

An electricity billing mechanism that allows consumers who generate some, or all their own
electricity through an on-grid PV system to use that electricity anytime, instead of when
it is generated. Under such schemes, commercial electricity meters measure PV systems’
Net – Metering Scheme
generation and beneficiaries load consumption at the same electrical point.

Measurements, calculations, trends, comparisons, inspections, etc. performed to evaluate

Performance analysis a PV plant, segments and/or single component performance, site conditions, equipment
& improvement behaviour, etc., and to provide reports and assessment studies to interested parties (customer,
public authority, etc).

Operators, technicians, engineers, and managers employed for the execution of the O&M
Personnel & training activities and training plans/programmes to train them on relevant PV plant related aspects
and to keep them continuously updated on their respective roles.

The electrical connection point between a PV plant and the utility grid, where the official
Point of Common Coupling commercial meter is installed and at where the plant should comply with the Grid Code
requirements.

Adoption of forecasting tools calculating expected power production for a certain timeframe
Power Generation
from weather forecasts to supply the expected power production to Owner, grid operator,
Forecasting
energy traders or others. This is normally country and plant dependent.

Actions required by the grid operator, for controlling active and/or reactive power being fed
Power plant controls into the grid, other power quality factors that are subject to adjustments and/or (emergency)
shut down (if applicable).

The supervision and analysis of data from a monitoring system, by experienced personnel.
This takes place during daylight hours and managed by one or more control rooms (365
Power plant supervision
days/year). The reception and qualification of the alarms from the monitoring tool is also
considered to be part of the supervision.

Actions and/or techniques that are performed to help assess the condition of a PV system
and its components, predict/forecast and recommend when maintenance actions should
be performed. The prediction is derived from the analysis and evaluation of significant
Predictive Maintenance
parameters of the component (e.g., parameters related to degradation). Monitoring systems
and expert knowledge are used to identify the appropriate actions, based on a cost benefit
analysis.

Actions, testing, or measurements to ensure optimal operating conditions of equipment and

Preventive Maintenance the entire PV plant, preventing defects and failures before they arise. Preventive maintenance
takes place periodically, and according to a specific maintenance plan and schedule.

Compliance with any law, statute, directive, bylaw, regulation, rule, order, delegated legislation,
Regulatory & statutory or subordinate legislation directly applicable in the country where a service is provided or an
compliance SPV and PV power plant are located. This also includes respecting any mandatory guidelines
and measures issued by a utility or any other competent public authority.

20 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

2 Definitions / continued

Reporting and other Obligations to provide updates, or deliver results and products, to the relevant stakeholders,
deliverables issuing from a contract or as best practice.

Actions, procedures, equipment and/or techniques that are adopted on site and remotely to
Security protect the plant from theft, vandalism, fire, and unauthorised entry. Security services are to
be provided be specialised security service providers.

Ensuring that the right amounts and types of components and equipment are available to
Spare Parts Management carry out prompt maintenance and minimise the downtime of a PV plant. They can be stored
in warehouses or in the O&M service provider’s stocks.

Warranty management usually aggregates activities of a diverse nature which are linked
to areas such as supply of equipment and services, and project construction. All these
responsibilities (warranties) are usually materialised when a PAC is issued by the EPC
Warranty management service provider. Warranty Management is the activity that manages these warranties with
the objective of reducing the costs and response times after warranty claims for repair
or replacement of certain PV system components (under the warranty of the EPC service
provider and/or the components manufacturer).

An electricity billing mechanism that allows consumers who generate some or all their own
electricity through an on-grid PV system far away from their loads, to use that electricity
anytime, instead of when it is generated. Under such schemes, commercial electricity
Wheeling Scheme
meters, which measure PV systems’ generation, and meters that measure the beneficiaries’
consumption are separate. Additional wheeling fees and losses should be applied as per
regulations from the Energy & Minerals Regulatory Commission (EMRC).

21 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

3 Environment,Health
3. Environment, Health &
& Safety
Safety
3.1. Environment permits should be complied with. Maintenance services
should comply with things such as the proper application of
herbicides, pesticides, and poisons used to control rodents.
Renewables are popular because of their low environmental
The use of solvents and heat-transfer fluids should also be
impact, and it is important that solar plants are operated and
controlled. Cleaning agents (soap) should be environmentally
maintained to minimise any adverse effects. Environmental
friendly (no chlorine bleach) and applied sparingly to avoid
problems can normally be avoided through proper plant
over-spray and run-off.
design and maintenance – for example, bunds and regular
inspection of HV transformers will reduce the chances of
significant oil leaks – but where issues do occur the O&M 3.2. Health and Safety
service provider must detect them and respond promptly.
Beyond the environmental damage there may be financial The Jordanian Ministry of Labour has issued laws on
or legal penalties for the Owner of the plant. The Ministry of occupational health and safety, such as Law No. 8 of 1996
Environment in Jordan is the main regulatory body in this (Labour Law of 1996) and its modifications, and the table of
regard. occupational injuries and the estimation of the percentages
of disability that arise from them (annexe to Labour Law No.
Legal obligations to be fulfilled by the O&M service provider 2 of 1996).
(or the Technical Asset Manager) may include long-term
environmental requirements to be implemented either Managing the risks that solar plants pose to the health
onsite or off-site. Typical requirements can be, amongst and safety (H&S) of people, both in and around the plant,
others, water tank installation, tree clearing, drainage system is a primary concern of all stakeholders. Solar plants are
installation, amphibian follow-up, edge plantation, and reptile electricity generating power stations and pose significant
rock shelter installation. Such requirements should be hazards which can result in permanent injury or death. Risks
implemented and managed by the O&M service provider to can be mitigated through proper hazard identification, careful
comply with the relevant regulations. As a best practice, the planning of works, briefing of procedures to be followed, and
O&M service provider’s environmental preservation activities regular and well documented inspection and maintenance
can go beyond legal obligations. (see also 6.10. Power plant security) .
Other aspects that need to be considered as best practice, are
recycling of broken panels and electric waste so that glass, The dangers of electricity are well known and can be effectively
aluminium and semiconductor materials can be recovered managed through properly controlled access and supervision
and reused, and hazardous materials disposed of in a safe by the O&M Contractor. Any person accessing a PV plant
manner, complying with legal requirements from the relevant should expect some form of introduction to ensure they are
authorised body in Jordan. In areas with water scarcity, water briefed on any hazards and risks. Staff working on electrical
use for module cleaning should be minimised, or proper dry equipment must be appropriately trained, experienced and
cleaning could be considered. supervised, but it is also key that others working around the
equipment - for example panel cleaners - are equally aware of
In many situations, solar plants offer an opportunity, where the potential risks and have safe methods of working around
managed sympathetically, to provide opportunities for HV and LV electricity.
agriculture and a valuable natural habitat for plants and
animals alongside the primary purpose of generation of Hazardous areas and equipment should carry appropriate
electricity. A well thought out environmental management markings to warn personnel of possible hazards and wiring
plan can help promote the development of natural habitats, sequence. Such markings should be clear and evident to all
as well as reduce the overall maintenance costs of managing personnel and third parties (and intruders) entering the plant
the plant’s grounds. It can also ensure the satisfaction of any premises.
legal requirements to protect or maintain the habitat of the
site. In any case, environmental requirements from building

22 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

3 Environment, Health & Safety / continued

As well as the inherent dangers of a typical solar plant, every The following dangers are likely to exist on most solar plants
site will have its own set of individual hazards which must be and must be considered when listing hazards in order
considered when working on the plant. An up-to-date plan to identify risks. The severity of any injuries caused are
of hazards is important for the O&M Contractor to use to commonly exacerbated by the terrain and remoteness often
manage his own staff and to provide third party contractors found on solar plants.
with adequate information. It is usually the case that the O&M
1. Medical problems
Contractor holds the authority and responsibility to review
and, where necessary, reject works taking place in the plant. It is critical that all personnel engaged in work on solar
Failure to carry this out properly has important consequences farms have considered and communicated any pre-
to general safety. existing medical problems and any additional measures
that may be required to deal with them.
Besides workers on the solar plant, it is not unusual for
other parties to require access to it. This may be the Asset
2. Slips, trips and falls
Owner, or their representative, the landlord of the land, or in
some situations members of the public. It is important that The terrain, obstacles and equipment installed on a solar
the plant access control and security system keeps people farm provide plenty of opportunities for slips, trips and falls
away from areas of danger and that they are appropriately both at ground level and whilst on structures or ladders;
supervised and inducted as necessary. and for roof-top or carport systems, fall-protection and
additional equipment is required when working at heights.
The Asset Owner is ultimately responsible for the compliance
of H&S regulations within the site/plant. The Asset Owner must 3. Collisions
make sure that, at all times, the installation and all equipment
meet the relevant legislations of the country and also, that all Collisions can occur between personnel, machinery/
contractors, workers and visitors respect the H&S Legislation vehicles and structures. The large areas covered by solar
by strictly following the established procedures, including the farms often necessitate the use of vehicles and machinery
use of established personal protective equipment (PPE). which when combined with the generally quiet nature of
an operational solar farm can lead to a lack of attention.
At the same time, the O&M Contractor should prepare and General risks such as difficult terrain, reversing without a
operate its own safety management systems to be agreed banksman and walking into the structure supporting the
with the Asset Owner taking into account site rules and the solar panels require special attention.
Works in relation to health and safety and perceived hazards. 4. Strains and sprains
The O&M Contractor should ensure that it complies, and that
all subcontractors comply with the H&S legislation. Lifting heavy equipment, often in awkward spaces or from
uneven ground, presents increased risk of simple strains
The Asset Owner will have to require from the O&M Contractor or longer term skeletal injuries.
to represent, warrant and undertake to the Owner that it has
the competence and that it will allocate adequate resources 5. Electrocution
to perform the duties of the principal contractor pursuant to
specific national regulations for health and safety. Operational solar farms whether energised or not present
a significant risk of electrocution to personnel. This risk is
Before starting any activity on-site the Asset Owner will exacerbated by the nature and voltage of the electricity on
deliver risk assessment and method statements to the O&M site and the impossibility of total isolation. Staff engaged
Contractor who will provide a complete list of personnel in electrical work obviously suffer the greatest risk but
Training Certifications and appoint a H&S coordinator. During everybody on site is at risk from step potential and other
the whole duration of the contract the O&M Contractor will forms of electrocution in the event of a fault. Specific
keep the H&S file of each site updated. training needs to be given to all those entering a solar farm
The O&M Contractor must have his personnel trained in full as to how to safely deal with the effects of electrocution.
accordance with respective national legal and professional In addition to general electrical safety, common issues for
requirements, that generally result in specific certification PV plants include: arc-flash protection when working on
to be obtained, for example in order to be allowed to work energized circuits; and lock-out-tag-out to ensure circuits
in MV and/or HV electrical plants. Within Europe, referral to are not unintendedly energised.
European Standards is not sufficient (examples of standards
used today are ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001 etc). 6. Fire

In order to achieve a safe working environment, all work must Several sources of combustion exist on a solar farm,
be planned in advance, normally written plans are required. the most common being electrical fire others including
combustible materials, flammable liquids, and grass fires.
Risk assessments need to be produced which detail all of the Safe exit routes need to be identified and procedures fully
hazards present and the steps to be taken to mitigate them. communicated. All personnel need to be fully aware of
what to do to both avoid the risk of fire and what to do in

23 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

3 Environment, Health & Safety / continued

the event of a fire. significant risk, some only when cut during vegetation
management. Animals such as rodents, snakes, insects
7. Mud and water
such as wasps and other wildlife as well as livestock can
Many solar farms have water travelling through them present significant risks. The nature of these risks will vary
such as streams and rivers, some have standing water, from place to place and personnel need to be aware of
and some are floating arrays. Mud is a very common what to do in the event of bites or stings. Snakes, spiders,
risk particularly in winter as low-grade farmland is often ticks, bees and bugs are common and pose a number of
used for solar farms. Mud and water present problems for hazards where snake bites could be lethal, spider bites
access as well as electrical danger. can cause pain and inflammation, tics bites could result
in tick bite fever, bees can cause allergic reactions and
bugs could fly into people’s eyes. It is therefore important
8. Mechanical injury
that all precautions are taken to prevent or manage
Hand-tools, power tools, machinery as well as such these incidents. Storage and application of pesticides,
mechanisms as unsecured doors can present a risk of herbicides, and rodent poisons also introduce health and
mechanical injury on site. safety hazards. For example, Glyphosate was very common
in controlling vegetation at PV plants and has been found
9. Weather to be carcinogenic. Mowing has several hazards including
flying objects. Every job at a PV site should have safety
The weather presents a variety of hazards, the most precautions identified and implemented.
significant of which is the risk of lightning strike during
an electrical storm. Due to the metal structures installed Everyone entering a solar farm, for whatever reason, should
on a solar farm an electrical storm is more likely to strike have been trained in the dangers present on solar farms and
the solar array than surrounding countryside. A solar farm be trained for the individual task that they will be performed.
MUST be vacated for the duration of any electrical storm. They should have all of the PPE and tools necessary to carry
Working in cold and rainy weather can cause fatigue and out the work in the safest way possible. The work should be
injury just as working in hot sunny weather presents the planned in advance and everyone concerned should have
risk of dehydration, sunburn, and sun stroke. Working a common understanding of all aspects related to the safe
during sunny days for undertaking maintenance and/ execution of their task. Different countries will mandate
or test in site lead to sunstroke. To avoid this, drinking written and hard copy paperwork to meet legislation, but
sufficient water and staying in the shade is recommended. best practice is to exceed the minimum requirements and to
embrace the spirit of all relevant legislation.
10. Wildlife and livestock Best practice in H&S sees the ongoing delivery of training and
sharing of lessons learned and work methods. By increasing
The renewable energy industry is proud to provide the skills of persons involved in the industry, we can make the
habitats for wildlife and livestock alongside the generation industry both safer and more productive.
of electricity. Some wildlife however presents dangers.
There are plants in different regions which can present

24 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

4Personnel & Training
4. Personnel & Training
It is of critical importance that all Operations and Maintenance As the industry grows, there is a rapid rate of technological
Personnel have the relevant qualifications to perform the change as well as the emergent of best practices, which
works in a safe, responsible, and accountable manner. It is require a programme of continuous personal development to
difficult to define exactly the suitable employee profile to which both individuals and companies need to be committed.
carry out the work but in general, it is not advisable to be rigid
in the necessary requirements. The necessary knowledge The matrix goes beyond any educational background and
and experience can be gained through different career focuses on the skills required by the O&M operators.
developments and by different engagements.
It is advisable to create a certification program for both
The solar industry benefits from a wide range of skills and service providers and individuals. Service providers need
experience. Team members with a range of electrical, to be classified and licensed based on their experience,
mechanical, financial, business and communications skills are track record, financial capability, and available resources.
required to handle different tasks and all of them strengthen The instructions of licensing persons engaged in the design,
the positive impact of the service provision. supply, installation, operation, maintenance and inspection
of renewable energy systems, as indicated in “Law No. 13 Of
Everyone who enters a solar plant needs to be trained in 2012 - Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Law” and
the dangers present in addition to their individual skills and the EMRC regulations, should be used as a reference point.
experience required for the tasks that they normally perform. However, these instructions need to be revised and updated
Awareness of the necessary health, safety, and security every two to three years to ensure they remain relevant to
regulations is a must. the rapid changes in the solar industry. Furthermore, a special
license should be issued for entities working in the O&M field
As the solar industry continues to grow, it follows those certain because operation and maintenance requires different skills
skills need to be taught, developed, and strengthened to create and qualifications that several EPC contractors might not
a suitable workforce. Furthermore, as the technology evolves possess.
new skills will emerge in the market which will require new
training programs. It is therefore essential for all employers On the other hand, individuals, particularly technicians, should
in the industry to create a training scheme, internally and be classified based on their level of experience, skills, and the
externally, to create opportunities for skills improvement and number of working hours. For example, electricians can be
development. classified as electrician under training, semi-skilled, and skilled
electricians and in order to be promoted from one level to
The creation of a training matrix as shown in the proposed another, a certain number of working hours and skill sets need
skills matrix in Annex b enables a company to record skills, to be achieved and/or maintained. Also, training should be
both formal and informal, to identify gaps and to provide divided into two categories, on the job training and technical
training to fill the gaps and full fill its needs and the industry’s school training. Training should also cover theoretical and
needs. Furthermore, it is important to continuously update practical aspects of plant operation and maintenance.
the training matrix to meet the market requirements.

25 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

5Technical Asset Management
5. Technical Asset Management
Technical Asset Management (TAM) encompasses support indicators which should be in reports as a minimum
activities to ensure the best operation of a solar power plant requirement, a best practice, or a recommendation. For
or a portfolio, i.e., to maximise energy production, minimise more details on the individual indicators, see Chapter 11. Key
downtime and reduce costs. It comprises the activities Performance Indicators.
presented in this chapter. It is worth noting that TAM can be
done by either the O&M service provider or the Asset Manager. A new trend in the industry is to extend the reporting beyond
The choice over whether to give TAM responsibilities to the the pure solar PV power plant indicators and to incorporate
Asset Manager or the O&M service provider is ultimately reporting on the actual activities. This means that both the
down to the Asset Owner. Asset Manager and the O&M service provider can operate with
an Asset Management Platform, ERP (Enterprise Resource
It is not always easy to make a clear distinction between the Planner), or CMMS (Computerised Maintenance Management
roles and responsibilities of a Technical Asset Manager, and Systems) in order to measure various O&M service provider
those of an O&M service provider. Ideally, the Technical Asset KPIs (e.g., Acknowledgement Time, Intervention Time,
Manager should act as a liaison between the Asset Owner and Reaction Time, Resolution Time) and equipment performance
the O&M service provider, ensuring that the latter is fulfilling (e.g., Mean Time Between Failures).
their obligations under the O&M contract. However, elements
of these roles are often combined in Jordan. For example, in The Technical Asset Manager should report on:
the case of Design-Build-Own-Transfer, or wheeling projects,
Owners may rely on the O&M service provider to fulfil most of » Spare Parts Management and, in particular on, spare
the roles and responsibilities of the Technical Asset Manager, parts stock levels, spare parts consumption, in particular
including managing the asset, spare parts, EH&S compliance, solar PV modules on hand, spare parts under repair.
insurance claims, security, and the interactions with the grid With the emergence of Predictive Maintenance, the
operator and regulatory authorities. Where the Owner handles Technical Asset Manager can also report on the state of
aspects of these services, the Technical Asset Manager must each individual equipment (see Chapter 9. Spare Parts
still monitor the O&M service provider’s performance to Management)
ensure that the power plant is properly maintained, and any » Compliance with regulatory requirements, including
risks are properly identified and mitigated. from grid operators, regional and national authorities for
conditions of operation (refer to section 5.4 Interface
5.1. Technical reporting with local energy authorities & regulatory compliance)
» Warranty management, warranty claims performance
The Technical Asset Manager is responsible for preparing with various component suppliers (refer to section 5.5
and providing regular reporting to the Asset Owner and other Warranty management)
stakeholders defined in the agreement between the Asset » Insurance claims management, providing lifecycle
Owner and the Technical Asset Manager. reporting on new claims raised, claims in progress and
The frequency of the reporting should be relative to the claims settled (refer to section 5.6 Insurance claims)
level of TAM activity. Standard reporting can be set for » Contract management, reporting on the performance of
monthly, quarterly, or annually. Where specific TAM actions the O&M service provider and issues relevant to the O&M
are underway, for example insurance claims or warranty contract (refer to section 5.7 Contract management
claims, reporting could be more frequent. Report content (operational contracts))
should be specifically defined. Generating a report for any
» Risk management, updating and reporting on the
specific time range in the past can also be possible. Detailed
risk register for the solar PV power plant, highlighting
time-series data should also be reported or at least archived
significant changes to the risk register (refer to section
in the reporting system to improve the correct availability
5.11 Technical risk management)
calculations. The spatial resolution of reports should be on
the level of each inverter to better detect under-performing » Status of the security and surveillance system. In this
sections of the plants managed. case, the security service provider is responsible for
Table 1 includes some proposed quantitative and qualitative providing the relevant input.

26 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

5 Technical Asset Management / continued

TABLE 1. PROPOSED INDICATORS/VALUES REQUIRED FOR THE REPORTING

Type of data Proposed indicator Type of requirement

Irradiation Minimum Requirement

Raw data
Active Energy Produced Minimum Requirement
measurements
Active Energy Consumed Best Practice

Reference Yield Recommendation

Specific Yield Recommendation

Performance Ratio Minimum Requirement

Solar PV Power Temperature-corrected Performance Ratio Best Practice

plant KPIs Energy Performance Index Best Practice

Uptime Best Practice

Availability Minimum Requirement

Energy-based Availability Recommendation

Acknowledgement time Minimum Requirement

O&M service Intervention time Minimum Requirement

provider KPIs Response time Minimum Requirement

Resolution time Minimum Requirement

Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) Recommendation

Inverter Specific Energy Losses Recommendation

Equipment KPIs
Inverter Specific Efficiency Recommendation

Module Soiling Losses Recommendation

Environmental Environmental and Biodiversity KPIs may vary depending on the

Best Practice
KPIs geography, the micro-climate and the conditions of each site.

Main incidents and impact on production Minimum Requirement

Warranty issues Best Practice

Incident EH&S issues Best Practice

Reporting Spare parts stock levels and status Best Practice

Physical and Cyber Security Issues Minimum Requirements

Preventive Maintenance tasks performed Best Practice

27 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

5 Technical Asset Management / continued

On top of the periodic standard reports (monthly, quarterly maintenance such as road management; site security; or
or yearly), where the Technical Asset Manager reports on on-site measurements such as meter readings and thermal
operations activities to the Asset Owner, it is a best practice inspections. For more information see section 7.5. Additional
for the Technical Asset Manager to provide an intermediate services.
operation report when a fault is generating a major loss. A loss This requires managing a process which spans from tendering
due to a fault is considered major when PR and availability for those services all the way to assessing the deliverables
are affected by more than a certain threshold throughout and reassuring, in coordination with the O&M service provider,
the ongoing monitoring (or reporting) period. A best practice compliance with environmental, health and safety policies.
is to set this threshold to 1% of Availability or 1% PR within a
reporting period of one month.
5.4. Interface with local energy
The report should be sent as soon as the fault is acknowledged authorities & regulatory compliance
or solved and should contain all the relevant details related
to it, together with recommendations for Extraordinary The Technical Asset Manager is responsible for ensuring
Maintenance when the necessary operations are not included that the operation of the solar PV power plant complies with
in the maintenance contract. the relevant regulations. Several levels of regulatory and
Typically, this maintenance report should contain: contractual compliance have to be considered:
» Relevant activity tracks (alarm timestamp, » Many countries have a governing law for the operation
acknowledgement time, comments, intervention time, of energy generating assets and transmission and/
description of on-site operations, pictures, etc.) or distribution network organisations will likely have
» The estimated production losses at the moment of the specific requirements to be met. This is something the
report was written O&M service provider should be aware of in any case,
even if the O&M service provider and the Technical Asset
» The estimated production losses for the total duration of Manager are separate entities
the period, counting on the estimated resolution time if
the issue is not solved yet
» Requirements of Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) and
» The device model, type, and Serial Number when the fault Interconnection Agreements.
is affecting a device
» The peak power of the strings connected to the device(s) » Power generation license agreements

» The alarm and status log as provided by the device

» Terms and conditions of corporate PPAs and stricter
» The resolution planning and suggestions contractual obligations by the Owner
» Recommendations on whether a replacement is needed
» Specific regulation for the site such as building permits,
» Spare parts available environmental permits, and regulations, which can
» Estimated cost for the extraordinary maintenance involve certain requirements and the need to cooperate
with the local (or regional or national) authorities.
Examples include restrictions to the vegetation
5.2. Site Visits and non-intrusive management and the disposal of green waste imposed
by the environmental administration body or building
inspections permits restricting working time on site or storage of
utilities
It is recommended as a best practice that a bi-annual site visit
is undertaken from a Technical Asset Manager perspective
» It is the O&M service provider’s responsibility to ensure
(in coordination with the O&M service provider if they are
grid code compliance. See 5.6. Grid code compliance.
separate) to perform a non-intrusive visual inspection, address
It is the responsibility of the AM to engage the District
current maintenance issues and plan out, in cooperation with
Network Operator in discussions which will minimise
the O&M service provider, and the ancillary service providers
outages and identify measures to safe-guard export
(if different), a maintenance improvement plan.
capabilities.

5.3. Management of ancillary service » Other issues requiring formal compliance include
providers reporting of safety plans and incidents, historic/cultural
resource protection, noise ordinances that may limit
work at night, and any other regulations imposed by an
Technical Asset Managers or the O&M service provider are
authority having jurisdiction.
responsible for managing providers of ancillary (additional)
services related to solar PV site maintenance such as
panel cleaning and vegetation management; general site

28 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

5 Technical Asset Management / continued

As a minimum requirement the O&M agreement should list Warranty of good execution of works
all the relevant permits, regulations and contracts that are the and equipment warranties
responsibility of Technical Asset Manager and specify that
During the warranty period, anomalies can occur in the facility,
the Asset Owner makes relevant documents available to the
which the EPC service provider is liable for. The anomalies
Technical Asset Manager.
must be resolved according to their nature and classification,
in accordance with what is described in the following sections.
As a best practice, all regulations, permits and stipulations
The anomalies or malfunctions that might occur within the
should be managed within a regulatory and contractual
facility warranty period might be classified in the following
compliance system that is consistent with the size and
way:
complexity of the solar PV power plant. This system should set
out: the requirements to be met; the parameters for meeting
» Pending Works, in accordance with the List of Pending
them; and the frequency of data gathering and assessment
Works (or Punch List) agreed with the client during
against the requirements. This allows the Technical Asset
the EPC phase and handover from EPC to O&M service
Manager to track compliance requirements and report back to
provider
the Asset Owner or the administration bodies, demonstrating
a systematic approach to ensuring compliance. » Insufficiencies, these being understood as any issue
in the facility resulting from supplies or construction
that, although done according to the project execution
5.5. Warranty management approved by the client, has proven to be inadequate,
unsatisfactory, or insufficient
The Technical Asset Manager can act as the Asset
Owner’s representative for any warranty claims made on » Defects, these being understood as any issue resulting
manufacturers of solar PV power plant components. The from supplies or construction executed in a different
agreement between the Asset Owner and the Technical way from the one foreseen and specified in the project
Asset Manager should specify their respective warranty execution approved by the client
management responsibilities and set thresholds under
» Failure or malfunction of equipment, being understood
which the Technical Asset Manager can act directly or seek
as any malfunction or issue found in the equipment
the Asset Owner’s consent. The Technical Asset Manager
of the solar PV power plant – Modules, Inverters, Power
or the Operations team will then inform the Maintenance
transformers or other equipment
team to perform warranty related works on site. Usually, the
warranty management scope is limited by Endemic Failures
Anomalies Handling
(see definition below in this section). Execution of warranty is
often separately billable. During the warranty period, all the Anomaly processing
should, as a best practice, be centralised by the Technical
For any warranty claims the formal procedure provided by the Asset Manager/O&M service provider. The person or people
warranty provider should be followed. All communications and in these roles are responsible for acknowledging and handling
reports should be archived for compliance and traceability issues. They also act as the main point of contact between the
reasons. internal organisational structure and the client in accordance
with the criteria defined below.
Objectives of Warranty Management:
Pending Works, Insufficiencies and Defects
» Improve the efficiency of claims processes
» Help to reduce the warranty period costs In the case of “Pending Works”, “Insufficiencies” or “Defects”
anomalies of the type, the Technical Asset Manager must
» Receive and collect all the warranty claims
communicate the occurrence to the EPC service provider,
» Support the claims process who shall be responsible for assessing the framework of the
» Negotiate more efficient claims procedures with complaint in the scope of the EPC contract and determining
manufacturers the action to be taken.
» Study the behaviour of the installed equipment
» Analyse the costs incurred during the warranty period Resolution of failures in the case of anomalies of the type
“Failures”
Types of warranties on a solar PV power plant:
The Technical Asset Manager should present the claim to the
» Warranty of Good Execution of Works equipment supplier and follow the claims process.
» Warranty of Equipment (Product Warranty) Endemic Failures
» Performance Warranty Endemic failures are product failures, at or above the expected
failure rates, resulting from defects in material, workmanship,
manufacturing process and/or design deficiencies
attributable to the manufacturer. Endemic failure is limited to
product failures attributable to the same root cause.

29 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

5 Technical Asset Management / continued

Performance Warranty drafting technical notes to support reimbursement claims.

The responsibility for coordinating insurance claims, liaising
EPC service providers usually provide a 2-year performance
with insurers, brokers, and loss adjusters, and finding the most
warranty period after the Commercial Operation Date (COD).
suitable insurance providers usually lies with the Commercial/
During the warranty period, it is the responsibility of the
Financial Asset Manager.
Technical Asset Manager to monitor, calculate, report and
follow-up the PR and other KPI values guaranteed by the EPC Types of insurance related to solar PV
service provider. power plant O&M include:
» Property insurance, hazard insurance: coverage
Within this scope, it is the responsibility of the Technical Asset
commensurate with the value of equipment and other
Manager to:
improvements to a property; may also cover against
other risks if included or unless excluded
» Manage the interventions done within the scope of the
» Commercial general liability insurance: coverage for all
warranty to safeguard the performance commitments
actions by Owner or contractors, written on an occurrence
undertaken in the contract
basis, including coverage for products, and completed
» Periodically inform the Asset Owner about the condition operations, independent contractors, premises and
of the contracted performance indicators operations, personal injury, broad form property damage,
» Immediately alert the Asset Owner whenever the levels and blanket contractual liability. Liability of a fire started
of the indicators have values or tendencies that could by the solar PV system has increased required liability
indicate a risk of failure coverage levels for solar PV systems. A liability policy
should cover negligence claims, settlements, and legal
Warranty Enforcement costs too
A warranty may be voided by mishandling or not observing » Inland insurance or marine insurance: coverage against
instructions or conditions therein. For example, storing loss of equipment in shipping or outside the property
modules improperly on-site, such that the packaging is premises. Inland insurance is often covered under
destroyed by rain, may void a warranty. In another case, property insurance policy
partial shading of a thin-film module voids the warranty.
Failure to provide adequate ventilation may void an inverter » Worker compensation: coverage of costs for employee
warranty. The manufacturer’s warranty might cover a accidents
replacement but not the labour costs of removing, shipping,
and re-installing an underperforming module. A warranty » Professional liability insurance: coverage against errors
often gives the manufacturer the option to “repair, replace, or and omissions often required by board of directors
supplement,” with “supplement” meaning to provide modules
to make up the difference in lost power. For example, if a » Commercial vehicle insurance: coverage for owned,
system has 10,000 modules that are underperforming by rented vehicles, and personal vehicles used on company
5%, the guarantor could satisfy the performance warranty business
by providing 500 additional modules to make up for the lost
power, rather than replacing the 10,000 modules. However, » Warranty insurance: equipment warranty issued by
increasing the power plant size by 500 modules to restore manufacturer but backed up by an insurance company
guaranteed power might not be possible due to lack of in the event that the manufacturing company goes out
rack space or electrical infrastructure. Also, expanding the of business. Many insurance companies do not offer
system “nameplate” capacity would generally trigger a new warranty insurance but rather cover such risk under
interconnection agreement and permitting. Manufacturers property insurance
also often have the option of paying a cash-value equivalent
» Business interruption insurance: coverage for lost
to the lost capacity of under-performing modules, but as the
revenue due to downtime caused by a covered event.
price of modules declines, this might be less than the original
This can be important in PPAs where revenue is essential
cost. Given the complications described above, this option is
for debt service and O&M expenditures.
often preferred by system Owners unless there is a required
level of performance that must be maintained. » Energy production insurance: coverage for when energy
production is less than previously specified, which can
5.6. Insurance claims improve access to debt financing and reduce debt
interest rate.
The agreement between the Technical Asset Manager and
the Asset Owner should specify their insurance management For any insurance claims the formal procedure presented by
responsibilities. At the very least, the Technical Asset the insurance provider should be followed. All communications
Manager will be expected to organise and coordinate site and reports should be archived for compliance and traceability
visits for insurance provider representatives, or technical and reasons. The insurance company (claims adjuster) will need
financial advisors in connection with information collection to have access to the site to assess damage and to collect the
and damage qualification. They will also be responsible for information needed to process the claim.

30 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

5 Technical Asset Management / continued

5.7. Contract management (operational analysis on the assets they manage, and provide asset
optimisation solutions based on the following key areas:
contracts)
» Plant performance
Contract management encompasses both technical and » Operation cost reduction
commercial/financial aspects. This section looks at contract
management from a Technical Asset Management point of » Technology adaptation and upgrades (e.g., Revamping
view. and repowering1)

» Technical People management and training

The Technical Asset Manager is responsible for ensuring
It is the role of the Technical Asset Manager to initiate and
compliance with the operational contracts in place, such
coordinate discussions with the O&M service provider (where
as contracts related to O&M services, land lease, insurance,
the roles are separate) and the Owner to future-proof the
site security, communications and in some cases ancillary
assets, and come up with a financial proposal, based on data
(additional) services such as panel cleaning and vegetation
analysis, which can assist the Owners in making informed
control or component procurement.
decisions.
Where the Technical Asset Manager and the O&M service
Note that asset optimisation has commercial and financial
provider roles are separate, the Technical Asset Manager is
aspects too, such as contract optimisation, presented in the
responsible for coordination with the O&M service provider
Asset Management Best Practice Guidelines.
and for overall performance supervision. They need to detect
where systems are underperforming and be able to accurately
diagnose an underperforming plant. 5.9. Environmental management
The Technical Asset Manager oversees various contractual Depending on local and international environmental
parameters, responsibilities and obligations of the Asset regulations, as well as on the Asset Owner’s Corporate Social
Owner and the contractual partners, linked to the respective Responsibility (CSR) and Environmental internal policies,
solar power plant. Contract management responsibilities the Asset Owner may have incentives to reduce or control
depend largely on factors such as geographic location, project negative environmental impacts. For more information on
size, construction and off-taker arrangements. effective environmental and biodiversity management,
please refer to Chapter 3. Environment, Health & Safety.
Effective contract management requires a comprehensive
analysis of the contracts to understand the requirements An increasing body of scientific evidence indicates that well-
of the parties to the contracts. This is followed by a well- designed and well-managed solar energy can support wildlife
defined Division of Responsibility (DOR) matrix that clearly habitats and contribute significantly to national biodiversity
delineates which entity (on the Asset Owner’s side of the targets. In fact, solar parks can have several additional
contract) is responsible for which action on both the short advantages over other agricultural landscapes, in that they are
and long term. Upon mutual agreement between the parties, secure sites with minimal human and technical disturbance
the DOR can serve as the driving and tracking tool for term of from construction, require little or no use of chemical
life contractual oversight. pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers, and typically incorporate
As a form of best practice, the Technical Asset Manager’s ecological features such as drainage ponds and hedgerows,
responsibilities often also extend to functioning as the point which can be designed to maximize the value of their habitat.
of contact for all external questions. This allows the Asset The approach to managing biodiversity will be different for
Owner optimal access to all areas of the service provider’s every solar park, and it is recommended that a site-specific
organisation and helps ensure adherence to the contractual plan be devised in each case.
responsibilities. The Technical Asset Manager also assumes
the responsibility for invoicing of the O&M fees to the Asset A part of the Technical Asset Management role is to assess
Owner. the impact or limitations of environmental legislation on the
For quality purposes, the Technical Asset Manager should supplier’s existing contracts and to develop an action plan to
also track their own compliance with the respective contract, address existing problems and minimise their impact.
either an O&M or Asset Management contract, and report to
the Asset Owner in full transparency. As an example, the Technical Asset Manager oversees
the operational field work to ensure compliance with
5.8. Asset optimisation (technical) environmental regulation (use of chemicals to control
vegetation, use of diesel cutting machines, etc.); the security
contract must be adapted, if possible, according to the wildlife
To the extent that O&M service providers perform TAM
existing around the solar PV power plant and the appropriate
functions, they will have to provide data and information

1 For detailed information about revamping and repowering, please refer to chapter 8. Revamping and Repowering of the O&M Best Practice
Guidelines

31 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

5 Technical Asset Management / continued

security equipment, such as loudspeakers, spotlights

and fences, must also be adapted. As a best practice, the For the correct and cost-effective determination of the
Technical Asset Manager’s (or the O&M service provider’s) CPN, the information flow from monitored data, ticketing
environmental preservation activities should go beyond legal platform and solar PV power plant metadata needs to be fully
obligations. automated (key parameters must be extracted from digital
documents or databases).
Long-term environmental requirements can also include
water tank installation, tree clearing, installation of drainage Once the CPN metric is calculated for each event, it is possible
systems, amphibian follow-up, edge plantation, and to use the metric to benchmark assets within a portfolio, to
installation of reptile rock shelters. As a best practice, the determine effective O&M strategies and to further optimise
Technical Asset Manager’s (or the O&M service provider’s) them.
environmental preservation activities should go beyond legal
obligations.

5.10. Health & safety management

The Technical Asset Manager should ensure that the solar PV
power plant and the relevant suppliers comply with health &
safety (H&S) requirements. If necessary, the Technical Asset
Manager should hire an H&S expert to ensure compliance.
For more information, see Chapter 3. Environmental, Health
& Safety.

5.11. Technical risk management

For an effective technical risk management, the Technical
Asset Manager should accurately quantify appearing
degradation modes and other performance impairing effects
in operating solar PV power plants. Typical methods used
in risk management are: Failure Mode and Effect Analysis
(FMEA), Failure Mode, Effects & Criticality Analysis (FMECA),
Fault Tree Analysis, Reliability Block Diagrams. Reliability
practices for technical risk management for the operation
of photovoltaic power systems are included in emerging
standardisation activities, such as IEC TR 63292:2020 (active)
and the IEC TS 63265 (undergoing the approval phase).

One of the methods that allows this type of assessment is

the Cost Priority Number (CPN) methodology first developed
in the H2020 project Solar Bankability. This methodology
assesses the economic impact based on factors such as
performance reduction and downtime, in the form of the
metric CPN (Cost Priority Number), expressed in cost/kWp/
year. The methodology helps to identify and classify technical
risks and their economic impact by assigning a cost metric
that, based on collected statistics, supports preventive and
corrective measures, which would then lower the impact
of failures on the availability and performance of a solar PV
power plant.

Monitoring data should be used in combination with the

information contained in maintenance tickets in order to
calculate the parameters needed for the determination of the
CPN 2.

2 For details please refer to “Identification of technical risks in the photovoltaic value chain and quantification of the economic impact”
[Link] and [Link]

32 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

6Power Plant Operation
6. Power Plant Operation
Operations concerns remote monitoring, supervision, control of the solar PV power plant, and technical performance optimisation
(refer to Chapter 5. Technical Asset Management). It also involves subcontracting and coordination of maintenance activities.
Power plant operation used to be a more passive exercise in the past, but with increasing grid integration efforts, more active
and flexible operation will be required by grid operators. Examples include ordered shutdowns, power curtailment, frequent
adjustment of settings such as power factor (source reactive power), frequency tolerances, and voltage tolerances. This section
gives an overview of the Operation tasks and requirements.

The following figure provides an overview of the most important tasks associated with power plant operation.

FIGURE 3. OVERVIEW OF THE MOST IMPORTANT TASKS IN POWER PLANT OPERATION

Documentation Management System (DMS)* Plant performance monitoring and supervision

The DMS is an important requirement which allows The O&M service provider is responsible
changes to be traced during the lifetime of a for monitoring and supervision of PV plant
plant's operation. The important aspects to trace performance. In the Fault Management there
the PV plant management information are: are different roles and interaction levels:
• Components And Manuals CONTROL ROOM
• Plant Location Overview
Information • Pv Plant Layout • Fault Detection
• Electrical Diagrams • Ticketing
1st Level • Coordination Of Actions
• Eh&S Rules
Support
• Storage Of Documents SITE TECHNICIAN
Management Control • Logbook Of Modification • Analysis And Fault
• Access Management Resolution On Site
• Alarms Linked With PV ENGINEERS
2nd Level
Maintenance Tasks ACCOUNT MANAGERS
Support
• O&M Automatic Logbook PROJECT MANAGERS
Record Control
• Unavailability
Documentation and VENDOR'S EXPERTS
3rd Level
Recording PROJECT MANAGERS
Support
ACCOUNT MANAGERS

Optimisation of O&M Power plant controls

To optimize O&M activities, reducing production losses The Power Plant Controller is a control system that
and costs, the following information must be analyzed: can manage several parameters, such as:
• Response Time correlated to classification • Absolute Active Power Control.
of events and root causes. • Power Factor Control.
• Analysis of costs incurred for various interventions. • Ramp Control.
• Frequency Control.
• Reactive Power Control.
• Voltage Control.

33 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

6 Power Plant Operation / continued

Power Generation Forecasting Performance analysis and improvement

The O&M service provider may provide forecasting The O&M service provider is responsible for
services, if required by the Asset Owner. Forecast the performance monitoring quality. The
requirements are characterized by: data, collected for different time aggregation,
should be analyzed at the following level:
MINIMUM REQUIREMENT
• Forecast horizon (typically below 48 hours) MINIMUM REQUIREMENT
• Time resolution (typically 15 minutes to one • Portfolio level under control of the 0&M service
hour) provider
• Update frequency: • Plant level
• Day-ahead forecasts • Inverter level
• Intraday forecasts
• Combined forecasts RECOMMENDED
The most common KPIs for forecast quality are: • String level
• Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) Grid code compliance
• Mean Absolute Error (MAE
The O&M service provider is responsible for
Power Plant Security operating the PV plant in accordance with the
respective national grid code. The requirements
It is necessary that, together with the O&M service provided by the grid operator are usually:
provider, the Asset Owner puts in place a Security protocol
in case of trespassing on the PV plant. A specialized • Power quality
security service provider will be responsible for: • Voltage regulation
• Management of active power
• Intrusion systems • Management of reactive power
• Surveillance systems
• Processing alarms The specificities and quality requirements depend on
• Site patrolling the voltage level of the grid.

An intrusion system may be formed by: Management of Change

In the eyent that the design of a PV power plant needs
• Simple fencing or barriers to be adjusted, the O&M service provider should be
• Intrusion detection involved from the beginning in the following phases:
• Alerting system
• Remote closed-circuit television (CCTV) video • Concept
monitoring • Design works
• Backup communication line (recommended) • Execution
Process for liaison with local emergency services, e.g. SCADA/monitoring system needs to be updated after
police should be considered every change.
• Documentation of inverter replacement date
Reporting and Technical Asset Mangment • Inverter manufacturer and type
• Inverter serial number
The Operation team provides periodical report. For more In order to optimize the activities, the adjustments
I details see 5. Technical Asset Management needs to be applied to the following:
• Site Operating Plan
• Annual Maintenance Plan
• Annual Maintenance Schedule

6.1. Document Management System Before assuming any maintenance and/or operational
activities, it is important to understand in-depth the technical
(DMS) characteristics of the asset. There are two important aspects
related to the management of this information:
Solar PV power plant documentation is crucial for an in-depth
understanding of the design, configuration, and technical » Information type and depth of detail / as-built
details of an asset. It is the Asset Owner’s responsibility to documentation.
provide those documents and, if not available, they should, as » Management and control.
best practice, be recreated at the Asset Owner’s cost.

34 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

6 Power Plant Operation / continued

Moreover, for quality / risk management and effective be kept. As a best practice, logbooks should at a minimum
operations management a good and clear documentation contain the following information:
of contract information, plant information, maintenance
• Name of person, who modified the document
activities and asset management are needed over its lifetime.
This is what is called here: • Date of modification
» Record control (or records management) • Reason for modification and further information, e.g.,
link to the work orders and service activities
Currently, there are different types of DMS available,
along with a series of standards (See annex A for relevant » Versioning control should be implemented as a best
standards), that can be implemented. This is an important practice. People involved should be able to review past
requirement that would allow any relevant party to trace any versions and be able to follow through the whole history
changes during the lifetime of the plant’s operation and follow of the document. The easiest way to ensure this is
up accordingly (e.g., when the O&M service provider changes, through using an electronic document management
or the teams change, or the plant is sold etc). system, which should be considered a best practice

6.1.3. Record control

6.1.1. Information type and depth of detail / as-
built documentation A key point is that necessary data and documentation are
available for all parties in a shared environment and that
The documentation set accompanying the solar PV power alarms and maintenance can be documented in a seamless
plant should, as a best practice, contain the documents way. Critical to the Operations team is that the maintenance
described in Annex c. The IEC 62446 standard also covers the tasks are documented back to and linked with the alarms
minimum requirements for as-built documentation. which might have triggered the respective maintenance
activity (work order management system log). Photographs
In general, for optimum service provision and as a best from the site should complement the documentation (when
practice, the O&M service provider should have access applicable). Tickets (ticket interventions) should be stored
to all possible documents (from the EPC phase). The Site electronically and made available to all partners. The Asset
Operating Plan is the comprehensive document prepared and Owner should also maintain ownership of these records for
provided by the plant EPC service provider, which lays out a future references.
complete overview of its location, layout, electrical diagrams,
components in use and reference to their operating manuals, To improve future performance and predictive maintenance,
EH&S rules for the site and certain further topics. All detailed it is crucial to keep a record of past and ongoing O&M data,
drawings from the EPC service provider need to be handed workflows and alarms. This record should seek to link these
over to the O&M service provider and being stored safely for elements in a cost-effective way, following an agreed naming
immediate access in case of solar PV power plant issues or convention. This will improve accessibility and allow for easier
questions and clarifications with regards to permits and tracing, facilitating comprehensive lessons learned exercises,
regulation. and resulting in concrete future recommendations for the
client. These analyses should also be recorded.
When storing documents, thought must be given to
accessibility. As a minimum, project documentation should There should be proper documentation for curtailment
be available in a searchable PDF format to facilitate the periods as well as repair periods when the plant is fully or partly
identification of key information. Moreover, project drawings, unavailable. This will all be recorded by the monitoring system
such as the as-built design, should be editable in case they to measure the energy lost during maintenance activities. For
need correcting, or change management processes mean this, having the correct reference values at hand is crucial. For
they need to be updated. important examples of input records that should be included
in the record control, see Annex d.

6.1.2. Management and control As in the case of the as-built documentation, all records,
data and configuration of the monitoring tool, and any sort of
Regarding the document control, the following guidelines documentation and log that might be useful for proper service
should be followed: provision must be backed up and available when required. This
» Documents should be stored either electronically is also important when the O&M service provider changes.
or physically (depending on permits/regulations) in
a location with controlled access. Electronic copies
should be made of all documents, and these should be
searchable and editable

» Only authorised people should be able to view or modify

the documents. A logbook of all the modifications should

35 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

6 Power Plant Operation / continued

6.2. Plant performance monitoring and can be a local electrician or member of the maintenance
team. This person will analyse and try to resolve the fault
supervision on-site (1st Level Support). Their knowledge and access
rights may be not sufficient in some situations, but
The Operations team of the O&M service provider is they can fix most faults to an adequate level. They may
responsible for continuously monitoring and supervising of also contact the vendor’s hotline to help them with the
the solar PV power plant conditions and its performance. diagnosis
This service is done remotely using monitoring software
systems and/or plant operations centres. The O&M service » If 1st Level Support is not able to resolve the incident right
provider should have full access to all data collected from away, it will escalate it to 2nd Level Support. This consists
the site to perform data analysis and provide direction to the of solar PV engineers or Project/Account Managers who
Maintenance service provider/team. have greater technical skills, higher access permissions,
and enough time to analyse the fault in depth. They may
Normally, in Fault Management (Incident Management) be internal or of the vendor’s staff
several roles and support levels interact: » If an incident requires special expertise or access, 2nd
» With the help of monitoring and its alarms the Operations Level engineers might need to contact experts (in-house
Center (Control Room) detects a fault. It is responsible or from the vendor or a third party). This is known as 3rd
for opening a “ticket” and coordinating troubleshooting level support. In some organisations the Project/Account
actions. It collects as much information and diagnostics Managers can cover both 2nd and 3rd Level Support, based
as possible to establish initial documentation, tries to on their seniority and experience
categorise the issue and, where possible, to resolve it » When the fault is solved, the Operations Centre closes
instantly. This is known as 1st Level Support. Then it tracks the ticket
the incidents until their resolution
» If the fault cannot be sufficiently categorised, the
Operations Center may call out a field technician who

FIGURE 4. SUPPORT LEVELS IN FAULT MANAGEMENT

1st Level
Operations Center/ Field Technician/ Vendor Hotline
Control Room Maintenance Team

2nd Level

PV Engineer Vendor PV engineer

3rd Level
Expert Vendor expert

3rd Party Expert

36 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

6 Power Plant Operation / continued

Besides the data from the site, if a CCTV system is available 6.5. Power plant controls
on-site, the O&M service provider should, as a best practice,
be able to access it for visual supervision and also have access If applicable, the Operations team can be the point of contact
to local weather information. for the grid operator for plant controls. The Operations
team will control the plant remotely (if possible) or instruct
The O&M service provider is responsible for being the main the qualified maintenance personnel to operate breakers/
interface between the plant Owner, the grid operator, and controls on site. The O&M service provider is responsible for
the regulator (if applicable) over the lifetime of the O&M the remote plant controls or emergency shutdown of the
contract regarding production data. The Asset Owner should plant (if possible) and in accordance with the respective grid
be able to contact the Operations team via a hotline during operator requirements (see also 5.6. Grid code compliance),
daytime, when the system is expected to generate electricity. regulations (see 4.4.. Interface with local energy authorities
The Operations team is also responsible for coordinating & regulatory compliance) and the aggregator’s requirements.
accordingly with the Maintenance service provider/team. The plant control function varies from country to country and
in some cases from region to region. The respective solar PV
For more information on monitoring requirements, see power plant control document for the area details regulations
Chapter 10. Data and monitoring requirements. issued by the grid operator and (energy market) regulator.

6.3. Performance analysis and The Power Plant Controller itself is a control system that can
manage several parameters such as active and reactive power
improvement and ramp control of solar PV power plants. The set points can
normally be commanded either remotely or locally from the
The O&M service provider ensures that the performance Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system (SCADA).
monitoring is done correctly. Moreover, the system should be password protected and
In general, the data should be analysed at the following levels: log all the executed commands. Any executed commands
1. Portfolio level (group of plants) under control of the O&M should release real-time notifications to the Operations team.
service provider (minimum requirement). The following list shows typically controlled parameters in a
solar PV power plant:
2. Plant level (minimum requirement)
» Absolute Active Power Control
3. Inverter level (minimum requirement)
» Power Factor Control
4. String level (as a recommendation)
» Ramp Control (Active and Reactive Power if needed)
The analysis should show the required data on the levels listed
above and for different time aggregation periods from the » Frequency Control
actual recording interval up to monthly and quarterly levels.
» Reactive Power Control
The analysis should also include the option for having custom
alarms based on client specific thresholds such as business » Voltage Control
plan data or real-time deviations between inverters on-site.
In particular, the agreed KPIs should be calculated and reported
(see Chapter 11. Key Performance Indicators).
6.6. Power Generation Forecasting

Special attention should be paid to the fact that KPI Forecasting services for solar PV power generation are
calculations should take into consideration the contractual generally offered by operators of solar PV monitoring services.
parameters between O&M service provider and Asset Owner, However, external services can also provide this function.
to provide an accurate and useful calculation for evaluation When the Asset Owner requires Power Generation Forecasting
and eventually liquidated damages or bonuses. from the O&M service provider, they could opt for a service
level agreement with the forecast provider. Forecasting may
have an influence on the contract agreement for electricity
6.4. Optimisation of O&M dispatching between the Asset Owner and a trading service
provider.
An essential part of Operations is the analysis of all the
information generated throughout O&M, such as Response The requirements for forecasts may differ from country
Time, and how this correlates to the various classifications to country and also depend on the contract agreement for
of events and root causes. Another vital part of Operations electricity dispatching between the Asset Owner and a trading
is the analysis of costs incurred for various interventions, service provider. Forecast requirements are characterised
categorised into materials and labour. Having such information by the forecast horizon, the time resolution, and the update
helps to further optimise the asset by reducing production frequency, all depending on the purpose. For power system
losses and the cost of O&M itself. For more information on or power market related purposes, forecast horizons are
optimisation of O&M please refer to Chapter 7. Power Plant typically below 48 hours and the time resolution is 15 minutes
Maintenance and Chapter 9. Spare Parts Management. to one hour, in line with the programme time unit of the power

37 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

6 Power Plant Operation / continued

system or the market. Common products are day-ahead 6.8. Management of change
forecasts, intra-day forecasts and combined forecasts. Day-
ahead forecasts are typically delivered in the morning for If the design of a solar PV power plant needs to be adjusted
the next day from 0 to 24 and updated once or twice during after the Commercial Operation Date, the O&M service
that day. Intraday forecasts are delivered and updated several provider should, as a best practice, be involved by the Asset
times per day for the rest of the day and should be delivered Owner and the EPC service provider. They can even be a main
automatically by the forecast provider. contributor, if not the leader, of this change process. Reasons
for such changes can be motivated by non-compliance of
For long-term planning of unit commitment and maintenance the solar PV power plant with the capacity predicted by the
decisions, forecasts with longer time horizons are used, EPC service provider, by regulation change (introduction
typically one week or more. of new solar PV power plant controls regulations), by the
unavailability of spare parts or components, or for an upgrade
Solar PV Power Generation Forecasts rely on numerical to the solar PV power plant. These events can trigger new
weather predictions, satellite data and/or statistical design works, procurement and installation of new equipment
forecasting and filtering methods. Most products combine and adjustment of O&M procedures and/or documentation.
several of these techniques. Good practice requires It may also impact certain performance commitments or
numerical weather predictions for day-ahead forecasting and warranties provided by the O&M service provider, which will
a combination with satellite data for intra-day forecasts. In need to be adjusted.
all cases, good practice requires statistical filtering which in
turn requires a near-real-time data feed from the monitoring The O&M service provider should be involved in changes
system to the forecast provider. For best practice, the forecast to the solar PV power plant from the beginning. Concepts,
provider should also be informed about scheduled outages design works, and execution need to be coordinated with
and the expected duration of forced outages. ongoing O&M activities. Any changes should also be reflected
in the plant SCADA and monitoring systems. For data
The most common KPIs for forecast quality are the Root Mean continuity and long-term analysis, the monitoring system
Square Error (RMSE) and the Mean Absolute Error (MAE). They should be able to trace all changes of electrical devices. This
are normalised to peak power and not to energy yield. should include documentation of inverter replacement date,
manufacturer and type, and serial number in a structured way
6.7. Grid code compliance for further analysis (e.g., spare part management, Predictive
Maintenance analysis). The monitoring of replaced devices
The O&M service provider, and in particular the Operations will also help the O&M service provider verify that the new
team is responsible for operating the solar PV power plant in component is correctly configured and is sending high quality
accordance with the respective national grid code s (IRR- data. Adjustments to the Site Operating Plan, the Annual
DCC-MV and IRR-TIC) and EMRC regulations (ENA Standard). Maintenance Plan and the Annual Maintenance Schedule
The operator of the grid , to which the PV plant is connected need to be applied and the O&M service provider needs to
(either low voltage grid or medium voltage grid or high voltage familiarise the O&M staff with the operating manuals of the
grid) provides the requirements (mentioned in the national new equipment. These types of changes will have an impact
grid code and EMRC regulations) for power quality, voltage on Spare Parts Management and inventory (replacement).
regulation and management of active and reactive power . Depending on the significance of the change, the O&M annual
fee might need to be adjusted.
Depending on the voltage level of the grid the plant is
connected to, the specificities and quality requirements for It is advisable that the O&M service provider lead these sorts
the PV plant change. A higher level of the grid usually has more of change processes. The O&M service provider is the trusted
specific and higher quality requirements. partner of the Asset Owner and should advise the Owner
Most of the grid-connected utility scale solar PV power when they are making decisions on changes to the plant. In
plants in Jordan must be controllable to meet the grid the case of major changes, the Owner should also consider
operator requirements. These plant tests allow the grid informing lenders about the decision process and provide
operator to adjust the power output from the solar PV power concepts, proposals, calculations and updates.
plant according to the grid capacity and power frequency
requirements. In case of any change in the technical specifications of the
solar power plant after the Commercial Operation Date, the
It is expected that the O&M service provider is familiar with grid operator must be informed especially if the change will
all the details of the grid code and grid operator requirements. result in an overall modification on the plant’s generation
Depending on the regulations, either the grid operator himself capacity, or if main components of the generation facility,
is steering the PV plant controller (with remote signals) or such as transformers and inverters, are to be replaced.
the Operations team is managing the plant controller per The fixed O&M fee does not usually cover change services.
direction of the grid operator . The Asset Owner and the O&M service provider should
manage changes in a formalised way. This procedure should
include the following steps: description of proposed change

38 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

6 Power Plant Operation / continued

(including time plan, costs, consequences, and alternatives), Within the solar plant, there may also be additional areas
authorisation of the change by the Asset Owner, realisation of with restricted access, for example locations containing High
the change, documentation by the O&M service provider and Voltage equipment. When authorising access to the parks it
acceptance. is important that all workers and visitors are appropriately
informed of the specific access and security arrangements
and where they should or should not be. Warning signs and
6.9. Power plant security notices can form an important part of this and may be
compulsory depending on local regulations.
It is important that the solar PV power plant, or key areas of
it, are protected from unauthorised access. This serves the As well as the general security of the site over the lifetime
dual purpose of protecting the plant’s equipment and keeping of the park, particular attention should be made to periods
members of the public safe. Unauthorised access may be of construction or maintenance when usual access
accidental with people wandering into the plant without arrangements may be different. It is important that security is
realising the dangers, or it may be deliberate for the purposes always maintained particularly when there are activities that
of theft or vandalism. may be of more interest to members of the public or thieves.
The Asset Owner will likely have insurance policies in place
Together with the O&M service provider and/or the security directly or indirectly and these will be dependent on certain
service provider, the Asset Owner must put in place a Security levels of security and response being maintained. Failure to
Protocol in case an intrusion is detected. meet these may have important consequences in the case of
an accident or crime.
In Jordan there are strict legal requirements for security service
providers. Therefore, PV power plant security may be ensured
by specialised security service providers, subcontracted 6.10. Reporting and Technical Asset
by the O&M service provider. The O&M service provider is Management
responsible for the correct functioning of all the security
equipment, including the intrusion and surveillance systems. The Operations team is responsible for providing periodic
The security service provider is responsible for processing the reporting to the AM or directly to the Asset Owner. In many
alarms arriving from the security system, following agreed cases, the Operations team also assumes further TAM
security protocols and, using the surveillance system installed responsibilities. For more details on reporting and other TAM
on-site. The security system provider will be also responsible tasks, see Chapter 5. Technical Asset Management.
for any site patrolling or other relevant services. The security
service provider should also assume liability for the security
services provided. The O&M service provider will coordinate
with the security service provider and can optionally act as an
interface between the Asset Owner and the security service
provider.

A security system may be formed of simple fencing or

barriers but may also include alarm detection and alerting
systems and remote closed-circuit television (CCTV) video
monitoring. If solar PV power plants have CCTV systems in
place, an access protocol would be required when reactive
and planned works are carried out. This will ensure that
authorised access is always maintained. This can be done by
way of phone with passwords or security pass codes, both of
which should be changed periodically.

For additional security and in high-risk areas it is advisable to

have a backup communication line installed (often, the first
thing that gets damaged in case of vandalism is communication
with the surveillance station) as well as an infrastructure
for monitoring connectivity and communication with the
security system. As well as any remote monitoring, it is
likely that provision for onsite attendance is required when
significant events occur. Processes for liaising with local
emergency services should be considered.

39 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

 7 Power Plant Maintenance
7. Power Plant Maintenance
This chapter is about the various responsibilities and tasks related to Maintenance.

Maintenance is usually carried out on-site by specialised technicians or subcontractors, in close coordination with the Operations
team’s analyses. In modern solar PV power plants, automation of maintenance tasks is becoming more prevalent. However, this
practice is still developing and is not widespread currently. The following figure provides an overview of the four main types of
power plant maintenance.

FIGURE 5. OVERVIEW OF THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF POWER PLANT MAINTENANCE

Preventive Maintenance

Preventive Maintenance are the core elements of the maintenance services to a PV plant. It comprises of regular visual
and physical inspections, as well as verification activities on all the key components of the solar park. This maintenance
is carried out at predetermined regular intervals according to prescribed OEM & 0&M manuals and are included in the
"Annual Maintenance Plan".

Corrective Maintenance

Corrective Maintenance corresponds to any activity performed to restore a PV plant system, equipment or component to
Included all O&M contracts

a functioning state, and occurs after a failure detection by remote monitoring or during an on-site inspection. Corrective
Maintenance includes Fault Diagnosis, Temporary Repair & Repair and can be divided into 3 levels of intervention:
Intervention without the need of substitution, with the need of substitution and with the need to intervene on the software
of the device.

Predictive Maintenance

Predictive Maintenance is a condition-based intervention carried out following a forecast derived from the analysis and
evaluation of the significant parameters of the degradation of an item. The site must have "intelligent" equipment and
an appropriate monitoring software system, allowing the Operations team to perform regular monitoring, supervision,
forecast and performance data analysis of the main equipment of the PV plant (DC array, transformer, inverter, combiner
box and/or string level).

Extraordinary Maintenance

Extraordinary Maintenance actions are necessary when major unpredictable events require substantial
activities to restore the previous plant conditions. These interventions are required for damages due to
Force Majeure, damages due to a theft or fire, endemic failures of the equipment, modifications required by regulatory
changes and equipment wear or deterioration due to design faults.

Additional Services

The O&M agreement can foresee services other than electrical and mechanical plant maintenance Some of these additional
services are generally incladed in the scope of work and the O&M annual fixed fee and some are not. Additional services
include PV site maintenance activities such as panel cleaning and vegetation control, general site maintenance tasks like
waste disposal and maintenance of buildings and on site measurements such as meter readings or thermal inspections.

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7 Power Plant Maintenance / continued

7.1. Preventive Maintenance thermography as an innovative technology (see section 13.2.

Advanced aerial thermography), can significantly benefit
Preventive Maintenance activities are the core element of the power plant maintenance procedures as it can lead to time
maintenance services to a solar PV power plant. It comprises and cost savings as well as safety improvements.
regular visual and physical inspections, as well as verification
activities. The maintenance of all key components is carried Preventive Maintenance also includes ad-hoc replacement
out at predetermined intervals or at least according to of parts of inverters or sensors. In general, it is important to
prescribed OEM and O&M manuals. These are included follow detailed Preventive Maintenance procedures, which
in a detailed Annual Maintenance Plan which provides an are agreed upon in the Annual Maintenance Plan.
established time schedule with a specific number of iterations
for carrying out the maintenance. In cases where downtime is necessary to perform Preventive
Maintenance, its execution during the night would be
It must also maintain the equipment and component considered best practice as the overall power generation is
warranties in place and reduce the probability of failure or not affected.
degradation. All preventive maintenance activities should
follow manufacturer recommendations. It should be noted 7.2. Corrective Maintenance
that the various maintenance activities that an O&M service
provider is expected to carry out require personnel qualified Corrective Maintenance covers the activities performed
to carry them out. The O&M service provider must ensure by the Maintenance team to restore a solar PV power plant
that they have the appropriate range of skills available to system, equipment or component to a status where it can
fulfil their contractual obligations (for more information on perform the required function. Corrective Maintenance takes
maintenance activities and the skills they require, see Annex place after a failure detection either by remote monitoring
b of these Guidelines and Annex a of the Lifecycle Quality and Corrective Maintenance includes three activities:
Guidelines). The O&M contract should include this scope of
services and each task frequency. 1. Fault Diagnosis also called troubleshooting to identify
and locate the cause of the fault
It is the responsibility of the O&M service provider to 2. Temporary Repair, to restore the required function of a
prepare the task plan, according to the time intervals in the faulty item for a limited time, until a full repair is carried
contract. These tasks should be reported to the Client (Asset out
Owner or Asset Manager). This is particularly important for
demonstrating that the task plan is being followed. 3. Full repair, to restore the required function permanently
In cases where the solar PV power plant or segments thereof
The “Annual Maintenance Plan” (see Annex e or download need to be taken offline, Corrective Maintenance should be
it from [Link]) developed as an performed at night or during periods of low irradiation as the
attachment of this report includes a list of regular inspections overall power generation is not affected.
per equipment (e.g., module, inverter etc) and per unit of
equipment (e.g., sensors, fuses etc). A key aspect of corrective maintenance is to be able to track
failures to their root cause. This is most often a problematic
There are several examples of Predictive Maintenance tasks manufacturer/model/serial number but may also be linked
including, cleaning inverter filters and fans, and ensuring that to installation errors or environmental conditions such as
a site’s draining systems and civil works are in good working temperature inside enclosures. Corrective Maintenance
order. A further crucial aspect of Predictive Maintenance processes should also track the efficacy of responses to
is using thermographic inspection techniques to identify problems (what fixes the problem reliably?).
defective panels on a PV plant. Indeed, several categories
of anomalies (hot spots, hot strips, moisture ingress, soling, Corrective Maintenance can be divided into three levels
etc.) can occur, significantly reducing the productivity of the of intervention to restore the functionality of a device, that
whole plant. Relevant inspection procedures are performed could be included in the O&M agreement or billed separately
either by operators with handheld cameras, or using remotely on hourly rates:
piloted drones, or piloted aircraft equipped with dedicated
thermal and optical payloads. It is noteworthy that aerial

41 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

7 Power Plant Maintenance / continued

Level of Intervention Characteristics Required labour skill Example Activity

1st level No need for substitution Maintenance team Restart of an inverter
Maintenance team / Substitute a fan to restore
2nd level Substitution of a component
solar PV Engineer inverter functionality
solar PV Engineer / Reconfiguration or
3rd level Intervention on the software
3rd party expert Parameterisation of an inverter

3rd level activities could be included in the O&M agreement together with the detailed description of their meaning and
or billed separately to it, depending on the specific scope of their impact on the functioning of the device. Additionally, a
work agreed between the parties. Generally, however, this standardisation of status and error codes through inverters
intervention is excluded by the contractual scope of work, and dataloggers from the same brand should be followed and,
especially when the device manufacturers’ maintenance in the future, this standardisation should be common to all
team or third-party licensed company needs to intervene. manufacturers.
Interventions for reconditioning, renewal, and technical
updating, save for the cases where those actions are directly Stakeholders that want to benefit from Predictive Maintenance
included in the scope of the contract, should be excluded from should, as a best practice, select “intelligent” equipment set
Corrective Maintenance, and included in the Extraordinary with sufficient sensors, and opt for a monitoring software
Maintenance (see 6.4. Extraordinary Maintenance). system that provides basic trending and comparison
The scope of Corrective Maintenance activities and its (timewise or between components and even between solar
“border” or definition with respect to Preventive Maintenance PV sites) functionalities (minimum requirement).
requires specific attention and it should be properly defined
in the Maintenance contract. For an easier comprehension, an The Operations team of the O&M service provider enables
example is presented below: Predictive Maintenance thorough continuous or regular
monitoring, supervision, forecast and performance data
» A cable termination tightening activity using a torque analysis (e.g., historical performance and anomalies) of the
device for correct fixation should be under the Preventive solar PV power plant (at the DC array, transformer, inverter,
Maintenance scope of works, but depending on the combiner box or/and string level). This can identify subtle
quantity and/or frequency, it could be considered a trends that would otherwise go unnoticed until the next
Corrective Maintenance activity. The Annual Maintenance round of circuit testing or thermal imaging inspection and
plan therefore states the extent of each planned activity. that indicate upcoming component or system failures or
underperformance (e.g., at solar PV modules, inverters,
Usually, Corrective Maintenance work must be accomplished combiner boxes, trackers., etc. level).
within the contractually agreed minimum Response Times Before deciding which Predictive Maintenance actions to
(see 10.4.3. Response Time and 11.6. Response Time price recommend, the Operations team should implement and
adjustment). develop procedures to effectively analyse historical data
and faster identify behaviour changes that might jeopardise
Contractual agreements can foresee that the included systems performance. These changes of behaviour are usually
Corrective Maintenance will be capped on a per year basis. related to the pre-determined or unpredicted equipment
Depending on whether the Asset Owner is a purely financial degradation process. For this reason, it is important to define
investor or an energy producer (e.g. utility or IPP) the and to monitor all significant parameters of wear-out status,
requirements for coverage under the Corrective Maintenance based on the sensors installed, algorithms implemented into
will vary. the supervision system and other techniques.

7.3. Predictive Maintenance Following such analysis, the Maintenance team can
implement Predictive Maintenance activities to prevent any
Predictive Maintenance is a special service provided by possible failures which can cause safety issues and energy
O&M service providers who follow best practices principles. generation loss.
It is defined as a condition-based maintenance carried out
following a forecast derived from the analysis and evaluation For efficient Predictive Maintenance, a certain level of maturity
of the significant parameters of the degradation of the item. and experience is required, which is at best a combination of
knowledge of the respective system’s performance, related
A prerequisite for a good Predictive Maintenance is that the equipment design, operation behaviour, and relevant the
devices on-site can provide information about their state, service provider’s track record. Normally it is a process that
in such a way that the O&M service providers can evaluate starts after the implementation of an appropriate monitoring
trends or events that signal deterioration in a device. As a best system and the recreation of a baseline. This baseline will then
practice, the device manufacturer should provide a complete represent the entire solar PV system operation, how different
list of status and error codes produced by the device, pieces of equipment interact with each other, and how the

42 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

7 Power Plant Maintenance / continued

system reacts to “environmental” changes. Example 3 – The Operations team or the inverter provider
Predictive Maintenance has several advantages, including: monitors all critical parameters of the inverter and can
provide information related to the health and performance of
» Optimising the safety management of equipment and
each individual inverter as an absolute value, or as a relative
systems during their entire lifetime
comparison of different inverters at one PV site or compare
» Helping to anticipate maintenance activities (both a batch of inverters between different PV sites. This type of
corrective and preventive) information can help O&M service providers to operate PV
sites more cost effectively without compromising equipment
» Delaying, eliminating and optimising some maintenance
health. This also allows the Asset Manager (or Owner) to
activities
compare how inverters are aging at various sites managed by
» Reducing time for repairs and optimising maintenance different O&M service providers and evaluate how well their
and Spare Parts Management costs investment is being managed. For instance, one O&M service
» Reducing spare parts replacement costs provider perceived as more expensive might be providing
more regular care to the inverters compared to another. As
» Increasing availability, energy production and a result, the inverters are operating more efficiently and are
performance of equipment and systems not ageing as fast, resulting in less stress and lower expected
» Reducing emergency and non-planned work failure.

» Improving predictability Example 4 – Predictive Maintenance for optimised hardware

The following four specific examples show how Predictive replacement cycle relying on big data analytics or artificial
Maintenance can be implemented. intelligence. For more information on this innovation, see
section 13.4. Predictive maintenance for optimised hardware
Example 1 – An O&M service provider signs a new contract
replacement.
for a solar PV power plant equipped with central inverters.
Analysing its backlog of maintenance, the O&M service
provider knows that these inverters showed signs of power 7.4. Extraordinary Maintenance
loss due to overheating at several points in the past. This might
be related to problems in the air flow, filter obstructions, fans, Extraordinary Maintenance actions are necessary when
or environmental changes (high temperature during summer). major unpredictable events take place in the plant that require
A decision was taken to monitor the temperature of IGBTs substantial activities and works to restore the previous plant
(Insulated-Gate Bipolar Transistors). An “air flow inspection” conditions (or any maintenance activity generally not covered
was performed, prior to any emergency action being required, or excluded from the O&M Contract).
to determine whether power loss was related to air flow. This
type of activity is a condition-based inspection performed “Force Majeure” events affecting solar PV power plants include
after the detection of a change in a significant parameter. It is high winds, flooding, hurricanes, tornados, hail, lightning, and
also considered as a type of Predictive Maintenance. The final any number of other severe weather events. Extraordinary
purpose is to identify if, for example, the ventilation systems Maintenance associated with severe weather include safety
will need some upgrade, replacement, or if there is any type of shutdown, inspection to document damage, electrical testing
air flow obstruction or even if a filter replacement or cleaning (integrity of circuits and grounding), remove/repair/replace
is required. decisions, and recommissioning confirming proper operation
and documenting changes made during repairs.
Example 2 – The Operations team detects an underperforming
section of the PV system. This could be the power transformer, Generally, these activities are billed separately in the O&M
the inverter, or any other area that has a lower performance contract and are managed under a separate order. It is
level in comparison to other versions of the same piece advisable that the O&M contract includes the rules agreed
of equipment in the same conditions (or past behaviours among the parties to prepare the quotation and to execute
evidence of a loss of production). After the anomaly detection the works. Both a “lump sum turn-key” or a “cost-plus”
or recognition, an incident is created and immediately sent method can be used for such purposes.
to the Maintenance team. Before anything happens that
might jeopardise contractual guarantees and require urgent Extraordinary Maintenance interventions are required for:
interventions, the O&M service provider can decide to do a
“General Infrared Inspection” in the PV field taking pictures » Damages that are a consequence of a Force Majeure
with drones. The main purpose of this inspection is to identify event
possible problems related to PV modules that might justify » Damages resulting from theft or fire
the loss of performance. This is considered as a type of
Predictive Maintenance. » Serial defects or endemic failures3 on equipment,
occurring suddenly and after months or years from plant
start-up

3 For a definition of endemic failures and its repercussions in terms of warranty, see section 5.5. Warranty management.

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7 Power Plant Maintenance / continued

» Modifications required by regulatory changes per the above sections. Some of these additional services are
generally included in the scope of work and the O&M annual
In cases where the EPC and O&M service providers are
fixed fee and some are not.
different entities, the following occurrence should also be
considered as Extraordinary Maintenance:
» Major issues that the O&M service provider becomes Additional services not included in the O&M contract scope
aware of during its ordinary activity. These could be of work can be requested on demand and can either be priced
defects or other problems that are not a consequence of per service action or based on hourly rates applicable to the
equipment wear or deterioration and can be reasonably level of qualification of staff required to perform the works.
considered to have been caused by design mistakes (e.g., These hourly rates usually escalate at the same rate as the
“hidden” defects that require re-engineering). O&M Service fee. In some cases, a binding price list for the
delivery of some of these additional services can be included
Although not necessarily maintenance interventions,
in the O&M contract as well.
revamping and repowering can also be included in the
Extraordinary Maintenance list in the O&M agreement, or at
For example, regular cleaning is an important part of solar
least managed with the same rules. For more information on
maintenance and the problems associated with soiled
this, see Chapter 8. Revamping and repowering.
modules are often underestimated. Module cleaning methods
vary from manual, to robotic and mechanical. Each have their
After the approval by the Asset Owner of the O&M service
own advantages and disadvantages. Cleaning frequencies
provider’s proposal, activities may commence, subject to
vary greatly on ground, rooftop, and floating solar arrays.
availability of the required equipment and special machinery
The frequency of cleaning should be decided on a site-by-
(if required).
site basis, and it may be that certain parts of a site will need
The potential loss of energy between the event occurrence
cleaning more often than other parts of the same site.
and full repair is very difficult to determine in the SPV financial
When choosing a module cleaning company, asset owners
model. However, many of the above events can be reimbursed
and O&M providers should check the following:
to the Asset Owner by the insurance company under any “All
Risk Insurance” coverage that is in place. Relevant conditions » The suggested method of cleaning is fully in-line with
and requirements according to the insurance policies of the the module manufacturer’s warranty. Pressure washing
Asset Owner need to be shared with the O&M service provider. modules is not an acceptable cleaning method
» In Jordan water scarcity is an issue that needs to be
Best Practices of O&M agreements regarding Extraordinary
considered. As there is currently no regulation governing
Maintenance activities include:
the use of water for PV module cleaning, it is incumbent
» General rules to quantify price and to elaborate a that the O&M service provider find the most cost-
schedule to perform repair activities, and the right of the effective way of cleaning modules. This can either be
Asset Owner to ask for third party quotations to compare through dry or wet cleaning methods, but wet cleaning
to the quotation of the O&M service provider. In this case methods should use high-quality, ultra-pure water only
a “right-to-match” option should be granted to the O&M
» Health and safety considerations should be made to keep
service provider
their staff safe on site. This should include some form
» The obligation for the Asset Owner to have in place a of health and safety accreditation and specific training
consistent “All Risk Property” Insurance including loss of for solar module cleaning, including working at height,
profit if cleaning roof mounted [Link] 2 presents a
non-exhaustive list of Additional services. For more
information on whether these additional services are
7.5. Additional services generally included in the O&M agreement or not, see 11.2.
Scope of the O&M contract.
The O&M agreement can foresee services other than those
pertaining to electrical and mechanical plant maintenance as

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7 Power Plant Maintenance / continued

TABLE 2. EXAMPLES FOR ADDITIONAL MAINTENANCE SERVICES

Additional services

Module cleaning
Solar PV site
Vegetation management
maintenance
Snow or sand removal

Pest control

Waste disposal

Road management
General site maintenance
Perimeter fencing repair

Maintenance of buildings

Maintenance of Security Equipment

On-site measurement Weekly/monthly meter readings

Data entry on fiscal registers or in authority web portals for FIT tariff
or other support scheme assessment (where applicable)

String measurements – to the extent exceeding the

agreed level of Preventive Maintenance

Thermal inspections, I-V curve tracing, electroluminescence imaging (for more

information, see the section 10.11. Data collected by specialised solar PV module field
inspections) – to the extent exceeding the agreed level of Preventive Maintenance

Some of these items can be considered as a part of Preventive Maintenance. This depends on the agreement between the Asset
Owner and the O&M service provider.

From a technological point of view, the usage of aerial inspections is beneficial to efficiently (time and costs) obtain a context
awareness needed to perform better planning of site maintenance activities as well as execution of on-site measurements
(specifically thermographic inspections).

45 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

8Revamping and Repowering
8. Revamping and Repowering
Revamping and repowering are usually considered as part of The difference between revamping and repowering, and
Extraordinary Maintenance from a contractual point of view – ordinary replacement is that the former aims to increase
however due to their increasing significance in the solar O&M performance by exchanging all components within a
market, these Guidelines are addressing them in a standalone functional area or a significant ratio of them. The following
chapter. sections focus principally on repowering but also broadly
apply to revamping and even repairs and Extraordinary
Maintenance.
8.1. Definition and rationale of
revamping and repowering When an Asset Owner decides to repower a solar PV power
plant, they must inform the grid operator about the changes
Revamping and repowering are defined as the replacement of to the plant’s original design and grant their approval before
old, power production related components of a power plant the work can go ahead
with new components to enhance its overall performance.
Revamping involves component replacement, but without There are several reasons why repowering of solar PV power
substantially changing the plant's nominal power, whereas plants can be a necessary and/or beneficial investment. For
repowering involves increasing it. an overview, see the following figure.

FIGURE 6. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN REVAMPING AND REPOWERING AND THEIR MAIN DRIVERS

Revamping Repowering

involves replacement of components (mainly inverters and involves replacement of components (mainly inverters and
modules) without substantially changing the plant's nominal modules) which causes a substantial change to the plant's
power. nominal power

Main drivers for Revamping or Repowering

» Aging solar assets: In early 2022, there was over 1 TW of PV capacity installed worldwide. The fleet of modules and
inverters is getting older which leads to an increased failure rate, higher degradation and expiring warranties.
» Unavailability of spare parts and support: Many manufacturers of modules and inverters have left the market. This
complicates the supply of spare parts or repair solutions and may leave an exchange of components as the only
alternative.
» Technological Improvements: The technological advancement of modules and inverters has been significant. Thus,
exchanging components can lead to an improved performance and availability. As further benefits, new components
offer higher design flexibility and advanced features at reduced maintenance costs. Another example is installing
battery storage system on an existing plant.
» Decreasing prices: The prices for PV components have decreased substantially. This trend helps to create an
economically feasible re-investment case.
» Environment, Health & Safety: Old components may not be compliant with new EH&S legislation and revamping may
be required to maintain compliance.
» Additional benefits: A repowering project usually includes additional benefits, such as new warranty terms and
compliance with the latest regulations. Furthermore, it provides an opportunity to correct potential planning mistakes
from the initial construction

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8 Revamping and Repowering / continued

There are numerous ways of repowering a solar PV power » The dimensioning of existing cables and fuses needs to
plant. In the following sections we will concentrate on the be checked and verified to ensure it is suitable for the
two most important opportunities of module and inverter new DC-layout
repowering.
Further considerations
» A module repowering might underlie regulatory aspects
8.2. Module Repowering and will vary depending on the interconnection agreement
between the asset owner and the grid operator. The
Modules with irreparable defects that cannot be directly regulatory body should be contacted well in advance to
replaced in a like-for-like swap may force the investor to clarify aspects such as:
consider a module repowering. This can be carried out for
the entire solar PV power plant or for specific parts. When - Maximum power to be installed
repowering is focused on partial module replacement, - Requirements for proving the faults of modules
exchanging more modules than is technically required is
advised as this keeps old modules intact as spare parts for - Registration of new modules
the future. - Disposal of old modules
» Module repowering should be considered as a relevant
Due to the rapid development of solar PV technology it is
interference into the electrical system. All affected
not very likely that the same components are still available
strings should be tested and documented according
on the market in the required quantity or at a competitive
to IEC 60364-7-712:2017, IEC 60364-6:2016 and IEC
price. Certainly, exchanging identical modules would make
62446-1:2016 after the repowering project.
repowering very simple. However, this would mean spending
money to maintain performance, instead of taking advantage » The new string layout should be optimised towards
of opportunities to raise efficiency at a lower proportional shading or DC / AC ratio. Furthermore, an in-depth check
cost. Where different modules are used for the repowering of the mounting structures, cables and connectors
project, the following aspects need to be considered during should be performed
planning and execution:
» If only some of the modules are being exchanged and
Mechanical installation power measurements of the old type of modules are
being performed, it is recommended to install the old
» If the modules have different dimensions in height, length
modules according to their remaining power. This means
and width, compatibility with the mounting system
all modules in one string or connected to one MPP tracker
needs to be considered. Often adaptive challenges can
should have similar power to reduce mismatching losses
be solved by applying new module clamps but in extreme
cases (e.g., changing from thin film to crystalline modules) » Depending on the status of the old modules (and the
a new mounting structure needs to be installed. To save regulatory requirements), they can be either sold to the
widespread changes to the plant’s infrastructure, agile secondary market or should be disposed or recycled by a
repowering strategies such as changing from central to professional provider
string inverters, replacing transformers etc. should be
considered
8.3. Inverter Repowering
» If the new module is heavier and has a larger surface area
the structural impacts on the mounting system or the
As with all electronic devices, inverters have a limited lifetime.
building need to be checked and aligned
With increasing age and wear, the likelihood of failures and
» The new modules need to be integrated into the grounding breakdowns increases. If the warranty of a device has expired,
system as before a technically and economically suitable solution needs to
Electrical installation be identified. Some manufacturers or service providers
offer repair and spare parts services. With new components
» Depending on the rated power and the electrical it might even be possible to increase the efficiency of an
characteristics of the new module type a new string older inverter (e.g., by replacing an old control board with a
design can be inevitable. The maximum DC power, new device with better performance characteristics, such
voltage and current need to be in-line with the inverter as Maximum Power Point (MPP) tracking). If an identical
requirements replacement inverter, repair services or spare parts are not
» A mix of different electrical characteristics at one available, using a new component becomes inevitable. There
inverter or at least one MPP tracker should be avoided. are different strategies for inverter repowering which should
Alternatively, bypass diodes can be integrated as be evaluated on a case-by-case basis:
protection in case of failures such as reverse current
» It is likely that the new module type will have different » Partial or complete exchange: If only some of the inverters
connectors. Therefore, the string cable connector needs are affected, a partial exchange of the inverter fleet of the
to be replaced accordingly solar PV system can be an option. This potentially reduces
the overall costs, but it can also increase the complexity

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8 Revamping and Repowering / continued

regarding the electrical design or the implementation to integrate the different component types on different
of two different inverter types into one communication phases of one communication cable or integrate them
concept on-site. If the repowering does not affect all into one network. The compatibility of the datalogger and
inverters on-site, it is advisable to store the old devices the monitoring platform to work with different inverter
as potential spare parts. Additionally, it can be practical types at one solar PV system needs to be validated
to exchange more inverters than technically required
to store those as potential exchange devices for future Further considerations
defects of the old inverter type
» An inverter repowering might underlie regulatory aspects,
» Exchange of same or different power class: Exchanging which will vary depending on the interconnection
inverters with the same power class is easier for the DC agreement entered between the asset owner and the grid
and AC integration. However, replacing multiple devices operator. The responsible regulatory institution should be
through one with a larger power class can increase the consulted well in advance to clarify aspects such as
system efficiency and reduce the component costs as o Maximum power to be installed
well as future maintenance costs. o Compatibility to grid code and plant certificate
» Inverter repowering should be considered as a relevant
When an inverter repowering is planned, several factors need
interference into the electrical system. All affected
to be considered:
cables and connectors should be tested and documented
Mechanical installation according to IEC 60364-7-712:2017, IEC 60364-6:2016
and IEC 62446-1:2016 during the repowering project
» If the new inverters have different dimensions or weight,
a suitable solution for the installation or mounting of » Additional benefits may be utilised during the project. The
the inverter needs to be prepared. The same applies for new inverters should be optimised towards shading or
proper cabling if DC or AC connections are changed DC / AC ratio. When the new inverter has more advanced
features than the old one (e.g., multiple MPP tracker),
» The manufacturer of the new device might have
this could be an additional advantage for the repowering
different requirements for the mounting with regards
project
to fixings, distance to other components or to the roof,
ventilation, etc. All requirements need to be checked and » The noise levels of the inverters may vary, and it should be
implemented adequately checked against the permitting restrictions
and the neighbouring activities
» The new inverters need to be integrated into the
grounding system according to the standards and the » Depending on the status of the old inverters, they can be
manufacturers specifications either kept as potential spare parts, sold to the secondary
market. If these options are not practical, the devices
Electrical installation should be disposed of or recycled by a professional
service provider
» The integration of the DC side to the new inverters
needs to follow the DC input requirements of the new » New or different maintenance scope and intervals need
inverter. The string length and the number of connected to be included into the Preventive Maintenance schedule
strings may need to be adjusted to suit the technical
» All involved people should be informed about the
parameters of maximum current and voltage as well
changes and accordingly trained regarding Preventive
as ideal operational conditions. In case larger inverters
and Corrective Maintenance.
are installed, additional DC combiner boxes might be
required, and different, or additional fuses may need to In some cases, inverter repowering is even profitable if the old
be integrated inverter still operates with full availability, but a new inverter
produces more energy due to higher efficiency or better
» If different inverter sizes are installed, the integration
operating conditions.
to the AC side needs to be re-engineered. This includes
the cable diameters, protection devices (fuses) and
8.3.1. Combiner Boxes Repowering
connectors
» In all cases the applicable electrotechnical rules and Repowering central inverters may necessitate the
regulations need to be followed replacement of other key components to meet design
requirements, such as DC combiner boxes.
Communication system Replacing DC combiner boxes is a challenging matter with
several things to consider:
» Before choosing an adequate inverter, compatibility with
the physical communication cables should be checked » Condition of DC cables and insulation
» The installed data logger needs to support the new » Current capacity ratings for DC cables, as the DC side
inverter’s data protocol. Otherwise, an update or the capacity is often modified while repowering inverters
exchange of the data logger will also be required
» If the existing main DC cables are to be replaced, the
» If different inverter types are installed, it can be an option asset owner, in consultation with all stakeholders, must

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8 Revamping and Repowering / continued

determine whether to leave the old cables underground » Setting up project plan
and unused or to extract them
» Update commercial analysis with more precise information
» If new trenches and cables are to be excavated, the
location must be carefully chosen to avoid damaging any Implementation
other underground components » Execution of repowering measures
» If existing cables and cable accessories are replaced, » Project management
it is critical that they be disposed of in a safe and
environmentally responsible manner. In many instances, » Constant quality control
such components are recycled in exchange for a » Commissioning and documentation
monetary incentive that may benefit the asset owner
» Update of maintenance guidelines
Review
8.4. General Repowering Considerations
» Technical evaluation regarding reliability and performance
Although, a repowering project is mainly technically driven, » Commercial evaluation regarding costs and return on
for the Owner of the solar PV system it is a commercial re- investment
investment case. Therefore, it is of great importance to A rigorous project management and quality control across
calculate a detailed and solid business case before starting the all project stages will ensure a realisation of the project in
project and review it during the project stages. All technical time, budget, and quality. Similarly, reporting to the AM and
and commercial data, such as historical performance, Asset Owner should be provided throughout all stages of a
future performance, revenues, costs, extended life span and repowering project.
changed maintenance requirements need to be considered
to come up with a prognosis of the future income streams.
With this, a classical return on investment or break-even
calculation can be performed and presented to the investor
as the basis for a decision.

As an additional analysis, calculating the sensitivities of the

most important factors is recommended. This will provide a
better understanding of the influence of changing conditions
(e.g., if the costs for the project will change or the projected
performance will be different to the assumptions).
Each repowering activity should be approached as an
individual project, which can be structured as follows:
Performance analysis
» Historical yield assessment & identification of
performance issues
» Verification of issues on site with additional inspections
or testing
» Determination of root causes and areas for improvement

Potential assessment
» Technical feasibility study of different options
» Commercial analysis, taking investment costs and
additional revenues or reduced losses into account
» Analysis of the regulatory requirements and their
implications
» Risk assessment for the case where the solution does
not meet expectations

Solution Design
» Detailed technical engineering
» Determination of all costs for time and material

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9Spare Parts Management
9. spare parts Management
It is important to differentiate between Consumables and part is unavailable. The various parties are responsible for
Spare Parts. their replenishment and bear the associated production loss.

Consumables are items which are intended to be depleted Ownership of spares is often with the Asset Owner from
or worn out relatively quickly and then replaced. They are delivery to site or placement in the spares stock. In the case
necessary for the regular operation of the solar PV power plant of excluded spare parts, ownership transfers to the Asset
and O&M service providers should always have consumables Owner from the date that the O&M service provider receives
on stock and maintenance crews should carry consumables payment for the same.
with them, together with the relevant tools.
Maintenance, storage, and replenishment are the responsibility
Spare Parts are all the items (materials and equipment such of the O&M service provider. Besides ownership matters, it is
as modules or inverters) listed on the Spare Parts List, not in very important to make sure, upon mutual agreement, that
use or incorporated in the solar PV power plant, intended to one of the parties undertakes the responsibility of insuring
replace similar items in the solar PV power plant. the spares: as a recommendation spare parts stored on-site
should be insured by the Asset Owner and spare parts stored
Spare Parts Management is an inherent and substantial part off-site should be insured by the O&M service provider.
of O&M that should ensure that spare parts are available in
a timely manner for Corrective Maintenance to minimise the For a new solar PV power plant, the initial spare parts for two
downtime of (part of) a solar PV power plant. The following years from COD are procured by the Asset Owner, or the EPC
considerations have to be made in Spare Parts Management: service provider on behalf of the Asset Owner. However, it is
best practice for the EPC and O&M service providers to have
» Ownership and responsibility of insurance
agreed upon the list. The O&M service provider should, as a
» Stocking level best practice, recommend additional spares that they deem
them necessary to meet the contractual obligations (e.g.
» Location of storage
availability guarantees).
a. Proximity to the plant
b. Security Generally, it is not economically feasible to stock spare parts
c. Environmental conditions for every possible failure in the plant. Therefore, the O&M
Although it is best practice for the O&M service provider to service provider together with the Asset Owner should define
be responsible for replenishing the spare parts stock, it is not the stocking level of specific spare parts that make economic
necessarily responsible for the full cost of doing so. Some sense (Cost-Benefit Analysis). For example, if a specific part
Asset Owners require O&M service providers to be fully in a solar PV power plant has a frequency of failure at least
responsible for the cost of all spare parts within the O&M fee, of once every year or more and the loss of revenues due to
however, the more cost-effective approach is to agree a set such failure is greater than the spare part cost, it is important
of Included Spare Parts and Excluded Spare Parts. Similarly, a to have such a spare part kept available. This can also apply
financial limit for Included Spare Parts can be negotiated. for parts with a long replenishment period. Similarly, one must
consider the management risk that a fault can cause. For
Included Spare Parts are those which the O&M service example, if a component of a SCADA system stops working,
provider is to be responsible for within the O&M fee. Excluded there is no resultant power loss. However, there is a risk of
Spare Parts are those which the Asset Owner is responsible not being able to detect future power loss if this part is not
for the cost of replenishing and do not fall within the O&M replaced. Some very large O&M service providers now propose
service provider’s O&M fee. This is a flexible approach using the spare parts in their different warehouses in place of,
allowing the Asset Owner and O&M service provider to agree or in addition to the Asset Owner’s spares stock. Since they
which spare parts fall into which category. It enables both operate many sites, they limit the shortage of unusual spare
parties to have a level of cost certainty whilst balancing this parts by maintaining a small stock.
with the Asset Owner's appetite for risk. The contract should
contain provisions on who is liable in the event that a spare

50 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

9 Spare Parts / continued

Regarding the stocking level, due to the very different » Degradation over time
configurations and sizes of solar PV power plants, it is very
» Possibility of consignment stock with the manufacturer
difficult to define a hard number for stocking specific spare
parts, however 0.2% of total module quantity is often found » Equipment reliability
in commercial contracts. Furthermore, the regional portfolio
» Replenishment time
of the O&M service provider might also influence this and,
as mentioned above, the determination of spare items » Management risk
and quantity is also driven by the O&M service provider’s However, for any given utility scale solar PV system there are
contractual commitments and guarantees. To define the certain spare parts that could be considered as essential to
stocking levels of Spare Parts and Consumables, the following have – no matter the cost.
parameters should be taken into consideration:
» Frequency of failure Table 3 below summarises a minimum list. This list is not
exhaustive and system requirements and technology
» Impact of failure
developments can lead to this list being updated following
» Cost of Spare Part discussion with manufacturers, amongst others.

TABLE 3. MINIMUM LIST OF SPARE PARTS (NON-EXHAUSTIVE)

Examples for a minimum list of spare parts

No. Spare part
1 Fuses for all equipment (e.g., inverters, combiner boxes, etc.) and fuse kits
2 Modules
3 Inverter spares (e.g., power stacks, circuit breakers, contactor, switches, controller board, etc.)
4 Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)
5 Voltage terminations (MV)
6 Power Plant controller spares
7 SCADA and data communication spares
8 Transformer and switchgear spares
9 Weather station sensors
10 Motors and gearboxes for trackers and tracker control board
11 Harnesses and cables
12 Screws and other supplies and tools
13 Specified module connectors (male and female should be from the same manufacturer)
14 Structures components
15 Security equipment (e.g., cameras)

Regarding the storage and warehousing, this should be done are stored off-site, such spares should be stored separately
in locations where the spare parts cannot be damaged (e.g., and be clearly identified as the property of the Asset Owner.
by humidity or high temperature variations) and are easily If the O&M service provider exchanges spare parts, an
identifiable as being owned by the Asset Owner. Additionally, agreement should be drawn up with the supplier that ensures
the storage sites should have appropriate security measures. the warranty is not voided.

The decision to have either an on-site or an off-site warehouse While proximity to the plant is a parameter that needs to be
facility or just an agreement with the suppliers to provide the evaluated on a case-by-case basis, security and environmental
spare parts, depends on many factors, including the kind of conditions are very important as they could lead to a loss of
part, the commercial agreement, and the facilitation of the property either through thefts or damage.
service provision. If the spare parts owned by the Asset Owner

51 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

10 Data and monitoring
10. Datarequirements
and monitoring requirements
In general, monitoring systems should allow follow-up on the kilowatt-peak (kWp) for ease of performance comparison.
energy flows within a solar PV system. In principle, it reports All components and different aspects of technical data
on the parameters that determine the energy conversion management and monitoring platforms are described in
chain. These parameters, along with the most important the following paragraphs. Reference should also be made
energy measures in terms of yields and losses, are illustrated to the Monitoring Checklist of the Solar Best Practices Mark
in Figure 7. These yields and losses are always normalised for a synthesis of the most important best practices and
to installed solar PV power at standard test conditions in recommendation with respect to these points4.

FIGURE 7. ENERGY FLOW IN A GRID-CONNECTED PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM WITH PARAMETERS, YIELDS AND LOSSES

PV array Inverter Grid

Vdc Vac
Idc Iac
Pdc Pac

Tambˇ Tmodˇ Sw

Yr Ya Yf
Reference Yield Array Yield System Yield

Lc Lc
Arrat capture System
losses losses

PR

10.1. Data loggers » Basic alarm functionality (e.g., Field Communication

issues, time critical events like AC Off)

The main purposes of a datalogger are: » Providing a temporary data backup (in case of missing
internet connection)
» Collecting data of relevant components (inverters,
meteorological data, energy meter, string combiners, » Supporting the technicians during commissioning (e.g.,
status signals) with every device registered separately checking whether all inverters work and feed-in)

4 The best practice checklists of the Solar Best Practices Mark are available at: [Link].

52 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

10 Data and monitoring requirements / continued

In addition to this, some dataloggers can also provide the response to the control unit, the power supply will be
following functions: interrupted by the watchdog unit, performing a hard reset
on the stopped equipment. In cases where it is not possible
» Power Plant Controller (Monitoring & Control should to have an external watchdog it can be useful to have an
be managed by one instance to avoid communication automatic reboot function.
issues regarding concurrent access). The Power Plant
Controller can be integrated in the datalogger or can be The entire monitoring installation should be protected
a separate device using the communication channel of by an uninterruptable power supply (UPS). This includes
the datalogger or even a separate one with preferential data loggers, network switches, internet modems/routers,
bandwidth measurement devices and signal converters.
» Solar Energy Trading Interface (control the active power For more information, see also IEC 61724-1 Photovoltaic
by a third-party instance like energy trader) system performance – Part 1: Monitoring.
As best practice, dataloggers should be selected following
a list of criterion by the operating party as listed below. For 10.2. Data Quality & Curation
example, an EPC service provider will choose and install the
data logger used to monitor the site. This datalogger should The main purpose of the monitoring system is to collect
be selected: data from all the relevant components (energy meters,
meteorological sensors, inverters, string combiner boxes, etc.)
» for its compatibility with the inverters and auxiliary which are typically installed across the field and connected to
equipment present on site. Preference for inverter- the plant SCADA through the local network by using various
agnostic dataloggers technologies (serial links, cable, fibre, wireless, etc.). Moreover,
» for any command functionality that may be needed (this renewable plants, and solar plants, are often situated in remote
is site type and country specific) environments, and sometimes in harsh places. As such,
» for its connectivity strength to the internet equipment and systems are subject to difficult conditions
and are often subject to data quality issues.
» for its robustness (longevity of life and durability for the
environmental conditions it will be kept in) The data quality issues that equipment may face may be
» for its cyber security measures (and those of the cloud categorised as follow:
server to which it is connected), namely the possibility to
set up a VPN tunnel at least » False negative values
» for its capability to store data during internet » Outliers
communication outages » Spikes
The recording interval (also called granularity) of the » Data gaps
datalogging should range from 1 minute to 15 minutes. Within » Junk values
one monitoring environment granularity should be uniform
for all the different data collected. These data quality issues can provoke situations that vary
extremely depending on the plant, type of measurement, or
As a minimum requirement, data loggers should store at systems in place. As such, it is very difficult to implement an
least one month of data. Historical data should be backed up overall and systematic data quality strategy for renewable
constantly by sending it to external servers and, after every Asset Owners as each case is unique.
communication failure, the data logger should automatically
send all pending information. Moreover, data transmission The data quality issues mentioned above are obvious and
should be secured and encrypted (see 9.9. Cybersecurity). may impact many KPIs which are calculated on this basis.
There should also be a logbook to track configuration changes More challenging to identify, are slight and progressive data
(especially relevant when acting as Power Plant Controller). deviations overtime.

As a best practice, the data logger should store a minimum Biased KPIs lead to unnecessary operations costs (unrequired
of three months of data locally and a full data backup in on-site intervention) and performances losses, as defects
the cloud. Moreover, the operation of the data logger itself may remain undetected.
should be monitored. This should be done remotely and As a best practice, the monitoring solution and system should
from an independent server, delivering information on the be capable of filtering these values in the most automated
data loggers’ operating status at Operating System (OS) and and personalised way to cater for each specific case.
hardware level. It should also provide alerts to the Operations
room in case of failures and communication loss. Most effective techniques for data validation are based on
the analysis of data over relatively long timespans (i.e., daily
data validation), with a granularity between 1 and 15 minutes.
Best practice is to have dataloggers and routers constantly
monitored by a watchdog device on-site. In case of no

53 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

10 Data and monitoring requirements / continued

10.3. Monitoring (web) portal The monitoring portal should fulfil the following minimum
requirements:
Monitoring portals add value by helping to identify
opportunities to improve a PV power plant’s operation. These » Accessibility level of at least 99% across the year
include: » Interface and/or apps dedicated to use cases (on-site
service, investor etc)
» Providing a better understanding and optimising the » Customisable user Access Level
amount of time clients are paying for power and adjusting » Graphs of irradiation, energy production, performance,
the energy consumption during peak daylight hours and yield
» Protecting the system against power outages. If » Downloadable tables with all the registered figures
something goes wrong with the system, an alert will
» Alarms register
direct a maintenance team to the issue straight away
As best practice, the following features will also be included
» Pinpointing repair solutions for the system
in the Monitoring Portal:
» Keeping track of historical weather data. This data is
valuable and can help with forecasting how weather » Configurable User Interface to adjust the views depending
patterns might affect the overall energy production of on the target group (e.g., O&M service provider, EPC
the system service provider, Investor, Asset Manager)
» Levelling the energy costs » User configurable alarms
The minimum set of requirements for operating a monitoring » User configurable reports
portal are:
» Ticket system to handle alarm messages
» Internet cable » Plant specific KPIs
» Internet subscription » Integrate Third Party Data (e.g., solar power forecast,
meteorological data, satellite data for irradiance)
The main purposes of the monitoring portal are:
» Granularity of data should be adaptable for downloads of
» Reading any type of raw data coming from any type of figures and tables
data logger or other solar PV platforms with no preference
on brands or models
10.4. Data format
» Creating a long-term archive for all raw data provided by
the asset
The data format of the recorded data files must respect
» Modelling each solar PV asset using all available standards such as IEC 61724 and must be clearly documented.
information regarding the actual set up and devices (type Data loggers should collect all inverter alarms in accordance
of devices, installation/replacement date, modules- with original manufacturer’s format so that all available
string-inverter system layout, modules inclination, information is obtained.
orientation, type of installation etc.)
» Visualising aggregated data in the highest possible
granularity (1 to 15 min is a best practice for most of the 10.5. Configuration
indicators)
» Visualising data in standard and specific diagrams The configuration of the monitoring systems and data loggers
needs to reflect the actual layout of plant details (hardware
» Computing and visualising dashboards and views of KPIs. brand, model, installation details such as orientation,
For the list of indicators to be computed, see Chapter 11. wiring losses, set up date, etc.) to better perform expected
Key Performance Indicators, Indicators computational performances simulations and obtain consistent insight
inputs might be selectable by the user about a plant’s actual status. If this has not been done during
» Validating data quality (e.g., through calculation of data the plant’s construction phase, it should be done at the
availability) commissioning phase or when a new O&M service provider
» Detecting malfunctions as well as long term degradations takes over (recommissioning of the monitoring system).
with customisable alarms During commissioning, each single piece of equipment
» Handling alerts from field devices like dataloggers or monitored should be checked to make sure it is properly
inverters labelled in the Monitoring System. This can be done by
temporarily covering insolation sensors or switching off
» Calculating typical KPIs (such as PR and Availability) with others such as string boxes or inverters.
the possibility to adapt parameters
» Providing consistent and easy to use aggregated KPIs for It is best practice to have a Monitoring System capable of
customisable reports for single plants and portfolios reading and recording all IDs from all sensors and equipment
» Making data available via a standardised interface for use it monitors. This will reduce the possibility of mislabelling
in other systems elements and improve the tracing of equipment and sensor

54 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

10 Data and monitoring requirements / continued

replacement during the life of the facility. Some Monitoring data by using open interfaces such as RESTful, providing
Systems have even an auto-configuration feature (plug- interoperability between different systems.
and-play) that reduces start-up time and potential mistakes.
This it is done by automatically capturing device IDs and Another important aspect of interoperability is the ability to
configuration information. This also allows for automatic aggregate data from different platforms that serve a range
detection of inverter or sensor replacement. of areas in the solar PV business, such as administration,
accountancy, planning & on-site intervention, and stock
management applications. This way, information can be
10.6. Interoperability exploited by the central monitoring platform without
affecting the external applications. For example, an O&M
As a best practice, the system should ensure open data service provider works with several types of ticketing systems
accessibility (both for sending and receiving data bilaterally) for different clients. The monitoring platform should be able
to enable easy transition and communication between to collect data from all of them. Likewise, information about
monitoring platforms. Table 4 shows some examples of data tickets managed from the central monitoring system should
integration options. Due to the lack of unifying standards, be automatically transferable to the dedicated ticketing
every Monitoring System provider has their own method of application.
storing and retrieving data. The best systems can retrieve

TABLE 4. EXAMPLES OF DATA INTEGRATION OPTIONS

Method Advantages Disadvantages

Not secure unless:
- proper VPN is set up
» Easy to implement - using SFTP or FTPs encryption method
FTP Push or FTP Pull
» No need for additional hardware - FTP access control methods implemented

Limited control of data flow to the FTP server

Additional cost for additional hardware
More time-consuming implementation
Modbus/TCP (with » Reliable and secure
Relies on the existing monitoring
additional logger on site) » Best control of data flow
system hardware, hence, two
hardware vendors involved
Small time lag from data collection to
destination (data pull technology requires
automated back-filling technology in case
of data gaps or communications issues)
» Fast and easy to implement
Relies on the existing monitoring system
» No need for additional hardware vendor, double fees for monitoring
API (or similar) in the cloud » Reliable depending on (No control over data)
providers’ conditions and
API may face data quality issues and
communication conditions limits – data granularity, data depth,
availability, correctness, how current it
is, completeness – depending on the
provider’s terms conditions (Service-Level
Agreement/SLAs) and technical abilities

55 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

10 Data and monitoring requirements / continued

10.7. Internet connection and Local Area is advisable with an industrial router as a back-up, that allows
for mobile or satellite communication back-up in case the
Network WAN connection fails. A system with a reset capability in
case of loss of internet connection is recommended. A direct
The O&M service provider should make sure to provide connection to a monitoring server with an SLA guarantees
the best possible network connectivity. As a minimum continuous data access. If data passes via alternative
requirement, the bandwidth needs to be adequate enough to monitoring servers without an SLA, (e.g., monitoring portal
transfer data in a regular way. of the inverter manufacturer), the SLA can no longer be
guaranteed. The automatic firmware updates of the data
Whenever a fibre connection is available within the solar logger should be disabled. Firmware updates are subject to a
PV-site area, this should be used to connect to the internet, change management procedure with the monitoring service.
with industrial routers considered as standard. Where a All communication cables must be shielded. Physical distances
fibre connection is unavailable, 4G or Wi-Fi communication between (DC or AC) power cables and communication cables
is preferred. Satellite connection is the least preferred should be ensured, and communication cables should be
communication type. An additional back-up system is best shielded from direct sunlight. Furthermore, cables with
practice. Any subscription should allow for the data quantity different polarities must be clearly distinguishable (label or
required and should foresee the amount (e.g., Closed-Circuit colour) for avoiding polarity connection errors.
Television (CCTV) or not) granularity of the data. Pros and cons of different types of monitoring connections:
For solar PV power plants larger than 1MW a WAN connection

TABLE 5. THE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF INTERNET CONNECTIONS.

Monitoring
Pro Con Comment
connection
» Modem/Provider dependent
» Broadband » Requires skilled personnel
Wi-Fi » Real time monitoring » Can be intermittent
» Easy to set up » Possible issues when
router is replaced
» Free
» Modem/Provider dependent
» Broadband
LAN » Requires skilled personnel
» Real time monitoring
» Additional cabling needed
» Reliable
» Large geographical coverage
» Independent from local
Internet connection
» Remote management » Subscription based
Cellular 2G/4G » Bi-directional » Real time monitoring requires
» Plug&play installation higher data volume
» High level of security using VPN
» Reliable (depending on the
geographical location)
» Independent from local
Not all cellular providers
Internet connection » Subscription based
LPWAN offer each of these
» Remote management » Limited bandwidth
(NB-IoT, communication technologies.
» Bi-directional » Insufficient for real time
LTE-M etc.) Monthly fee to be
» Good network penetration monitoring (in some cases)
predicted low.
inside buildings
» Only local monitoring possible
Bluetooth » Free » Requires simple
pairing protocol
» Subscription based with
proprietary communication
» Independent from local
protocols in some cases
Internet connection
LPWAN » Limited bandwidth (in some
» Remote management
(LoRa, Sigfox etc) cases) and insufficient
» Good network penetration
for real time monitoring
inside buildings
» Limited bi-directional
communication

56 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

10 Data and monitoring requirements / continued

10.8. Data ownership and privacy » Secure physical access to the network devices and
implement a secure password policy. Avoid the use
The data from the monitoring system and data loggers, of standard passwords and change all factory setting
even if hosted in the cloud, should always be owned by and passwords
accessible to the Asset Owner (or SPV). Stakeholders such » Control access from Internet via strict firewall rules:
as the O&M service provider and the Asset Manager need the
data to perform their duties and should be granted access. In • Port forwarding should not be used because this is a
addition to this, auditors working in the due diligence phases big security gap. Only router ports that are necessary
of a project should also have access. It is important to have at should be opened
least two access levels (read-only, full access). • Reduce remote access to the necessary use cases
• The use of VPNs (Virtual Private Networks – a secure
The monitoring system hardware can be provided by the O&M connection built up from the inside of the private
service provider or a third-party monitoring service provider network) is necessary
(but the monitoring system hardware remains the property of
• VPN access to the site from outside is a minimum
the Asset Owner as part of the installation):
requirement
» If the O&M service provider is the monitoring service • A VPN server or VPN service which works without
provider, they have full responsibility for protecting and requiring a public IP on-site is preferred
maintaining the data, and ensuring the proper functioning • Each solar PV power plant should have different
of the monitoring system passwords
» Where there is a third-party monitoring service provider, • Keep your documentation up to date to be sure that
responsibility for protecting and maintaining the data no device has been forgotten
resides with them. The O&M service provider should • Use different roles to the extent possible (e.g., read
endeavours to make sure performance monitoring only user, administration access)
is correct and takes the best practices mentioned in
• Use professional (industrial grade) hardware; only this
the previous paragraphs into consideration. The O&M
hardware provides the security and administration
service provider’s ability to properly maintain and use
functions your plant needs to be secure
the monitoring system should be evaluated. If necessary,
the O&M service provider should be appropriately trained » Implement vulnerability management (i.e., identifying
to use the monitoring system. Data use by third-party and fixing or mitigating vulnerabilities, especially in
monitoring providers should be extremely limited, i.e., for software and firmware):
correcting bugs and developing additional functions to • Improve insecure software configurations
their systems
• The firmware and software of devices should be kept
up to date
10.9. Cybersecurity • Use anti-virus software if possible and keep it up to
date
As solar PV power plants have inverters and power plant • Avoid wireless access if it is not necessary
controllers (and monitoring systems) that are connected to
• Audit your network with the help of external experts
the internet to enable surveillance and remote instructions by
(penetration tests)
operators, there are significant cybersecurity risks.
» Keep your company safe:
Cybersecurity comprises technologies, processes and • Do not store passwords in plain text format, use
controls that are designed to protect systems, networks, and password manager (e.g., 1Password, Keepass, etc.)
data from cyber-attacks. Effective cyber security reduces
• Train your employees on IT security awareness
the risk of cyber-attacks and protects organisations and
individuals from the unauthorised exploitation of systems, • Do not share access from all plants to all employees.
networks, and technologies5. Give access only to those who need it. This way
damage can be limited if an individual employee is
Cybersecurity is a vast area and multiple measures are hacked
possible. The following suggestions may help as a starting • Management of leaving and moving employees;
point: change passwords of plants which are overseen by
» Keep it simple: If possible, reduce the type of network an employee who has left the company or moved to
devices to a minimum another department
» As a recommendation, traffic of the network devices It is therefore best practice that installations undertake a
may be monitored to detect abnormally high use of cyber security analysis, starting from a risk assessment
bandwidth (including analysis at the level of the system architecture)

5 Definition: [Link]

57 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

10 Data and monitoring requirements / continued

and implement a cybersecurity management system (CSMS) In Jordan, the calibration reference for irradiance sensors is
that incorporates a plan-do-check-act cycle. The CSMS the Royal Scientific Society (RSS). The irradiance should be
should start from a cybersecurity policy, and definition of recorded with a granularity of up to 15 minutes (minimum
formal cybersecurity roles and responsibilities, and proceed requirement). IEC recommends either to do the calibration
to map this onto the system architecture in terms of with a 1-year interval or to follow the manufacturer’s
detailed countermeasures applied at identified points (e.g., recommendation. The consensus is that a calibration interval
via analysis of the system in terms of zones and conduits). of more than 2 years involves a significant risk.
These will include the use of technical countermeasures such Further information on the categorisation of plant sizes and
as firewalls, encrypted interfaces, authorisation and access the use of appropriate measuring technology is provided in
controls, and audit/detection tools. They will also include IEC 61724-1.
physical and procedural controls, for example, to restrict
[Link]. Satellite-based Irradiance Measurements
access to system components and to maintain awareness of
new vulnerabilities affecting the system components. In addition to irradiance sensors, complementary irradiance
data from a high-quality satellite-based data service can be
As a minimum requirement, data loggers should not be acquired after a certain period to perform comparisons with
accessible directly from the internet or should at least be data from ground-based sensors. This is especially useful
protected via a firewall. Secure and restricted connection to in case of data loss or when there is low confidence in the
data servers is also important. data measured onsite by the Monitoring System and it can
be considered as best practice. In particular, high-quality
The manufacturer of the datalogger and the monitoring satellite-based data should be used for irradiation sensor
platform should provide information on penetration tests for data quality assessments. The longer the period considered
their servers, any command protocol activation channels, and the lower the error will be for satellite-based irradiation data.
the results of security audits for their products. Command When satellite-based irradiance data is used, hourly
functions should be sent using a secure VPN connection to granularity or less (15 minutes if possible) is recommended.
the control device (best practice). Double authentication The data must be retrieved once per day at least.
would be an even more secure option.
10.10.2. Module temperature measurements
For further information, beyond the scope of this document,
Module temperature can be measured for performance
please see ISO 27001 Information Security Management.
analysis in KPIs such as the temperature-corrected PR (see
10.3.4. Temperature-corrected Performance Ratio).
10.10. Types of data collected through the
The accuracy of the temperature sensor, including signal
monitoring system conditioning and acquisition done by the monitoring system
hardware, should be < 1± °C.
10.10.1. Irradiance measurements The temperature sensor should be attached to the middle
of the backside of the module in the middle of the array
[Link]. Irradiance Sensors table, in the centre of a cell, away from the junction box with
Solar irradiance in the plane of the solar PV array (POA) is appropriate and stable thermally conductive glue (Woyte
measured on-site by at least one irradiance Class A quality et al. 2013). The installation should be in accordance with
measurement device and ISO 9060:2018 (ISO 9060 2018). manufacturer guidelines (e.g., respecting cabling instructions
The higher the quality of the pyranometer, the lower the towards the data logger).
uncertainty will be. Best practice is to apply at least two
pyranometers in the plane of the solar PV array. In case of Varying solar PV module temperature in a plant is mainly due
different array orientations within the plant, at least one to different wind exposure. Therefore, in large plants more
pyranometer is required for each orientation. It should be sensors will be required across the site because module
ensured that the pyranometers are properly assigned to the temperature should be measured at different representative
different arrays for the calculation of PR and Expected Yield. positions (e.g., for modules in the centre of the plant and for
Class A Pyranometers are preferred over silicon reference modules at edge locations where temperature variation is
cells because they allow a direct comparison between expected).
the measured performance of the solar PV power plant
and the performance figures estimated in the energy yield The granularity of module temperature data should be at least
assessment. 15 minutes to perform a correct PR calculation.
[Link]. Local meteorological data
Irradiance sensors must be placed in an unshaded location (or
in the least shaded one ). They must be mounted and wired It is best practice to measure ambient temperature, wind
in accordance with manufacturers’ guidelines. Preventive speed, rain fall and other site relevant meteorological
Maintenance and calibration of the sensors must follow the measurement with the installation of a local meteorological
manufacturers’ guidelines. station in accordance with the manufacturers’ guidelines.

58 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

10 Data and monitoring requirements / continued

Ambient temperature is measured with a shielded [Link]. Inverter measurements

thermometer, such as a PT100. The shield protects the sensor
Inverters have a large set of variables that are constantly
from radiative heat transfer. Wind speed is measured with an
measured by their hardware, and that can be registered and
anemometer, at 10m above ground level.
investigated from the monitoring system. The data sent from
the inverter to the monitoring system should be in cumulative
Wind and ambient temperature data are normally not required
values to allow the monitoring of the overall electricity
for calculating PR unless this is a contractual requirement/
generation of the inverter, even in case of outages of the
agreement (e.g., according to specific recommendations such
monitoring system.
as those from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in
the USA). However, they are required when the solar PV power
Recommended variables to be monitored are:
plant is modelled in operation or retrospectively.
- Cumulative Energy generated (kWh)
Additionally, whenever the module temperature - Instant Active Power injected (kW)
measurements are not available or not suitable, wind
speed and ambient temperature coupled with installation - Instant Reactive Power injected (kVAr)
specifications can be used to retrieve a good estimation of - Instant Apparent Power injected (kVA)
module temperature. In this case, 15 minutes granularity of
measurement is still the best practice. - AC Voltage per each phase (V)
- AC Current per each phase (A)
For plants larger than10 MWp, having automated collection
of hourly meteorological data (ambient temperature, - Power Factor / Cos Phi
wind speed, snow coverage, rainfall) from independent
sources is recommended. The reason for this is that on- - Frequency for each phase (Hz)
site meteorological stations are subject to local phenomena - Instant DC Power for each MPPT (kW)
and installation-specific results. Data from an independent
weather-station is less subject to this, while being also more - Instant DC Current for each MPPT (A)
stable and robust with respect to long-term drift. They can - Instant DC Voltage for each MPPT (V)
therefore be used to evaluate the quality, and eventually
replace, the on-site measurement. - Total instant DC Power for all MPPTs (kW)
- Total instant DC Current for all MPPTs (A)
Therefore, for both performance assessment and detailed
analysis purposes, automated, local meteorological data - Average instant DC Voltage for all MPPTs (V)
is recommended. However, for performance assessment
the most important measurement remains the in-plane - Internal temperature (ºC)
irradiation (see Chapter 11. Key Performance Indicators). - Conversion components temperature (ºC)
Solar resource data derived from satellite image processing is
available from several services at a nominal per-site and per - Inverter failure signals
time-segment (such as one week) fee. The measurement
It should be noted that the precision of inverter-integrated
error in satellite data might be greater than that of an on-
measurements is not always documented by the
site instrument but is often more reliable than a mis-aligned,
manufacturers and can be imprecise. For example, energy
inadequate or dirty on-site pyranometer, and less susceptible
or AC power measurements taken by inverters may differ
to soiling or tampering.
substantially from the values recorded by the energy
meter. Monitoring systems and reporting should specify
[Link]. String measurements and be transparent about the devices used to acquire each
measurement.
Individual string current measurements may be deployed
when not supported by the inverters. String level monitoring
It is also very useful to have the monitoring system collecting
allows for more precise trouble-shooting procedures than at
data from all the inverter alarms as they are a valuable source
inverter level. Depending on the module technology used in a
of information for fault detection. Also, low importance alarms
plant, strings can be combined (in harnesses) which can help
or warnings can be used for the organisation of maintenance
reduce operation costs.
activities and even setting up Preventive Maintenance
actions.
To detect problems quickly and to increase plant uptime,
installing string monitoring equipment is recommended.
In certain cases, grid connections have limits that must be
This will constantly measure the current of every string
always respected, such as the maximum AC power that can
and register those measurements in intervals of up to at 15
be injected. For these cases there are two possibilities, one
minutes. To reduce costs, the current sensor can be used to
is to set limits using inverter parameters, the second one is
measure more than one string. However, no more than two
to install Power Plant Controller that will change inverter
strings should be measured in parallel.
parameters dynamically. In both cases it could be useful to

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10 Data and monitoring requirements / continued

monitor inverter parameters and to program alarms so that be able to generate the following alarms and, at the user’s
the O&M service provider is notified when there is a parameter discretion, send them by email:
that has been changed wrongly and does not respect a given
limit. » Loss of communication

Best practice dictates that the sample size for the » Plant stops
measurement of inverter-based variables is 15 minutes at one » Inverter stops
minute interval. For ad-hoc performance analysis purposes
such as allowing the analysis of solar PV array performance, » Plant with Low Performance
root cause analysis or possible MPP-tracking problems, the » Inverter with Low Performance (e.g., due to overheating)
input DC voltage and current need to be measured and stored
separately. As best practice, the following alarms will also be sent by the
monitoring system:
In general, and as best practice, all common inverter
parameters should be logged by the data loggers, since there » String without current
are a lot of additional important parameters, such as internal
» Plant under operation
temperature, and isolation level, etc. that could be useful for
O&M services. » Discretion Alarm

Inverters should be capable of detecting when their conversion » Alarm Aggregation

components are overheating, to protect themselves under As a best practice, the following alarms should also be tracked
extreme or abnormal operating conditions. Therefore, it by the O&M service provider. However, these alarms are sent
is advisable to record the temperature as provided by the by separate systems:
inverter so that ventilation performance can be assessed.
» Intrusion detection
10.10.3. Energy meter
» Fire alarm detection
One of the most important features of a monitoring system
is the automated collection of energy meter data with a The above lists are not exhaustive, and any alarms and security
granularity of up to 15 minutes. Gathering energy meter measures need to be agreed between the Asset Owner
data is required for invoicing purposes but it is also the best and the O&M service provider, reflecting the requirements
reference for measuring energy and calculating plant PR and of insurance providers, lenders, and any other relevant
Yield. It is also much more accurate than using inverter data. stakeholders.
Using a high accuracy energy meter to measure energy
produced and consumed by the plant is normally required 10.10.6. AC circuit / Protection relay
by the Utility. When this is not the case it is a best practice
Monitoring the status of MV switch gear and important LV
to install a meter with a maximum uncertainty of ± 0.5%,
switches through digital inputs is recommended. Whenever
especially for plants > 100 kWp.
possible, it can also be useful to read and register the
alarms generated by the protection relay control unit via
To allow data acquisition via the monitoring system, it is
communication bus.
recommended to have a meter with two communication bus
ports as well as Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) service from
the Utility or Meter Operator. 10.11. Data collected by specialised PV
For meters that can store historical data it is a best practice
to have a Monitoring System capable of retrieving historical
module field inspections
data to avoid any production data loss in case of Monitoring
System outages. Not all types of data are collected automatically through the
monitoring system. Certain data are collected via on-site
10.10.4. Control settings measurements and field inspections manually or with aerial
inspections.
It is important to monitor all control settings of the plant at
inverter- and grid injection-level (if available). Many plants Solar PV modules are engineered to produce electricity for
apply control settings for local grid regulation (injection 25-30 years and nowadays are being deployed in ever more
management) or optimisation of the market value of the and ever larger solar PV power plants. Quality assurance is
solar PV generation portfolio (remote control). These settings the cornerstone for long-term reliability and maximising
need to be monitored for contractual reporting reasons and financial and energy returns. This makes tracking down the
performance assessment. source of failures once modules have been installed vital.
For that reason, field technical inspections, such as infrared
10.10.5. Alarms (IR) thermography, electroluminescence (EL) imaging and I-V
curve tracing, are being put into practice to assess the quality
As a minimum requirement, the Monitoring System shall

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10 Data and monitoring requirements / continued

and performance of solar PV modules on-site. 10.11.2. I-V curve tracing on-site
Field inspections like these can be part of contractual Measurements of the I-V curve characteristic determine the
Preventive Maintenance tasks or could be offered as power, short-circuit current, open-circuit voltage and other
additional services, triggered by the O&M service provider relevant electric parameters (shunt and series resistance, fill
in cases where, for example, plant underperformance is not factor) of single solar PV modules or strings. The shape of the
clearly understood just by looking at monitoring data. curve provides valuable information for identifying failures
and it also provides a quantitative calculation of power losses.
10.11.1. Infrared thermography (IR) A typical outdoors I-V curve measurement setup consists of
a portable I-V curve tracer. In combination with an irradiance
Infrared (IR) thermographic data provides clear and concise sensor (a reference cell usually) and a thermometer this can
indications about the status of solar PV modules and arrays be used to measure the solar PV modules electrical behaviour.
and are used in both predictive and corrective maintenance. As on-site ambient conditions differ greatly from those in a
Depending on its temperature, every object (e.g., a solar standardised lab, the measured results should be translated
PV module) emits varying intensities of thermal radiation. into STC.
As explained by Max Planck’s theories, this radiation
measurement can be exploited for the determination of the 10.11.3. Electroluminescence (EL) imaging on-site
actual temperature of objects. Thermal radiation – invisible
to the human eye – can be measured using an infrared EL images are typically taken of every module when leaving
camera and is presented in the form of a thermal image. If the factory production line and are a very useful baseline for
abnormalities in solar PV modules occur, this typically leads to the health of the module before leaving the factory. An EL
higher electrical resistance and thus a change in temperature image will show cell level imperfections and cracks which are
of the affected module or cell. Based on the visual form and invisible to the naked eye. EL imaging can be used on-site to
quantifiable temperature differences over the thermal image better understand module quality post installation as well as
of a solar PV module, abnormalities such as hotspots, inactive further investigation following the identification of anomalies
substrings or inactive modules can be identified. by thermography.

For thermographic data to be usable, a number of minimum During the EL testing a material emits light in response to the
requirements have to be met. Irradiance shall equal a passage of an electric current. This is applied in order to It is
minimum of 600 W/m2 and shall be continuously measured used to check integrity of solar PV modules. Here, a current
on-site, ideally orthogonally to the module surface. Wind flows through the solar PV-active material, and as a result,
speed shall equal a maximum of 28 km/h, cloud coverage electrons and holes in the semiconductor recombine. In this
shall equal a maximum of 2 Okta, and the soiling shall be process the electrons release their energy as light. EL imaging
low. Infrared cameras need to possess a thermal resolution detects the near infrared radiation (NIR), i.e., wavelengths
of at least 320 x 240 pixels and a thermal sensitivity of at between 0.75 and 1.4 µm. The EL is induced by stimulating
least 0.1 K. Best practice is to use a thermal camera with a single solar PV modules or strings with a DC current supplied
resolution of 640 x 512, and a thermal sensitivity of 0.04 K. by an external portable power source. The NIR emissions
Measurements shall be taken at a distance which ensures then are detected by a silicon charge-coupled device (CCD)
that the resolution of the infrared image equals 5 x 5 pixels camera.
per 6” solar PV cell. IEC recommends conducting the aerial
infrared thermography at a Ground Sample Distance (GSD) EL is usually done in a dark environment because the amount
of 3 cm/pixel. Further requirements are to be found in IEC TS of NIR emitted by the solar PV modules is low compared to
62446-3 Part 3: Photovoltaic modules and plants – outdoor the radiation emitted by the background light and from the
infrared thermography. sun. This requires that EL imaging conducted on-site has to
be done during the night, while covering the solar PV modules
Besides PV modules, IR thermography can also be used with a tent, or in a purpose-built mobile test lab. A typical
to inspect other important electrical components of a PV setup consists of a modified single-lens reflex (SLR) camera,
plant, such as cables, contacts, fuses, switches, inverters, a tripod, a portable DC power supply and extension cables.
and batteries. For more information, see IEC TS 62446-3 Additionally, a high pass edge filter at 0.85 µm may be used to
Part 3: Photovoltaic modules and plants – outdoor infrared reduce interfering light from other sources. The resolution of
thermography and IEA-PVPS T13-10:2018 report: review the camera should be at least high enough so that the fingers
on infrared and Electroluminescence imaging for PV Field of the solar cells in the module can be clearly identified. The
applications. noise of the camera output must be as low as possible (lowest
ISO number possible) and the camera should be as steady as
The use of IR thermography alone is sometimes not enough possible in order to avoid blurry images. Exposure times of 15
to reach a conclusive diagnosis on the cause and the impact seconds are common.
of certain solar PV module failures. Therefore, it is usually
combined with the following complementary field tests.

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10 Data and monitoring requirements / continued

10.11.4. Fluorescence imaging the cells with respect to (i) spatial distribution, (ii) intensity
and (iii) spectral shift of the fluorescent light is dependent
UV-Fluorescence imaging is a non-destructive imaging on operation time in the field, climatic conditions, and the
technique for failure analysis of solar PV-modules. The type of encapsulant and back sheet used. Furthermore, the
development of the technique started around 2010 with fluorescence signal depends on the type of defect (micro
first publications in 2012 (Köngtes et al, 2012; Schlothauer cracks in c-Si cells, hotspots, or glass breakage).
et al, 2012; Eder et al, 2017; Muehleisen et al, 2018). UV- Imaging of solar PV modules typically takes less than 60
Fluorescence measurements must be performed in a dark seconds. An example of UV-fluorescence is given in Figure 8.
environment (typically at night) by illuminating the solar PV- The advantages of the technique are that no modifications
modules with UV-light (<400nm). Most encapsulants show are necessary to the solar PV systems and, when used in
fluorescence in the visible region and thus the material’s combination with EL, an evaluation of timelines for various
response can be captured with a photographic camera. instances of damage becomes possible as the fluorescence
Modules do not need to be disconnected or powered during signal is a function of time. New cracks for instance are
this procedure. only visible in EL because there was no time to “bleach” the
fluorescence signal.
The observed fluorescence of the encapsulation above

FIGURE 8. EXAMPLE UV-FLOURESCENCE IMAGES AFTER A SEVERE HAILSTORM, TAKEN FROM W. MUEHLEISEN (2018)

10.11.5. Magnetic Field Imaging (MFI) components have defects that influence the electrical
current distribution significantly, the resulting magnetic field
Magnetic field imaging (MFI) is a new and innovative method also changes. These changes can be detected by MFI and thus
for quantitatively analysing flowing electric currents non- traced back to the defects.
destructively, and without contact.
The underlying physics are very simple: every electric current The fields of application are manifold. In solar PV, defects
generates a magnetic field. A magnetic field sensor creates relevant for the operation of solar modules can be detected
an image of this by being moved over the current-carrying reliably (Lauch et al, 2018; Patzold et al, 2019). These are, for
component. Strength and direction of the electric current can example, broken connectors or ribbons (see Figure 9), missing
be inferred from this. solder joints or defective bypass diodes in the junction boxes
of the modules.
Current-carrying components such as solar cells, modules
or batteries have a characteristic current distribution. If

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10 Data and monitoring requirements / continued

FIGURE 9. LEFT: SCHEMATIC OF 3 BB SOLAR CELL, „X“ INDICATES THE POSITION OF

BROKEN RIBBON; CENTER: BX MAGNETIC FIELD IN 2D REPRESENTATION AND MORE
VISUAL 3D ON THE RIGHT SIDE (LAUCH ET AL, 2018; PATZOLD ET AL, 2019).

The advantages of the measurement technique that it is schedules and thus revenues. Several methodologies exist for
non-destructive, fast, and quantitative (the measurement soiling monitoring, the most basic being human inspections.
signal is proportional to the underlying electric current). A A widely used soiling measurement method is using ground-
disadvantage of using magnetic fields is that the distance to based soiling reference modules consisting of a module
the sample must be in the millimeter range to produce high that remains soiled, a cleaned reference cell, an automatic
quality imaging results. The measurement cannot resolve washing station and measurement electronics. There are
microscopic structures (< 100 µm), yet. several variations using different principles to measure the
effect of soiling. Digital solutions for soiling monitoring that
10.11.6. Soiling measurements are currently under development include the analysis of
satellite imagery with remote sensing techniques, machine
The operational efficiency of modules is affected by soiling intelligence algorithms and statistical methods. Possible
accumulation. Soiling limits the effective irradiance and, soiling analyses include taking a swab of the soil to an analytical
therefore, the output of the solar PV module. Measuring laboratory to determine its nature (diesel soot; pollen; organic
soiling is recommended as it can help optimise cleaning soil; inorganic dust) and the appropriate cleaning solution.

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11 Key Performance Indicators
11. Key Performance Indicators
This section deals with Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), » O&M service provider KPIs, which reflect the performance
which provide the Asset Owner with a quick reference on of the service provided by the O&M service provider. O&M
the performance of the solar PV power plant. The KPIs in this service provider KPIs are both quantitative and qualitative
chapter are divided into the following categories: indicators
» Solar PV power plant KPIs, which directly reflect the
performance of a solar PV power plant. They are » Solar PV power plant/O&M service provider KPIs, which
quantitative indicators reflect solar PV power plant performance and O&M
service quality at the same time

FIGURE 10. OVERVIEW OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF KPIS

PV plant KPIs 0&M Service Provider KPls

directly reflect the performance of the PV power reflect the performance of the service provided by
plant. PV plant KPIs are quantitative indicators: the 0&M service provider. O&M service provider KPls
are both quantitative and qualitative indicators:
» Reference Yield
» Expected Yield » Acknowledgement Time
» Specific Yield » Intervention Time
» Performance Ratio » Response Timew
» Temperature-corrected Performance Ratio » Resolution Time
» Energy Performance Index » Reporting
» Technical Availability (Uptime) » 0&M Service Provider experience
» Tracker Availability » Schedule attainment
» Preventive vs Corrective Maintenance ratio
Being both PV plant KPIs and O&M service provider KPIs

reflect both plant and O&M service provider KPIs measuring at the same time plant performances
and ability of the O&M service provider to keep the PV power plant ready to produce:

» Contractual Availability
» Energy-Based Availability

The O&M service provider (or the Technical Asset Manager) not the only one calculating the KPIs.
is generally responsible for the calculation of the KPIs and
reporting to the Asset Owner, see section 5.1. Technical
reporting.

It is important to underline that the O&M service provider

is not responsible for providing contractual guarantees for
all the KPIs listed in this chapter. For more information on
suggested contractually guaranteed KPIs, see section 12.4.
Contractual guarantees. When there are warranties in place
it is strongly advised that the party liable for the warranties is

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11 Key Performance Indicators / continued

11.1. PV power plant data

The Reference Yield is defined as:
Solar PV power plant data can be split into two groups:
1. Raw data measurements: data obtained directly from 𝐻𝐻𝐻𝐻𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃
𝑌𝑌𝑌𝑌𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟(𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖) =
the solar PV power plant and used for performance 𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆
calculation
2. Solar PV power plant KPIs: using the raw data from the Where:
solar PV power plant to give a more balanced overview of
Yr(i) = Reference Yield for the period i expressed in peak sun hours
its operation
(h) or (kWh/kWp)
11.1.1. Raw data measurements for performance HPOA(i) = Is the measured irradiation on plane of the solar PV array
calculation (POA) for the period i (kWh/m2)
GSTC = The reference irradiance at standard test conditions (STC)
The following is a list of raw data measurements that can be (1000 W/m2)
used to calculate KPIs:
» AC Apparent Power produced (kVA)
» AC Active Power (kW)
11.2.2. Specific Yield
» AC Energy produced (kWh)
» AC Energy metered (kWh) Specific Yield, also called final yield, Yf is the measure of the
total energy generated, normalised per kWp installed, over a
» Reactive power (kVAR)
certain period i.
» Irradiance 6 (reference for the plant or the sub-plants) (W/
m2) Specific Yield is calculated as follows:
» Air and module temperature (Celsius degrees)
» Alarm, status code and duration 𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖
𝑌𝑌𝑌𝑌𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 =
» Outages, unavailability events 𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃0
This is a basic list, and it is non-exhaustive. Where:
Yf(i) = Plant Specific Yield for the period i, expressed in (kWh/kWp)
11.2. PV power plant KPIs or peak sun hours (h)
E(i) = Plant energy production or Plant energy metered for the
Calculated KPIs give a more balanced view of the operation period i (kWh)
of a solar PV power plant as they take into account the P0 = Plant Peak DC power (nominal power) (kWp)
different operating conditions for each plant. Suggestions for
calculated KPIs, along with relevant formulas, can be found This measurement integrates plant output over a chosen time
below. These KPIs can be calculated over different time frame, and since it normalises to nominal power, comparison
periods, but often they are computed on an annual basis. of the production of plants with different nominal power or
When comparing different KPIs or different solar PV power even different technologies (e.g., solar PV, wind, biomass etc)
plants’ KPIs, it is important to be consistent in the period used is possible. For example, the Specific Yield of a solar PV power
in computation. plant can be compared against the Specific Yield of a wind
plant for the purposes of making an investment decision.
11.2.1. Reference Yield Moreover, the Specific Yield of a 5 MWp ground mounted
solar PV power plant can be compared directly to that of a 1
The Reference Yield Yr represents the energy obtainable under MWp double tracker power plant, for example.
standard conditions, with no losses, over a certain period i. It is
useful to compare the Reference Yield with the final system Calculating Specific Yield on the inverter level also allows a
yield (see section 11.2.3. Performance Ratio). direct comparison between inverters that may have different
AC/DC conversion rates or different nominal powers.
Moreover, by checking inverter level Specific Yield within a
plant, it is possible to detect whether an inverter is performing
worse than others.

6 Although irradiance and irradiation are often used as synonyms, they do not express the same physical quantities and should not be used
interchangeably (see IEC 61724-1:2017):
• Irradiance is the power of the sunlight at a specific moment per unit of area, usually expressed in Watt per square meter (W/m2).
• Irradiation is the power of the sunlight integrated over a period of time (e.g., an hour, a day or a year). In other words, irradiation is
the energy per unit of area, calculated as the sum of irradiances over a period of time. It is commonly expressed in kilowatt-hour per
square meter (kWh/m2)

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11 Key Performance Indicators / continued

11.2.3. Performance Ratio (referred to as period j below) and the average temperature
for the period i should be calculated by weighting the mean
PR is a quality indicator of the solar PV power plant. As the temperatures of the time periods j according to Specific Yield
ratio between the actual Specific Yield and the theoretically of this time period7.
possible Reference Yield, PR captures the overall effect of 𝑌𝑌𝑌𝑌𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖
Temperature-corrected PR can be 𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃 𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆0(𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖) =as follows:
defined
solar PV system losses when converting from a nameplate DC 𝛽𝛽𝛽𝛽
𝑌𝑌𝑌𝑌𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟(𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖) × �(1 − 100 × �𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃
rating to AC output. Typically, losses result from factors such 𝑌𝑌𝑌𝑌𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖
as module degradation, temperature, soiling, inverter losses, 𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆0(𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖) = × 100
𝛽𝛽𝛽𝛽
transformer losses, and system and network downtime. The 𝑌𝑌𝑌𝑌𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟(𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖) × �(1 − 100 × �𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀(𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖) − 𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶��
higher the PR is, the more energy efficient the plant is. × 100
PR, as defined in this section, is usually used to report on Where:
longer periods of time according to the O&M contract, such
as month or year. Based on PR, the O&M service provider can PRT0(i) = Temperature-corrected Performance Ratio for the
provide recommendations to the plant Owners on possible period i (%)
investments or interventions. Yi = Plant Specific Yield for the period i, expressed in (kWh/kWp) or
peak sun hours (h)
Performance Ratio is defined as:
Yr(i) = Reference Yield for the period i, expressed in (kWh/kWp) or
𝑌𝑌𝑌𝑌𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓 peak sun hours (h)
𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃 = × 100
𝑌𝑌𝑌𝑌𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 β =Temperature coefficient for P0 that corresponds to the
installed modules (%/°C).
Where:
P0 = Plant Peak DC power (nominal power) (kWp)
PR = Performance Ratio over a year (%)
TMOD(i) =Average measured module temperature for the period i,
Yf = Specific Yield over a year expressed in (kWh/kWp) or weighted according to Specific Yield Yj (°C)
peak sun hours (h)
Tsim = Average module temperature from the simulation for the
Yr = Reference Yield over a year expressed in (kWh/kWp) or period i, weighted according to the Yield of the same period from
peak sun hours (h) the reference simulation.
These definitions are based on (Woyte et al. 2014) in line with ∑𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗=1 𝑌𝑌𝑌𝑌𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗 × 𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀(𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗)
IEC 61724-1:2017 and are common practice. 𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀 =
∑𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗=1�𝑌𝑌𝑌𝑌𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗 �
PR is measured for available times (see section 11.4.1.
Contractual Availability) at the inverter or plant level. Where:
Note that special attention is needed when assessing the PR Yj = Plant Specific Yield for the period j, expressed in (kWh/kWp) or
of overrated plants, where the output of the plant is limited by peak sun hours (h)
the inverter’s maximum AC output. In such situations, and for
the period that overrating takes place, PR will calculate lower TMOD (MEAS(j)= Average measured module temperature for the period
than normal although there is no technical problem with the j (°C)
plant. Stakeholders should be careful assessing PR values
for overrated plants, although the amount of overrating is ∑𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇=1 𝑌𝑌𝑌𝑌𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 × 𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠(𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠)
normally statistically constant or with negligible differences 𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 =
∑𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇=1(𝑌𝑌𝑌𝑌𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 )
on a yearly basis.
Where:
TMODsim(s): Module temperature for the period (s) extracted from
11.2.4. Temperature-corrected Performance Ratio the reference simulation (usually the minimum interval can be
In some situations, such as a commissioning test or solar got from the simulation tool is 1-hour bases)
PV power plant handover from one O&M service provider to Y(s): plant expected yield for the period (s) as extracted from the
another, PR needs to be measured over a shorter period, such reference simulation in (kWh/m2) (usually the minimum interval
as two weeks or a month. In such situations, using a PR formula can be got from the simulation tool is 1 hour basis)
corrected with temperature factor is recommended. This can
help neutralise short-term PR fluctuation due to temperature
variations from STC (25°C). As a best practice, temperature
should be registered with a granularity of up to 15 minutes

7 The temperature-corrected PR calculation is not consistently applied. Therefore, this note clarifies in brief the best practice for calculating
PR using the formulas provided above. There are 2 methods to apply the formula:
• In the time-weighted method, PR is weighted over a period by the time interval. An example would be if the SCADA system provides
data in 1 min / 5min / 10 min average values. PR is then calculated for that 1 min / 5min / 10 min period and the resulting PR values
are then averaged. This method will generally yield higher PR values in the morning, while production is low and lower PR values mid-
day, but with high energy production. Therefore, low PR value are given the same with as the high PR

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11 Key Performance Indicators / continued

Interpreting Performance Ratio higher than inverter AC power (DC/AC ratio higher than
1), as a consequence, during sunny periods the output of
Careful attention needs to be paid when interpreting PR, the plant may be limited by inverter maximum AC output.
because there are several cases where it can provide In such situations, when derating takes place, PR will be
misleading information about the status of the solar PV lower than normal although there is no technical problem
power plant: with the plant – lower PR in high-production periods is in
fact the consequence of a design decision. Stakeholders
should be careful assessing PR values for overrated plants,
Seasonal variation of PR (lower PR in the hot months,
although the amount of derating is normally statistically
higher in colder months)
constant or with negligible differences on a yearly basis.
The calculation of PR presented in this section neglects
the effect of solar PV module temperature on its power. Calculation of PR using GHI instead of POA
Therefore, the performance ratio usually decreases with (misleading higher PR)
increasing irradiation during a reporting period, even
though energy production increases. This is due to an Calculation of the PR using the Global Horizontal
increasing solar PV module temperature that results in Irradiance (GHI) instead of in-plane (POA) irradiance is an
lower efficiency. This gives a seasonal variation, with alternative in situations where only GHI measurements
higher PR values in the cold months and lower values in are available. The PR calculated with GHI would typically
the hot months. It may also give geographic variations show higher values which may even exceed unity. These
between systems installed in different climates. values cannot necessarily be used to compare one
This seasonal variation of PR can be significantly system to another but can be useful for tracking the
reduced by calculating a temperature-corrected PR performance of a system over time and could also be
to STC, which adjusts the power rating of the plant at applied to compare a system’s measured, expected, and
each recording interval to compensate for differences predicted performance using a performance model that
between the actual solar PV module temperature and is based only on GHI.
the STC reference temperature of 25 °C (considering the
temperature coefficient of the modules, given as % of Soiled irradiance sensors (misleading higher PR)
power loss per °C).
Special attention is needed when assessing the PR using
Interpretation of PR for overrated plants (lower PR as data from soiled irradiance sensors. In this case, PR will
designed) present higher values and will give the false impression
that the solar PV power plant is performing better than
Special attention is needed when assessing the PR of expected and even some underperformance issues
overrated plants. In these plants installed DC power is could remain hidden.

11.2.5. Expected Yield Note that Expected Yield is based on past values of irradiation
data. Predicted Yield is based on forecasted data, from day
Expected Yield Yexp(i) is the Reference Yield Yr(i) multiplied ahead and hour ahead weather reports.
by the expected PR and thus expresses the Specific Yield that
has been expected for a certain period i. 11.2.6. Energy Performance Index
Expected Yield can be defined as: The Energy Performance Index (EPI) is defined as the ratio
between the observed Specific Yield Yf(i) and the Expected
Yield Yexp(i) as determined by a solar PV model. The EPI is
𝑌𝑌𝑌𝑌𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒(𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖) = 𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 (𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖) × 𝑌𝑌𝑌𝑌𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟(𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖) regularly recalculated for the respective assessment period
(typically day/month/year) using the actual weather data as
Where: input to the model each time it is calculated. This concept
Yexp(i) = Expected (Specific) Yield for the period i, expressed in was proposed in Honda et al. 2012.
(kWh/kWp) or peak sun hours (h)
𝑌𝑌𝑌𝑌𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖
PRexp(i) = Average Expected Performance Ratio of the plant over 𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 =
the period i, based on simulation with given actual temperature
𝑌𝑌𝑌𝑌exp (i)
and irradiation and plant characteristics. (PRexp simulation Where:
is beyond the scope of the present document but for more EPI(i) = Energy Performance Index for the period i (%)
information on this, see Brabandere et al (2014), Klise and Stein
(2009), NREL (2017), PVsyst (2017) and SANDIA (2017).) Yf(i) = Specific Yield for the period i (kWh/kWp) or (h)

Yr(i) = Reference Yield for the period i (based on past irradiation Yexp(i) = Expected Yield for the period i (kWh/kWp) or (h)
data) expressed in (kWh/kWp) or peak sun hours (h)

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11 Key Performance Indicators / continued

The advantage of using the EPI is that its expected value is when the plant is exposed to irradiation levels above the
100% at project start-up and is independent of climate or generator’s Minimum Irradiance Threshold (MIT). Technical
weather. This indicator relies on the accuracy of the model. Availability is covered extensively in IEC TS 63019:2019.
Unfortunately, there is more than one established model
for calculating the Expected Yield of solar PV systems in Technical Availability is then defined and calculated as:
operation and not all of them are transparent. Therefore, the
use of EPI is recommended mainly for the identification of 𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢 − 𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
performance flaws and comparison of plants. 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡 = × 100
𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢
11.2.7. Technical Availability or Uptime Where:

Technical Availability (or Uptime), Contractual Availability and At = Technical Availability (Uptime) (%)
Energy-based Availability are three closely related indicators Tuseful = period of time with in-plane irradiation above MIT
to measure whether the solar PV power plant is generating (h)
electricity. The latter two KPIs are explained in section 11.4. PV
power plant/O&M service provider KPIs. Tdown = period of Tuseful when the system is down (no
Technical Availability is the parameter that represents the production) (h)
time during which the plant is operating over the total possible
The figure below illustrates the various periods in time
time it can operate, without taking any exclusion factors into
mentioned above.
account. The total possible time is considered as the period

FIGURE 11. VARIOUS PERIODS OF TIME FOR THE CALCULATION OF THE TECHNICAL AVAILABILITY

T total

T usful T (irr<MIT)

T down

Normally, only the time where irradiance is above the MIT is minutes of irradiation and power production data should be
considered and this is noted above as Tuseful,, where Tuseful = taken as a basis if granularity of components remains at the
Ttotal – T(irr<MIT). Typical MIT values are 50 or 70 W/m2. MIT should level of inverter or higher. Anything below the level of inverter
be defined according to site and plant characteristics (e.g. is then captured with the PR calculation presented above.
type of inverter, DC/AC ratio etc).
11.2.8. Technical Tracker Availability or Tracker
Technical Availability should be measured also at inverter Uptime
level. Individual inverters’ Technical Availability At_k should
be weighted according to their respective installed DC power Similar to Technical Availability, Technical Tracker Availability
Pk. In this case, the Technical Availability of the total solar PV is simply a ratio of the useful time compared to the uptime
power plant At_total with a total installed DC power of P0 can be or downtime of the tracker. This measurement is a purely
defined as follows: technical parameter and would not allow for any agreed
exclusions in the availability. To calculate the technical tracker
𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 availability, the following formula can be used:
𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡_𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢 = 100 × �(𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 × )
𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃0
Where: 𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡_𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢 − 𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡_𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡_𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 = × 100
𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡_𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢
At_total = Technical Availability of the plant (%)
Where:
At_k = Technical Availability of the inverter k
At_tracker = Technical Tracker Availability (%)
Pk = Installed DC power of the inverter k
Tt_down = Period when the tracker is down (h)
P0 = Plant Peak DC power (nominal power) (kWp) Tt_useful = Period when the tracker is functional (h)
For the calculation of Technical Availability, typically up to 15

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11 Key Performance Indicators / continued

Tracking Performance Availability dual-axis tracking performance.

Functional failure of a tracker can count as inaccurate, or
out of sync tracking compared to the set point. This failure
can often lead to shading or small performance deviations,
11.3. O&M service provider KPIs
based on the deviation from the sun path. The formula for
the tracker’s performance availability is like the technical As opposed to power plant KPIs, which provide the Asset
availability. T_(t_down) is defined as the period during which Owner with information about the performance of their asset,
deviation of the tracker’s tilt is higher than the accepted O&M service provider KPIs assess the performance of the
deviation angle. This metric can help to improve single-or O&M service

FIGURE 12. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TIME, INTERVENTION TIME, RESPONSE TIME, RESOLUTION TIME

Acknowledgement Intervention time Resolution time

Response time

DETECTING ACKNOWLEDMENT REACHING THE PV FAULT

THE PROBLEM OF THE FAULT PLANT BY TECHNICIAN RESOLVED

The following time KPIs are illustrated in Figure 10. recommendations on Response Time guarantees, see section
12.6. Response Time price adjustment.
11.3.1. Acknowledgement Time
11.3.4. Resolution Time
The Acknowledgement Time (also called Reaction Time) is
the time between detecting the problem (receipt of the alarm Resolution Time (or Repair Time) is the time taken to resolve
or noticing a fault) and the acknowledgement of the fault by a fault, starting from arrival at the solar PV power plant.
the O&M service provider by dispatching a technician. The Resolution Time is generally not guaranteed as resolution
Acknowledgement Time reflects the O&M service provider’s often cannot be fully controlled by the O&M service provider.
operational ability.
11.3.5. Reporting
11.3.2. Intervention Time
It is very important for the O&M service provider to comply
The Intervention Time is the time between the with reporting requirements and reporting timelines. Content
acknowledgment of a fault and the arrival of a service and timing of the reporting is generally agreed by the parties in
technician or a subcontractor at the plant. Intervention Time the Contract agreement. Content of the reporting is expected
assesses the capacity of the O&M service provider, and to be consistent and any change in content or format needs to
how fast they can mobilise and be on site. It is worth noting be explained by the O&M service provider. Delivery of reports
that, in certain cases remote repair is possible, or the O&M per the agreed timeline is an important indicator for reliability
service provider is not able to repair the fault and third-party and process adherence within the O&M service provider’s
involvement is necessary. organisation. See also section 5.1. Technical reporting.

11.3.3. Response Time 11.3.6. O&M service provider experience

The Response Time is the Acknowledgement Time plus An O&M service provider’s experience of working on solar
the Intervention time. Used for contractual purposes, power plants in Jordan can play an important role. The EMRC
minimum Response Times are guaranteed based on fault categorises companies based on their compliance with
classes, classified on the basis of the unavailable power, the EMRC licences and the quality and efficiency of the services
consequent potential loss of energy generation, and the they provide. However, in general there is no universal ratings
relevance of the failure in terms of their safety impact. For system that is applied. It is important that any O&M service

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11 Key Performance Indicators / continued

provider has the appropriate experience and resources to Best practice requires that the ratio of Preventive vs Corrective
perform their tasks effectively on the size of project they are Maintenance is 80/20.
being considered for.

11.3.7. Schedule Attainment 11.4. PV power plant/O&M service

provider KPIs
Schedule Attainment (or Schedule Compliance) is the ability
of the O&M service provider to execute the Preventive
Maintenance schedule within the required timeframes 11.4.1. Contractual Availability
(typically across a period of a week or month).
Contractual Availability is Technical Availability with certain
contractually agreed exclusion factors (see below) applied in
O&M service providers who adhere to the schedule ensure
the calculation; It is used as a basis for evaluating the general
accomplishing as much preventive maintenance and other
Contractual Availability guarantees provided by the O&M
timely corrective work as possible. Schedule Attainment
service provider and included in the O&M Contract. A best
provides a measure of accountability.
practice is a Minimum Guaranteed Contractual Availability of
98% over a year. (For more details on Availability guarantee
Low Schedule Attainment can provide key warning signs to
provided by the O&M service provider, see section 12.5.
the Asset Owner regarding the O&M service provider:
Availability guarantee).
» hat preventive maintenance is not done which will lead to
Contractual Availability is the parameter that represents the
equipment failures over time
time in which the plant is operating over the total possible
» he O&M service provider might not have sufficient time it is able to operate, taking into account the number of
numbers of qualified technical staff to performance hours the plant is not operating for reasons contractually not
maintenance attributable to the O&M service provider (listed below in the
» he O&M service provider systems such as the same section).
management of stores and spares, procurement
processes are not effective Contractual Availability is therefore defined and calculated as:
» here may be high levels of corrective maintenance work –
which could be due to unsolved technical issues 𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢 − 𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 + 𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡 = × 100
Best practice requires > 90%, based on the following formula: 𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢
where:
𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 Ac = Contractual Availability (%)
𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 =
𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 Tuseful = period of time with in-plane irradiation above MIT (h)
× 100
Tdown = period of Tuseful when the system is down (no
production) (h)
Texcluded = part of Tdown to be excluded because of presence
of an excl
11.3.8. Preventive vs Corrective Maintenance ratio
This metric measures the reactive nature of the plant
maintenance work. Asset Owners and AMs prefer a higher
proportion of Preventive maintenance than Corrective
Maintenance. This indicator is based on the actual hours
technicians spend on jobs. The actual hours are measured
regardless of the originally estimated hours of the planners.
When the O&M service provider has control over the
equipment, the O&M service provider decides when to take
certain actions to preserve equipment. When the equipment
has control over the O&M service provider, the equipment
drives the efforts of maintenance. A more reactive plant
environment has more circumstances of the equipment
experiencing problems and causing the O&M service
provider to break the weekly schedule. A more proactive
one experiences few circumstances of sudden equipment
problems interrupting scheduled work.

usion factor (see below) (h)

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11 Key Performance Indicators / continued

The figure below illustrates the various periods in time mentioned above.

FIGURE 13. VARIOUS PERIODS OF TIME FOR THE CALCULATION OF CONTRACTUAL AVAILABILITY 8

T total

T usful T (irr<MIT)

T down

T excluded

Like TechnicalTheAvailability,
Tdown represents Contractual Availability
the whole downtime, is exclusions
before the also the O&M service
are applied. Therefore,provider
Texcluded is ashould
part of Timmediately
down look
in the diagram. In at the root
practice
calculated for you
irradiance often first see that a plant is down (= measurement of Tdown ) and only in the course of troubleshooting one gets the information whether
levels above the MIT and measured cause of the communication loss and resolve it.
you can exclude part of the downtime.
at inverter level. Individual inverters’ Contractual Availabilities
ACk should be weighted according to their respective installed The Asset Owner and the O&M service provider should agree
DC power Pk. In this case the Contractual Availability of the on certain failure situations that are not included (exclusion
total solar PV power plant AcAc total with an installed total DC factors) in the calculation of Contractual Availability.
power of P0 can be defined as follows: Evidence should be provided by the O&M service provider for
any exclusion factor and the reason for excluding the event
𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 must not be due to an O&M service provider fault. Some good
𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡 𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢 = 100 × �(𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 × ) examples for exclusion factors are:
0 𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃

» Force majeure
Where:
Ac_total = Contractual Availability of the plant (%) » Snow and ice on the solar PV modules

Ac_k = Contractual Availability of the inverter k » Damage to the solar PV power plant (including the cables
up to the feed-in point) by the customer or third parties
Pk = Installed DC power of the inverter k who are not sub-contractors of O&M service provider,
P0 = Plant Peak DC power (nominal power) (kWp) including, but not limited to, vandalism
For the calculation of Contractual Availability, typically up to » Disconnection or reduction of energy generation by the
15 minutes of irradiation and power production data should customer or as a result of an order issued to the customer
be taken as a basis if granularity of components remains by a court or public authority
at the level of inverter or higher. Anything below the level of » Operational disruption by grid disconnections or
inverter is then captured with the PR calculation presented disruptions caused by the grid operator
earlier.
» Disconnections or power regulation by the grid operator
As Contractual Availability is used for contractual purposes, or their control devices
any failure time should only begin to run when the O&M service » Downtimes resulting from failures of the inverter or
provider receives the error message. If the data connection MV voltage components (for example, transformer,
to the site was not available due to an external issue that is switchgear), if this requires
beyond the O&M service provider’s responsibility, failure time
should only begin after reestablishment of the link. However, » Technical support of the manufacturer and/or
if the data connection was lost due to the unavailability of the » Logistical support (for example supply of spare parts) by
monitoring system, the failure time should count. In general, the manufacturer

8 The Tdown represents the whole downtime, before the exclusions are applied. Therefore, Texcluded is a part of Tdown in the diagram. In practice
you often first see that a plant is down (= measurement of Tdown) and only in the course of troubleshooting one gets the information whether
you can exclude part of the downtime.

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11 Key Performance Indicators / continued

» Outages of the communication system due to an

external issue that is beyond the O&M service provider’s 𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡_𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢 − 𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡_𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 + 𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡_𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
responsibility. Any failure time only begins to run when 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡_𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 = × 100
𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡_𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢
the O&M service provider receives the error message. If where:
the data connection to the site was not available, failure At_tracker = Technical Tracker Availability (%)
time shall only begin after reestablishment of the link
Tt_down = Period when the tracker is down (h)
» Delays of approval by the customer to conduct necessary
Tt_useful = Period when the tracker is functional (h)
works
Tt_excluded = part of Tt_down to be excluded because of presence of an
» Downtimes for implementation of measures to improve exclusion factor (see above) (h)
the solar PV power plant, if this is agreed between the
parties
11.4.3. Energy-based Availability
» Downtimes caused by the fact that the customer has
commissioned third parties with the implementation of Energy-based Availability takes into consideration that an
technical work on the solar PV power plant hour in a period of high irradiance is more valuable than in a
period of low irradiance. Therefore, its calculation uses energy
» Downtimes caused by Serial Defects on Plant (and lost energy), instead of time, for its basis:
components
𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖
» Depending on the O&M contract, time spent waiting for 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒_𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = × 100
𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 + 𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢(𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖)
some spare parts to arrive can be excluded from the
where:
calculation of Contractual Availability. However, this is not
considered a best practice. Ae(i) = Energy-based Availability for the period i (%)
Eloss(i) = Calculated lost energy in the period i (kWh)
11.4.2. Contractual Tracker Availability
E(i) = Plant energy production or Plant energy metered in the
Like Contractual Availability, Contractual Tracker Availability period i (kWh)
also makes allowance for pre-defined exclusions, like Generally, the Energy Based Availability is used within the
maintenance, panel cleaning, etc. A similar formula is used O&M Contract in the Availability guarantee chapter and the
to the technical availability with provision made for any exclusion factors defined for Contractual Availability tend to
predefined contractual exclusions (see above). The formula apply for Energy-based Availability too.
can be seen below.
The following table provides an overview of different types of
KPIs and their main purposes.

TABLE 6. OVERVIEW OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS AND THEIR PURPOSES

To be
Solar PV O&M monitored Guaranteed
Power service Quantitative Qualitative within in the O&M Usage main purpose
plant KPI provider KPI the O&M contract
contract

Useful during plant designing

Reference Yield O O ✔ O ✔ O
and economic valuation

✔
Useful during plant designing
Expected Yield O ✔ O ✔ O
and economic valuation

✔
Useful during plant designing
Specific Yield O ✔ O ✔ O
and economic valuation

Useful during plant

Performance Ratio ✔ O ✔ O ✔ o life for assessing plant
performance over time
Temperature- Useful FAC and PAC or in other
corrected ✔ O ✔ O ✔ O specific moment in plant life to
Performance Ratio assess plant PR starting point
Useful during plant life for
assessing plant performance
✔
Energy
O ✔ O ✔ O over time, against plant
Performance Index
expected performance
at plant designing

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11 Key Performance Indicators / continued

Useful during plant life

Technical for assessing how much
Availability ✔ O ✔ O ✔ O time, during the time frame
(Uptime) under analysis, the plant is
ready to produce power
Useful during plant life for
Technical Tracker assessing how much time,
Availability ✔ O ✔ O ✔ O during the time frame under
(Tracker Uptime) analysis, the trackers are
functioning properly
Useful during plant operation
for assessing readiness of
the O&M service provider
O
Acknowledgement
✔ ✔ O ✔ ✔ to "realise" (detected by
Time
the monitoring system and
acknowledge by the O&M
service provider) plant failures
Useful during plant operation for
O
assessing readiness of the O&M
Intervention Time ✔ ✔ O ✔ ✔
service provider to reach the
plant once a failure is "realised"
Useful during plant operation
for assessing readiness of the
Response Time O ✔ ✔ O ✔ ✔ O&M service provider from
acknowledging a failure and
subsequently reaching the site
Useful during plant operation
O
for assessing the time used
Resolution Time ✔ ✔ O O ✔
to solve a fault from when
the plant is reached
Useful during plant life for
assessing how much time
✔
Contractual during the time frame under
✔ ✔ O ✔ ✔
Availability analysis, the O&M service
provider keeps the plant
ready to produce power
Useful during plant life for
assessing how much time,
✔
Contractual during the time frame under
✔ ✔ O ✔ ✔
Tracker Availability analysis, the O&M service
provider keeps the trackers
functioning properly
Useful during plant life for
assessing how much energy
✔
Energy Based has been lost due to causes
✔ ✔ O ✔ ✔
Availability attributable to the O&M
service provider, during the
time frame under analysis
Useful during plant operation
Reporting O ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ for assessing reliability
of reporting services

Useful during O&M service

provider awarding/tendering
O
O&M service
✔ O ✔ ✔ O for assessing O&M service
provider experience
provider reliability from a purely
document-based analysis

Useful during O&M Contract

O
Schedule awarding/tendering for
✔ ✔ O ✔ O
Attainment assessing O&M service
provider reliability

Useful during O&M Contract

Preventive
awarding/tendering to
vs Corrective O ✔ ✔ O ✔ O
assess O&M service provider
Maintenance ratio
reliability and effectiveness

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12 Contractual Framework
12. Contractual Framework
This section contains a set of considerations for the six templates in a suite of contracts, designed to be used as a
contractual framework of O&M services for the utility scale package to streamline the procurement of solar projects and
segment, and more specifically, systems above 1 MWp. A make it simpler to aggregate projects using standard terms.
complement to the technical specifications detailed in the Aside from the O&M contract, the other templates include:
previous chapters, the contractual framework described in
this chapter is considered best practice. » Implementation Agreement

Using the O&M template contract developed as part of » Power Purchase Agreement
the Open Solar Contracts suite of template contracts is » Finance Facility Agreement term sheet
recommended. Formerly known as the Global Solar Energy
Standardisation Initiative (SESI) this is a joint effort of the » Supply Agreement
Terrawatt Initiative and the International Renewable Energy » Installation Agreement
Agency (IRENA). SolarPower Europe contributed to the
drafting of the template O&M contract. There are a total of » Asset Management Agreement

FIGURE 14. OVERVIEW OF THE SIX TEMPLATE CONTRACTS DEVELOPED UNDER THE OPEN SOLAR CONTRACTS INITIATIVE

Lender Government Buyer

Finance Implementation Power Purchase

Facility Agreement Agreement

Land Provider
Investor
Asset owner Local Authorities
O&M Service (Project company)
Provider O&M Agreement
Grid Operator

Installation Supply
Agreement Agreement

Installation
contractor Supplier

Copies of each contract and explanatory guidance can be found at the Open Solar Contracts website: [Link].
org.

A common contractual framework for solar PV O&M is plus” element requires, labour rates, equipment markup,
the “fixed price” model for a specified scope of work that overheads and profits to be negotiated in the contract and
can include administrative, operational, and Preventive added to the actual equipment costs incurred in correcting
Maintenance tasks. A “cost plus” element can then be added unexpected problems.
for Corrective Maintenance or additional services. The “cost

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12 Contractual Framework / continued

Aside from the O&M contract, the other templates can » Asset Management Agreement
include: » Interconnection Agreement
» Power Purchase Agreement, Wheeling, or Net Metering
» Insurance Agreements
Agreements
» Land Lease Agreement
» Finance Facility Agreement term sheet
» EPC Agreement and warranties

FIGURE 15. OVERVIEW OF THE TEMPLATE CONTRACTS NEEDED DURING OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF PV PLANTS

Finance Power purchase

Lender Buyer
facilty agreement

O&M service O&M Asset owner Land Lease Land

provider Agreement Project company agreement Provider

EPC service EPC Interconnection Grid

provider Contract agreement Operator

A common contractual framework for solar PV O&M is the “fixed price” model for a specified scope of work that can include
administrative, operational, and Preventive Maintenance tasks. A “cost plus” element can then be added for Corrective
Maintenance or additional services. The “cost plus” element requires, labour rates, equipment markup, overheads and profits to
be negotiated in the contract and added to the actual equipment costs incurred in correcting unexpected problems.

12.1. Contractual Risk Allocation Owner’s interests can be struck by aligning key clauses in the
contract regarding timing, cost and quality of the works, and
market standards. In this regard, the main drivers are:
The O&M contract is a project agreement between the
Asset Owner and the O&M service provider for the purpose
» A detailed list of Ordinary and Extraordinary services to
of managing, operating, and maintaining the solar PV power
be performed by the O&M service provider, both before
plant. The O&M contract, together with the EPC contract,
and after commercial operation of the project. To prevent
is a key document in any project finance transaction. Its
confusion over risk allocation the operator’s obligations
provisions should stem financial risks associated with the
may be defined as general performance requirements
failure of the O&M service provider to keep the solar PV power
and closely linked to performance results
plant operating properly. In general, an O&M contract should
minimise financial risks through appropriate operational risk » Availability or Performance Guarantees: in a power
allocation. Financial risks posed to the Asset Owner from project, performance requirements typically include
operational failures include (i) shortage of actual revenues in availability, output, outages, emissions, and other
comparison with expected ones - displayed in the base case, performance-related standards. Penalties for non-
(ii) inability of the Asset Owner to meet their debt service fulfilment of the performance obligations should also be
obligations to the lenders, (iii) Asset Owner’s liabilities under included. At their most severe, this can mean termination
other agreements with third-parties, including any PPA; and of the O&M contract. These performance guarantees are
ultimately, (iv) the risk of depreciation of the project assets. usually supported by Bonus Schemes and backed-up by
Liquidated Damages (LDs)
As for the EPC contracts, the Asset Owner may choose
between entering into a fully wrapped O&M agreement, » Spare Parts warranties: management and availability
which provides the lenders with a single recourse party for of spare parts is a key aspect of minimising the impact
fulfilment of all obligations and responsibilities in relation of both scheduled and unscheduled outages on the
to the O&M of the Plant. Another option is to have several project's revenue stream
agreements that, together, cover the O&M of the plant. If » O&M service provider’s limited liability in respect of
some of the O&M services are allocated to third-parties under consequential loss, loss of revenue, loss of profit and
different agreements, the Asset Owner should clearly define other financial losses
the obligations and responsibilities of each contractual party
to ensure the absence of risk allocation "gaps".
A balance between the lenders’ demands and the Asset

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12 Contractual Framework / continued

12.2. Scope of the O&M contract - Grid operator interface, grid code compliance
- Maintenance scheduling
Services to be provided by the O&M service provider include: » Management of change (optional)
TAM (either O&M service provider or AM) » Reporting to Technical Asset Manager (in case O&M
Reporting to Asset Owner (referred to in the Open Solar service provider is not the Technical Asset Manager)
Contracts templates as "Monitoring Services", although the
detail is to be determined by the parties) Power Plant Maintenance
» Solar PV power plant Maintenance
- Reporting on solar PV power plant performance
- Preventive Maintenance (which is referred to in the
- Reporting on O&M performance
Open Solar Contracts as "Scheduled Maintenance")
- Reporting on incidents
» Ensuring regulatory compliance - Corrective Maintenance in accordance with
agreed Response Time guarantees (some types of
- Legal requirements for solar PV power plant operation maintenance activities may be beyond the scope of
- PPAs and Interconnection Agreements the contract, for more information, see section 7.2.
- Power generation licence agreements Corrective Maintenance)
- Building permits and environmental permits - Extraordinary Maintenance (generally not included
» Warranty management in the O&M fixed fee but it is advisable that the O&M
» Insurance claims contract includes the rules to prepare the quotation
» Contract management and to execute Extraordinary Maintenance works,
for more information, see section 7.4. Extraordinary
Power Plant Operations
maintenance). In the Open Solar Contracts O&M
» Plant documentation management template, this would fall within "Additional Services".
» Plant supervision
- Performance monitoring and documentation Additional maintenance services (optional, see section
- Performance analysis and improvement 7.5. Additional services). In the Open Solar Contracts O&M
- Issue detection/diagnostics template, this would fall within “Additional Services”
- Service dispatch/supervision
- Security monitoring interface (optional) Below is a non-exhaustive list of Additional services and
» Plant operation general market trends with regards to whether these
Additional services are generally included in the O&M
- Plant controls agreement or not.
- Power Generation Forecasting (optional)

TABLE 7. EXAMPLES FOR ADDITIONAL MAINTENANCE SERVICES AND GENERAL MARKET TRENDS

Additional services General behaviour

Module cleaning Generally included, or as a priced option
Generally included, but need to specify perimetral
Solar PV site Vegetation management vegetation management and management of
maintenance possible environmental compensation measures
Generally, not included and also
Snow or sand removal
generally not easy to provide
Pest control Generally included
Generally included with reference to waste
Waste disposal
generated during O&M activities
Road management Generally not included

General site Generally not included and often caused

Perimeter fencing repair
maintenance by force majeure (i.e.: theft)
Maintenance of buildings Generally not included
Generally not included, these activities are performed
by a separate surveillance and security provider
Maintenance of Security Equipment
in order to have clearly defined responsibilities
(see section 6.9. Power plant security)

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12 Contractual Framework / continued

Generally included since it feeds the periodic

performance reporting to the Asset Owner.
Meter weekly/monthly readings
However, these readings are now generally
automated from the site SCADA system
Data entry on fiscal registers or in
Generally this activity is the responsibility of the AM.
authority web portals for FIT tariff
However, it can be included in O&M scope of work
On-site measurement assessment (where applicable)
String measurements – to the
Generally not included but a price could be
extent exceeding the agreed level
agreed in advance in the O&M contract
of Preventive Maintenance
Thermal inspections – to the
Generally not included but a price could be
extent exceeding the agreed level
agreed in advance in the O&M contract
of Preventive Maintenance

All the services not included in the scope and in the fixed has little influence, beyond vegetation control and module
fee such as Extraordinary Maintenance (see section 7.4. cleaning. Moreover, removing PR as an O&M service provider
Extraordinary Maintenance) and Additional services (see KPI makes power plant handover between EPC and O&M
section 7.5. Additional services) should be regulated within the service providers or between O&M service providers simpler.
contract. A dedicated clause should indicate the procedure Generally, the PR warranties are applied on projects where the
and should include: (i) a proposal by the O&M service provider O&M and EPC service providers are the same company (or an
within a fixed time frame, (ii) a fixed period for the Asset Owner affiliate). Here the O&M service provider carries forward the
to accept it or request modification, (iii) a final approval. Pre- risk of the technology made by its sister company.
agreed tariffs for personnel, machinery renting etc. could be
agreed and a specific table could be attached as Contract Availability guarantees and Response Time price adjustments
Annex. This is provided for in the Open Solar Contract O&M protects Asset Owners from poor performance on the part
template, with reference to "Standard Rates", which can be of O&M service providers. Availability is the KPI that best
pre-agreed for Additional services. reflects an O&M service provider’s service. Thanks to the
Response Time price adjustment, the O&M service provider
Spare Parts Management has to intervene within a pre-agreed timeframe (dependant
(See also Chapter 9. Spare Parts Management) on the fault) when events that effect plant performance
are not covered by the Availability guarantee. Moreover, the
» Spare parts maintenance O&M service provider is obliged to intervene during incidents
» Spare parts replenishment that do not affect performance, referring to good industry
practices in general. A further upside is that it makes the
» Spare parts storage (optional)
transition to a new O&M service provider much smoother
For more information on the specific items in the above and allows Lenders and Owners to pick a service provider
list, please view the respective sections and chapters of the based solely on of quality of services. Availability guarantees
present Guidelines. and Response Time price adjustments avoid burdensome
change management processes resulting from the need to
recalculate the guaranteed PRon the event of a plant handover.
12.3. O&M contract fee
PR warranties are no longer standard in the independent/
As a best practice, O&M services should be provided on a fixed third-party O&M market. However, it is possible to set a PR
fee plus escalation basis. See section 12.11 in this chapter target that, if not fulfilled, can trigger a joint analysis between
which discusses how spare parts management may impact the Asset Owner and the O&M service provider, to identify
on the contract fee. causes and agree on possible corrective actions, including
revamping projects.
12.4. Contractual guarantees
12.5. Availability guarantee
Although some O&M service providers still provide
PR guarantees, recent developments, including the A best practice is a Minimum Guaranteed Contractual
recommendations of the Open Solar Contracts initiative, Availability of 98% over a year at least at inverter level.
show that eliminating PR guarantees and only using Availability For contractual KPI reasons, Availability should be calculated
guarantees and Response Time price adjustments has several at inverter level, on an annual basis. For more information on
advantages. this, see section 11.4.1. Contractual Availability.
PR is to a large extent a result of equipment choice, design and The Availability achieved by the O&M service provider is
construction, over which a (third-party) O&M service provider translated into Bonus Schemes and LDs. For more information

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12 Contractual Framework / continued

on this, see section 12.7. Bonus Schemes and Liquidated Response Time, see section 11.3.3. Response Time.
Damages .
When setting a Response Time price adjustment, periods with
high and low irradiance levels, and fault classes should be
12.6. Response Time price adjustment differentiated. This accounts for the (potential) loss of energy
generation capacity or relevance in terms of safety impact of
The O&M service provider should be obliged to react to alarms the failure.
received from the plant within a certain period, 7 days a week.
This translates in a minimum guaranteed Response Time with An example for response times according to fault classes can
the consequence of an adjustment to the contract price (the be seen below in table 8.
O&M fee) payable to the O&M service provider in the event
of failure to meet the Response Times. For a definition of

TABLE 8. EXAMPLES FOR FAULT CLASSES AND CORRESPONDING MINIMUM RESPONSE TIMES. FAULT
CLASSES AND THE CORRESPONDING RESPONSE TIME GUARANTEES APPLIED EVEN IF THE DURATION OF THE
RESPECTIVE POWER LOSS IS LESS THAN THE CORRESPONDING RESPONSE TIME GUARANTEE, PROVIDED.

Fault class Fault class definition Response time guarantee

The entire plant is off,

Fault class 1 4 daytime hours
100% power loss.

More than 30% power loss or

Fault class 2 24 hours
more than 300kWp down

Fault class 3 0%-30% power loss 36 hours

In case an equipment replacement is needed, the O&M service 12.7. Bonus Schemes and Liquidated
provider should commit to doing this within 8 business
hours from the end of the Response Time, if the spare part Damages (LDs)
is included in the portfolio of minimum spare parts list. If the
spare part is not included in the minimum spare parts list, the The Availability guarantees provided by the O&M service
O&M service provider should commit to ordering the spare provider can be translated into Bonus Schemes and LDs.
part within 8 business hours from the end of the Response The Bonus Scheme concept is referred to in the Open Solar
Time and to carrying out the replacement as soon as possible. Contract O&M template as the "Availability Bonus". These
In case the fault cannot be fixed by the O&M service provider ensure that the Asset Owner is compensated for losses due to
and the equipment supplier's intervention is required, the lower-than-guaranteed Availability and that the O&M service
following actions are necessary: provider is motivated to improve their service to achieve
higher Availability. Higher Availability usually leads to higher
- If the intervention requires spare parts beneath the power generation and an increase of revenues for the Owner.
O&M cost responsibility (see section 12.11. Spare Hence, the Bonus Scheme agreements lead to a win-win
Parts Management), the O&M service provider may situation for both parties and ensures that the O&M service
proceed without separate approval (insurance provider is highly motivated. The Open Solar Contracts O&M
aspects to be considered) template provides for a list of "Excusable Events".
Since the O&M service provider’s responsibility are the O&M
- If the costs exceed the budget limit mentioned above, works for the solar PV asset, they should be exempted from
the O&M service provider should communicate the other influencing factors like force majeure events, grid
issue in writing to the Asset Owner within 8 business operator activities to reduce the plant output, grid instability,
hours from the end of the Response Time or offline periods, and any related LDs. (See exclusion factors
Force Majeure events are excluded from Response Time in section 11.4.1. Contractual Availability.)
obligations.
In the Open Solar Contracts O&M template, failure to comply An example for Availability Bonus Schemes and LDs can be
with a Response Time guarantee by more than five business found below:
days entitles an Asset Owner to terminate the O&M contract.
» Bonus Schemes: if the measured availability exceeds the
Minimum Guaranteed Availability, the additional revenue
will be divided between the Asset Owner and the O&M

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12 Contractual Framework / continued

service provider per previously agreed shares. In this set out in the O&M Services Schedule. A detailed description
case additional revenue should be calculated against of the O&M scope items ensure clarity on what the O&M
the expected annual revenue in the base case scenario. service provider will do during the term of the contract. In
Targets for overall plant production constitute minimum addition to the Scope of work, the Annual Maintenance Plan
thresholds for bonuses (AMP) and Annual Maintenance Schedule (AMS) (please
refer to attachment “Annual Maintenance Plan”) outline the
» Liquidated Damages: if the Minimum Guaranteed granularity and frequency of (predominantly) Preventive
Availability is less than the measured availability, all the Maintenance works. The execution of the activities should
revenue lost due to the availability shortfall should be be regularly reported to the Asset Owner– this forms the
reimbursed to the Asset Owner by the O&M service minimum requirements. Best practice in reporting is to
provider. In this case revenue lost should be calculated compare the executed activities with the AMP and AMS, and
against the expected annual revenue in the base case outlines deviations and reasoning.
scenario. This is usually invoiced by the Asset Owner to
the O&M service provider Corrective Maintenance activities performed in cases
» Bonuses can be offset against LDs and vice versa of component failure or energy generation shortfall, are
controlled by performance commitments signed by the O&M
» The amount of yearly LDs should be capped at 100% of service provider. In the Open Solar Contracts O&M template,
the O&M annual fee. Reaching this cap usually results these are set out as "Corrective Maintenance Services".
in termination rights for the Asset Owner and the O&M Moreover, the Availability Guarantee and Response Time price
service provider. In the Open Solar Contracts O&M adjustment explained in section 12.4. Contractual Guarantees
template, the right is only given to the Asset Owner of the present chapter also represent a level of accountability
for the O&M service provider.
12.8. Service standards
12.11. Spare Parts Management
The O&M service provider must act in accordance with all laws,
authorisations, good industry practice, planning consents, Generally, the O&M service provider is responsible for the
manufacturer's warranties and operating manuals, and to the management and storage of the Initial Spare Parts supplied
standard of a reasonable and prudent operator. Compliance by the EPC service provider and shall promptly replenish the
with adequate H&S standards, is also a critical requirement Initial Spare Parts when used. The O&M service provider shall
and expectation within the standard of the services. be responsible for the procurement, subject to the agreed
upon cost plus rates, management and storage of all spare
The Asset Owner should be entitled to instruct a third-party parts required for the performance of the O&M services. The
to provide any services that the O&M service provider cannot O&M service provider should enforce all assigned warranties
at the O&M service provider’s cost. This entitlement should to ensure that spare parts, covered in the Assigned warranties,
only be triggered if the O&M service provider fails to follow a are promptly replenished in a timely manner.
corrective maintenance programme.
It is recommended that the O&M service provider regularly
12.9. O&M service providers’ qualification reviews the required quantities and inventory of spare parts
and ensures that it is supplemented and promptly replenished,
subject to the agreed upon cost plus rates, to comply with
The O&M service provider must have the means, skills
prudent O&M Practices.
and capabilities to operate and maintain the plant in
accordance with the contractual obligations. Experience and
In normal circumstances, the cost of replenishing spare parts
professionalism, H&S capabilities, skilled teams, and access
will be borne by the Asset Owner. However, if spare parts are
to spare parts are criteria for the selection of the O&M service
used to remedy a situation in which the O&M service provider
provider. As O&M services are a combination of remote
has been negligent, they shall bear the cost of replenishing
operations services and local maintenance activities, the
the inventory.
Asset Owner should make sure that both components are well
managed and interfaces between the two are well defined.
There should be a components, materials, and spare parts
This is especially important should the O&M service provider
defects warranty for 12 months from the date of installation,
subcontract any aspect of the work, as each entity will need
which should continue to apply even after expiry or
to be held accountable for the overall O&M performance.
termination of the O&M contract.
For more information on Spare Parts Management, see the
12.10. Responsibility and accountability Chapter 9. Spare Parts Management.

The responsibility of the O&M service provider is usually

defined in the Scope of work, which forms a part of the O&M
contract. In the Open Solar Contract O&M template, this is

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12 Contractual Framework / continued

Power plant remote monitoring the measured data.

The O&M service provider should operate and maintain
the monitoring system according to the grid operator 12.12. Reporting
requirements .
The O&M service provider will also make sure that performance Reporting should be done periodically, as contractually agreed
monitoring and reporting is operated and maintained between the O&M service provider (the Technical Asset
according to the monitoring specifications and best practices Manager) and the Asset Owner. The Asset Owner should have
(see Chapter 10. Data and monitoring requirements). the right to contest the report within a certain timeframe.
The Asset Owner has the right to carry out the verification of For more information on industry best practices regarding
the metering system to evaluate and control the exactness of reporting, see section 5.1. Technical reporting.

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13 Innovationsand
13. Innovations andtrends
trends
O&M service providers are under increasing pressure to do Traditional monitoring systems generally consist of on-site
more with less. Increasing human resource efficiency through data loggers that collect electrical data from devices installed
the use of data-driven and Industry 4.0 techniques are key on the PV plant inverters, strings, meters, and weather data
themes for O&M as the industry works to reduce the number from meteorological stations. Management software enables
of human interventions and embraces digitisation. remote performance management, data visualisation, basic
The following chapter lists important technology areas being KPI calculations, reporting, and alarm and ticket management.
developed by several innovative industry service providers. These systems, used on their own, commonly fail to detect the
Many of these new technologies are becoming close to root causes of underperformance. The industry is therefore
mainstream adoption, others are in early-stage development. rapidly moving towards the adoption of ‘smarter’ solutions
based on advanced data mining techniques.
Data mining is the process of digging through data to discover
13.1. Smart PV power plant monitoring hidden connections and predict trends. Sometimes referred
and data-driven O&M to as "knowledge discovery in databases," the term "data
mining" was not coined until the 1990s. Its foundation is
Purpose and description comprised of three intertwined scientific disciplines:

FIGURE 16. DATA MINING FOUNDATIONS. ADAPTED FROM: [Link]

Machine Algorithms that can learn from

Learning Data to make predictions

Process of digging through data

Data Mining to discover hidden connections and predict
future trends

Artificial
Intelligence Statistics The numeric study of data relationships

Human-like intelligence displayed

by software and/or machines

State of play 13.2. Advanced aerial thermography

Although data mining is not a new discipline, its capabilities
are now being unleashed due to the potential of big data and Purpose and description
increasingly affordable computing power and storage. Its The general functionality of thermographic data has already
potential to enable O&M service providers to move beyond been outlined in section 10.11.1. Infrared thermography. While
manual, time-consuming practices to quick, easy and thermographic inspections have become well established as
automated data analysis is now becoming more tangible a tool in preventive and corrective maintenance scheduling,
(source: SAS, 2018). the amount of effort and costs involved in gathering data

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13 Innovations and trends / continued

from a site are stumbling blocks to wider use. and 3D modelling of the entire plant may be offered. Some
Using thermographic cameras mounted on drones or other solutions provide additional sensors to record weather
purpose-modified piloted aircraft, instead of handheld variables (usually irradiance and ambient temperature) during
devices, the operator flies over the PV modules to capture the flyover.
thermographic images or videos. This data is then analysed
Post-processing
to create inspection reports which can be used to identify
preventive and corrective maintenance tasks. If deployed The post-processing activities consists of all the data
properly, aerial thermography can bring several operational processing and analysis techniques to produce the final
and financial advantages. report and all the related deliverables. These activities can
be done manually or automatically by means of specialised
Data acquisition
software.
In this stage a flyover is performed where raw thermographic The activities comprised in this stage can be thought of as
infrared (IR) images and visual photos or videos are recorded. serial list of subtasks described in the following table.
Depending on the solution additional geolocation services

TABLE 9. AERIAL IR THERMOGRAPHY – POST-PROCESSING SUBTASKS. SOURCE: BAYWA R.E.

Post-processing
Description
subtask
Manual or automated location of the PV modules inspected. Layout recreation with
Geolocation of PV modules
precise geolocation down to individual module ID or even to module’s serial number.
Manual or automated detection of thermal anomalies, where the exact position
Thermal anomalies
of each affected PV module is identified on the plant’s layout. Minimum
detection and classification
requirements for this analysis can be found in IEC TS 62446-3:2017.
Diagnosis and root-cause analysis of PV module failures. This is where the link
between thermal anomaly and PV module failure is done (warning: not all the
PV module failure analysis
thermal anomalies may be considered failures). Temperature differences should
be projected to nominal irradiance in accordance with IEC TS 62446-3:2017.
Basic or advanced data treatment to describe the impact of failures in the PV
Data analytics plant. e.g. degradation trends, failure distribution by harm degree and by module
manufacturer; power losses assessment and impact on revenue, etc.
Actions needed to minimise yield losses based on defect criticality.
Maintenance
It can be seen as a list of recommendations that can be directly
implementation plan
translated into preventive or corrective field operations.
Usually as a cloud-based platform, it’s where the results of previous inspections
Inspections follow-up
can be easily compared with new ones, e.g. year-to-year power degradation.
Report created manually or automatically. In most cases the report
is tailored to the customer’s needs and requirements. It contains the
Reporting
summary of the findings and additionally, depending on the provider, it
could contain some calculations of estimated power losses.

The data acquisition stage is now well understood as drone expensive, meaning their use on individual sites makes less
technology matures. There are already many companies sense.
that offer high-quality industrial aerial flights. Therefore,
the data acquisition stage is an activity that could be easily Most companies today still rely on manual data processing,
outsourced by O&M service providers, mitigating the risks which represents a big drawback for large portfolios as
related to technology obsolescence and avoiding the costs of human-error drives down the accuracy of thermal imaging
regular drone maintenance. assessments. This means that companies with automated
There are some companies which utilise specially modified solutions have a huge advantage in this regard.
piloted aircraft in lieu of drones for inspections of large sites
and portfolios. These systems have advantages of much Aerial inspections and their associated post-processing
faster capture times (up to 1.5MW/hr) while maintaining activities are evolving very rapidly, and the quick adoption of
high resolution due to the higher quality of cameras which new technologies is of high strategic importance in today’s
can be used. The disadvantage of them is that they are more highly competitive O&M market.

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13 Innovations and trends / continued

Pilots As with any form of thermography, the inspection method is

limited by meteorological conditions: For the inspection data
Any aerial thermography or other PV module and plant
to be of value, a minimum radiation of 600 W/m2 is required.
monitoring application involving drones or piloted aircrafts
For drone inspections, for the RPA to be controlled safely, and
must be carried out by an operator licensed under FAA 107.
depending on the type of RPA used, wind speeds should not
Before any such operations can take place, each flight must
exceed 28 km/h, cloud coverage should not exceed 2 Okta,
be thoroughly planned from a logistics, regulatory and safety
and soiling should be low. A best practice is to conduct the
perspective, and a comprehensive on-site risk assessment
inspection with an ambient temperature of 24 °C and above.
conducted, with findings recorded in a flight log. In addition to
the collected inspection data, each flight should also be fully State of play
recorded in terms of date, time, wind speed and direction and
The demand for IR inspections is growing fast, as is the range
battery levels.
of services offered by new players in the market, who are now
Flight Permits pushing aerial inspections beyond basic reporting. Advanced
aerial inspections, understood as semi-automated or fully
Before taking off on any flight in Jordan, the drone operator
automated solutions are being put into practice for both IR
must obtain permission from the Civil Aviation Regulatory
inspection stages, data acquisition and post-processing.
Commission (CARC). To qualify, the drone operator must
Aerial thermography is becoming a widely accepted and
be at least 21 years old and possess the relevant training or
employed tool of inspection in corrective maintenance
qualifications set by the authorities. Additionally, the drone
worldwide. Given the price drop in equipment (of both
operator must have insurance and adhere to basic flight rules
drones and thermographic cameras), it will become even
to operate drone in Jordan.
more widespread. Further innovation is to be expected in
The drone operator must always:
autonomously controlled drones as well as data analysis
» Fly below the maximum altitude of 121 meters and at a
using Artificial Intelligence.
maximum range of 500 meters from the take off site
If deployed properly, aerial inspection could become a
» Keep a safe distance from private property, moving cornerstone technology for effective O&M.
vehicles, people, and large crowds, and respect
individuals’ privacy
13.3. Automated plant performance
» Ensure a maximum flight duration of three hours diagnosis
» Fly a drone that weighs less than 25 kg, has electric
motors, and is equipped with geofencing and electronic Purpose and description
identification Plant performance assessment is typically executed using
» Stay away from airports (or any other location where a top-down approach, analysing low performing objects by
aircraft or helicopters take off or land) and make way for drilling down from substations, and inverters to junction
all other types of aircraft boxes and strings. This process is time consuming and expert
dependent. Furthermore, the process does not guarantee
» Stay away from areas where drone use could jeopardize revealing all underperformance issues.
the work of law enforcement or first responders Automated bottom-up diagnosis using advanced big data
» Avoid areas deemed sensitive, such as government or mining techniques can overcome the disadvantages of
military facilities classic plant performance assessment by experts, namely,
the difficulty of expertly handing data, and the likelihood or
With the advent of aerial inspections, resources required for error in performance diagnosis.
data collection can be significantly reduced. High-quality
IR images captured by an aerial platform and their proper However, there are some key disadvantages to automated
post-processing allow for a detailed PV module failure plant performance diagnosis. The principal drawback is
analysis that could trigger conclusive maintenance decisions. around scaling up the use of the technology. Currently it is
Furthermore, field interventions can be optimised, and PV very expensive to implement. This would not be an issue if
plant underperformance can also be better understood and the technology could be applied across a portfolio of solar PV
addressed (e.g. faulty modules that need to be replaced can power plants. However, there is a lack of uniformity amongst
be identified with precision and high-quality IR images can SCADA systems, meaning that information and learning are
be used as proof in warranty claiming processes). Aerial difficult to transfer between sites. Coupled with this, the
thermography reduces the inspection time and the number current lack of in-house expertise in O&M companies means
of personnel on site. For instance, using this method, a 15 external service providers would be required to implement
MWp PV plant can be inspected in a single day. Additionally, the system, driving up costs. Finally, the remoteness of some
since images are taken from the air, the data yields a helpful sites can cause communication issues, impacting the value
overview to check whether plant layout and other documents of fully automated plant performance diagnosis.
are correct.

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13 Innovations and trends / continued

State of play way. Further R&D into this subject area serves to make
the algorithms more robust for automated application on
Big data mining algorithms have been successfully applied
large portfolio’s and bringing them to root-cause failure
to solar plant data and have proven to reveal performance
identification.
issues beyond top-down expert analysis in a semi-automated

FIGURE 17. AUTOMATED PLANT PERFORMANCE DIAGNOSIS BY ACHIM WOYTE, 3E

ion
imizat
Value

Opt

lt
Fau sis da tion
diag n o
om men
Rec resight
lt
Fau sis
Fo
n o
diag
ght
sis Insi
naly tion
rma
A
Info ight
State of the art is somewhere here
s
Hind

Conplexity
13.4. Predictive maintenance for find the optimal cost to benefit balance between maintenance
optimised hardware replacement interventions. These models count on the probability of
failure of each component of the solar PV system and the
impact of that failure on the entire system. For example, the
Purpose and description actual lifetime of solar PV inverters under different operating
Preventive Maintenance occurs periodically according conditions is still uncertain. In practice, inverters will not
to contractually agreed schedules and based on expert fail in a predictable way, after a certain period of time, as
knowledge. In addition, Preventive Maintenance may be usually modelled in business plans. Moreover, failure-based
scheduled when the operator identifies an unexpected maintenance i.e., replacing inverters as they fail may not be
deviation in performance through the monitoring system. the most efficient solution.
Different maintenance optimisation models are employed to

FIGURE 18. PREDICTIVE MAINTENANCE FOR OPTIMISED HARDWARE REPLACEMENT

4.0

3.5

3.0

2.5

2.0

1.5 Optimal replacment

cycle for predictive
1.0 maintenance

Cost per time unit under

0.5 the optimal age-based
replacement policy
0.0
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Year ?
Time

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13 Innovations and trends / continued

A good predictive monitoring system could help with State of play

assessing the optimal hardware replacement cycle by
The prediction of PV production is becoming an essential
modelling the uncertainty in the time-to-failure with a known
tool to capture economies in a market with large penetration
probability distribution function. Maintenance optimisation
of variable renewable energy sources. Expected PV yield
models use the output of root cause analyses and remaining
output accounting for specific PV plant simulation model
useful lifetime analyses to predict future asset failures. This
and forecasted meteorological resource is a well proven
can be used to optimise planning of maintenance and related
technology. Algorithms that can match weather forecasts
resource allocation.
with PV plant characteristics to predict energy production on
an hourly basis for up to 48 hours ahead are already playing an
Big data analytics can bring added value at any stage of O&M
important role in the monitoring software market.
objectives: analysis from observation of collected information,
fault detection, fault diagnosis, and optimisation through
The market is increasingly requesting advanced intra-day
recommendations issued from the advanced monitoring
correction of energy production forecasts at sub-hourly
system. Today different approaches are proposed. Whereas
resolution, that also consider actual PV plant conditions
classic Artificial Intelligence (AI) proposes an advanced
like remote curtailment, broken inverters, local losses, etc.
diagnostic through knowledge-based models, unsupervised
Therefore, long, and short-term data collection constitute an
and supervised learning methods offer different approaches
added value to improve PV plant yield forecasting.
(e.g., neural networks) using statistics.
A clear communication protocol between devices in the
The advantages of these Predictive Maintenance optimisation
field (sensors, modules, inverter, loggers, etc.) would help to
models are that they lower the cost of maintenance by
improve the intra-day forecasting and better exchange with
scheduling it more effectively. The diagnostic element of the
the energy grid. A comprehensive exchange of information
models also helps to reduce plant downtime. However, the
between the devices can be used by the simulation model to
methods are sensitive to device models and brands, making
compute performance expectations. This can be achieved by
them hard to generalise.
a trained machine learning system where the operator can
set, review, and validate specific conditions. In this frame, a
State of play proper standardization of terminology and languages used
by any communicating device onsite is crucial. The topic of
Today, no model has been proven to be completely reliable.
Internet of Things and its application to PV is addressed in the
Big-data analysis allows easy recognition of a fault and, in
following section.
some cases, provides a clear diagnosis and recommendations
on the short-term actions to take to avoid probable upcoming
issues. The trend is to model the behaviour of the entire 13.6. Internet of Things (IoT) and auto-
system and to plan optimal maintenance and hardware
replacement programs in the medium to long term. This will
configuration
of course reduce the overall risk of a solar PV project and
hence increase investment attractiveness. Purpose and description
Internet of Things (IoT) in solar PV systems represents an
interoperability environment where all devices in the field are
13.5. PV plant yield forecasting connected to each other and show themselves as available
to be connected to the system. This can improve integrated,
Purpose and description secure communication and efficiency. Each connecting
Electricity generation from PV plants is limited by the varying device should provide the following information:
availability of the sun’s radiation. The growing penetration - Device parameters (brand, type, Serial Number, internal
of PV may force new regulations to always guarantee grid datasheet specifications)
stability and the correct balancing of electricity supply and - Device status and conditions (operational status,
consumption, causing unpredictable losses to plant owners temperature, etc.)
(curtailment). - Connection with other devices & mapping (strings
connected, inverter, sensor position, etc.)
Ramp-rate control with and without local storage is currently
being explored to mitigate the impact of fast irradiance - Any other relevant information
fluctuations on power system stability. Approached from the Standardisation efforts (e.g., SunSpec Alliance’s Orange
generator side, large PV plants could also contribute to power Button initiative) are taking place throughout the solar PV
system stability by providing upward or downward reserves. market and will help to improve on configuration costs for
Technically, this is possible; however, particularly the provision solar monitoring. However, the solar monitoring industry will
of upward reserves will reduce the overall performance of also benefit heavily from the emerging Internet-of-things
the plant in question. The business case for such operation technologies that further improve plug-and-play behaviour of
modes will depend on the incentives available for deviating device communication, improve the quality and the security
from the objective of maximum energy yield. of the communication, and reduce the cost of hardware.

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13 Innovations and trends / continued

State of play information can be listed and searched for when the need
occurs.
There are several advantages to this technology. Principally,
it can reduce the costs of monitoring hardware and
Both technical and contractual documentations, including
infrastructure. Similarly, it eases the configuration and
device replacement, scheduled maintenances, operators
maintenance of monitoring systems, whilst improving the
contacts, calendar of operations, intervention reports, should
quality and stability of data. It also provides for improved
be tagged and electronically stored using a standardised
secure communications.
terminology. This will facilitate their retrieval and updates as
well as operation management or transition of a plant to a
However, there is a risk that existing hardware and monitoring
new O&M service provider.
equipment will not be compatible with the new technology,
resulting in expensive hybrid solutions until it becomes more
Additionally, the selected DMS should allow a suitable user
mainstreamed.
management system that will automatise the exchange and
security of sensitive documents between stakeholders.
Many Internet-of-Things (IoT) technologies have passed the
prototype phase and are available for massive deployment.
The idea of meta-tagging documentation allows any
However, many different technological solutions and
document to be tagged with different criteria. This way any
approaches are still available in the market and no final best
piece of information can be stored over multiple time areas,
practice approach has emerged.
assets, records or any relevant criterium. The-meta tagging
allows the user or the applications to filter information on
Again, this leads to a standardisation issue for industry-wide
relevant criteria only. For example, only pictures from a certain
adoption of Internet-of-Things technology within the solar
period, or only plans from a defined equipment type. This way
industry and as such benefits from its advantages will be
of meta tagging also avoids the need for documents to be
reduced when considering solar PV on a larger scale.
copied or stored in multiple locations.

13.7. Future best practices in document State of play

management systems In terms of technological readiness and market uptake, digital
DMS solutions using meta-tags and full-text search are
Purpose and description already existing and adopted by some Asset Managers and
Asset contractual and technical documentation as described O&M service providers. This technology could become soon
in today’s Best Practices can be handled either physically or a best practice, though the standardisation of document
electronically, as far as the employed Document Management tagging in the solar industry is not yet implemented.
System (DMS) keeps all documents ready consultation by or Document recognition and meta-tag autofilling is already
transfer to relevant stakeholders. The inventory of technical available on most documents including some scanned file
documentation linked to a portfolio of plants can become types via OCR (Optical Character Recognition). At a next level,
very complex, especially in an era where the European solar image recognition and auto-tagging would save operational
sector is moving towards a secondary market. Considering time.
the number of documents to be stored and exchanged per
plant, the increasing number of stakeholders that should have
free access to a subset or the totality of the documentation, 13.8. Retrofit coatings for PV modules
the physical exchange and storage of files becomes nearly
impossible to be maintained without a proper quality process.
13.8.1. Anti-soiling coatings
Electronic document management and storage is thus
becoming a best practice within the Solar industry.
Purpose and description
At the same time, the use of meta-tags instead of a classical Solar cells, just like human eyes, need a clean field to function
tree structure is a technique of filing that is becoming more properly. Deposits and particles covering the surface of PV
widespread where asset documentation can be considered panels, like soiling, staining, dirt and grime, leaves, pollen, bird
as relevant to different stakeholders or belonging to droppings, lime-scale and other environmental or industrial
different portfolios. The use of meta-information and their pollutants, prevent solar radiation from reaching the cells
standardisation under a common nomenclature is seen as of PV modules and inevitably the efficiency and the optimal
the next best practice, especially to facilitate the contractual function of the solar system is reduced.
management of big portfolios and the maintenance
operations. Soiling influences the levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) in
two ways: by leading to an O&M cost (periodic cleaning), and
Next to meta-tagging documents with additional information, by reducing the energy produced from 1%-10% in normal
making any document (scan, word, xls, mail, etc.) full text cases and up to 80% in extreme situations. In general, the
searchable adds to the best practices to make sure that all presence of dirt or any other particles on the module surface

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13 Innovations and trends / continued

has an impact on the anti-soiling properties; specific coating layer has typically a thickness of 120-150nm and can be
products with anti-soiling properties which also provide anti- applied on the module surface through special equipment,
reflective performances have been developed in the last commonly named “applicator”, or via spray. Both technologies
years. provide different results in terms of layer uniformity, thickness
and performance. The more controllable is the coating
Modules treated with anti-soiling coatings get dirty less process the better will be the final result.
quickly and are easier to clean and therefore maintain higher
performance levels for longer, reducing the amount of module ARC is based on a silica-gel solution that is applied on the
cleaning necessary and increasing yield by up to 3%. module surface. Once applied, the solution become a solid
layer after a period of curing. Tests executed with mechanical
Some anti-soiling coatings can also be used to restore application show power gain in the range of 3%-5%. An
corroded PV module surfaces. Most anti-soiling coatings are additional point to be considered when it comes to ARC
relatively easy to use so that they can be applied by the O&M retrofit technology is the durability of the coating layer. A good
service provider. ARC should last for at least 5 years with a physiological yearly
degradation that shouldn’t reduce the coating properties
When it comes to applying coatings to already installed more than 30% from its original performance.
modules in general, the O&M service provider should carefully
evaluate possible consequences for PV module warranties Retrofit anti-reflective coatings can increase module output
and for any incentive or tariff schemes. in the field by up to 3-4%. In some cases, pilot tests have
Retrofit anti-soiling coatings are a layer applied on the surface shown energy gains up to 5%.
of the modules that in principle don’t affect the properties
of the glass surface and that can be removed if needed for When it comes to applying coatings to already installed
warranty purposes. modules in general, the O&M service provider should carefully
evaluate possible consequences for PV module warranties
State of play
and for any incentive or tariff schemes. An ARC, if applied
There are already various commercially available anti-soiling properly through a mechanical application specifically
coatings that can be applied on PV modules that have already developed for the purpose, does not damage the module
been installed. New solutions are also being developed – surface. A new generation of modules has an ARC applied
some of which outperform older anti-soiling coatings or during the manufacturing process. A coating supplier that
even anti-reflective coatings in terms of power gain. The new performs ARC properly should be able to provide the client
generation of retrofit anti-soiling coatings are mostly based specific warranties (e.g. product liability insurance).
on spray technologies but some anti-soiling coating suppliers
State of play
are developing specific solutions for desertic areas that are
applied via mechanical systems. There are already commercially available anti-reflective
coatings that can be applied in a retrofit manner. Other
13.8.2. Anti-reflective coatings products are currently being developed and tested to
substantiate the applicability of the solution on a large scale
Purpose and description and data will be collected from different locations.
Reflection losses are one of the first loss factors occurring in
“Mature” ARC technologies which has been tested for
the energy flow when converting sunlight to electricity via the
years are already available. They provide reliable results
PV power plant.
both in terms of durability and overperformance. This
coating solution is based on a mechanical application via a
New anti-reflective coatings (ARC) that can be applied directly
controlled process that involves pre-coating measurements,
via a ‘retrofit’ method onto PV modules already installed in
quality control during the coating process and post-coating
the field. Applied to the surface of the panels, these coatings
measurements. For this purpose, sophisticated equipment
reduce the reflection and thereby the losses due to reflection
such as spectrometers, able to measure the variation (%) of
resulting in a higher energy output.
reflection before and after the coating process, are needed.
The market provides a wide offer of such devices and with
Innovative new coatings specifically engineered for
prices in the range of 5-9k EUR, but not all spectrometers are
aftermarket application are based on the same technology
good for ARC applications.
platform as the leading anti-reflective technology for new
modules. These coatings reduce the amount of light reflected
off the glass, allowing more light to travel through to the solar
cell and to be converted into electricity.

An ARC works by providing an incoming photon with a very

gradual transition from air to glass. It does this by varying
the porosity of the material from very high at the coating-air
interface to very low at the coating-glass interface. An ARC

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14 O&M for PV power plants with
14. O&Mstorage
for PV power plants with storage
Energy Storage Systems (ESS) are a set of technologies require replacement. There are application specific standards
that aim to decouple energy generation from demand. They for the percentage of remaining capacity (e.g. 70% of initial
allow for excess electricity to be “stored” and released during capacity) that trigger a replacement.
periods of high electricity demand, providing cost-saving
opportunities to consumers, and ensuring a steady and safe Power conditioning electronics that push battery maintenance
electricity supply. functions down to the unit level have operational advantages
(redundancy, fault isolation) over a single string of large-
ESS are flexible and can be used in many ways, from ensuring capacity cells, similar to those of micro-inverters on a PV
energy security to blackout relief, all the way to energy array. Batteries deployed to serve DC load couple well with PV
arbitrage. By adopting ESS on a commercial scale, Jordan for data centers and telecommunications applications.
can decrease its energy imports, improve the efficiency of Flow batteries are very efficient for meeting a steady, long
the energy system, and keep prices low by better integrating term energy demand (e.g. night-time application), but will be
variable renewable energy sources. less efficient in blackout scenarios. Flow batteries provide
less harm to the environment and present fewer safety risks
Ultimately, energy storage can contribute to better use of (much less flammable) than their solid-state counterparts.
renewable energy in the electricity system since it can store However, this is counterbalanced by their higher cost.
energy produced when the conditions for renewable energy As a rule of thumb, to obtain 1 MWh of storage 15m2 of
are good, but demand may be low. This more variable power lithium-ion batteries or 80m2 of Flow Batteries are required.
generation pattern has significantly increased the need for Therefore, lithium-ion batteries are more appropriate for
flexibility in the electricity grid. more constrained sites.

14.1. Types of storage systems 14.2. Environment, Health & Safety

The selection of a storage system can significantly influence Most batteries are subject to environmental regulations that
a project’s overall O&M strategy. Technical parameters such require recycling or proper disposal at end of performance
as battery lifetime, efficiency, depth of discharge (DoD) period. In Jordan the rules are the same as for appliances.
and/or power density, should be taken into consideration at
the development stage to ensure a suitable Energy Storage The ESS mentioned above are electrical appliances and
System (ESS) is selected, avoiding unnecessary costs as such are subject to significant health & safety risks. To
throughout the project’s lifecycle. prevent hazards (e.g. uncontrolled release of energy), an
appropriate risk assessment must be performed during the
The most mature and commonly used ESS for utility scale design and planning phases and necessary safety precautions
solar plants are solid-state batteries (e.g., lithium-ion), liquid implemented. The hazards must be identified during these
electrolyte (lead acid) and Flow Batteries (e.g., vanadium stages and appropriate measures taken to mitigate risk
redox). and to protect those operating the system. The main risks
are impact, excessive heat, crush or water penetration
Solid state batteries contain a higher C-rate than batteries and electrical shock There is also a significant health and
with liquid electrolyte, meaning they can discharge quicker safety risk of poisoning or mishandling hazardous materials,
and are more effective in situations where a large amount especially the sulphuric acid electrolyte added to lead-acid
of power is required over a short period (e.g. blackouts). batteries.
Solid state batteries typically last 15 years, meaning they
must be replaced at least once during a project’s lifecycle. Both external and internal factors should be considered during
ESS lifetimes are difficult to predict because it depends the risk assessment since, in some cases, the ESS itself can
on number of cycles; charge/discharge rates; depth of be the cause of hazardous event. The major hazards for large-
discharge; temperature; and their cumulative effect. O&M of scale ESS can be categorised as follows:
flooded lead acid batteries is extensive, requiring continuous
maintenance of the electrolyte, whereas sealed batteries

88 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

14 O&M for PV power plants with storage / continued

» electrical, occurring when there is direct contact between 14.4. Maintenance

a person and the system
» mechanical, occurring after a physical collision To perform systematic maintenance, a plan on location
» poisoning or exposure to hazardous materials showing how components and the system must be tested
» other, occurring due to an explosion, fire, thermal runaway, is required. If any component within the system requires
or the leaking of chemical components from the system repairs or replacement, care should be taken to ensure that
changes comply with the applicable regulation by the Jordan
To avoid risks, the system should not overheat, come into
Standards and Metrology Organization (JSMO).
contact with water, or suffer from either electrical stress or
The EES systems should be accompanied by an operational
high humidity. The risk of electrical shock can be mitigated - as
manual, including at least the following topics 9:
is common practice in photovoltaic plants - with appropriate
electrical insulation: for instance, by wearing appropriate
» System overview and site layout
personal protective equipment (PPE). The energy storage
system should be maintained by trained technicians since » System component description
improper handing increases the risk of electrical shock. » Maintenance cycles for all components, including
Safety data sheets should be provided to those operating the the actions to be taken during the inspection and
system. In case of repair or replacement, addition or alteration maintenance activities
of the system, the safety system should be re-evaluated and, » Safety instructions
if necessary, additional safety systems implemented.
It is best practice to design the system in a way that allows In addition, to avoid reducing ESS lifetime, keeping batteries
straightforward removal and replacement of modules. The in an environment-controlled container (25°c, no humidity) is
system itself should be easily accessible for inspection recommended. An EMS should be put in place to monitor the
without needing to significantly disassemble the ESS system. charge/discharge conditions of batteries, based on market
Disposal of hazardous material should comply with local demand. Whilst Flow Batteries are resilient and can undertake
and national rules and regulations “Electrical and Electronic full charge/discharge cycles, lithium-ion batteries will slowly
Waste Management Instructions for the year 2021, issued in deteriorate if they experience such cycles. As a rule of thumb,
accordance with the provisions of paragraph (b) of Article 13 lithium-ion batteries should not be charged at more than 90%
of the Hazardous Materials and Waste Management System and less than 10% of their energy storage capacity.
No. 68 of 2020” issued by the Ministry of Environment.

14.3. Operation & Monitoring

To increase the lifecycle and efficiency of an ESS, the
implementation and regular follow-up of an efficient
monitoring system is essential. ESS should always be
equipped with an Energy Management System (EMS) to track
charge/discharge states and make sure that the system does
not exceed/go under the prescribed charging limits. The EMS
should also gather data coming from energy meters, auxiliary
systems and operating parameters, such as temperature,
voltage, current, power level, state of charge, state of energy
and warning messages, in order to assess the condition of the
ESS on a daily basis.

When dealing with ESS, communication between the O&M

service provider and the grid administrator is a key factor.
The energy producer should, one day prior, communicate to
the grid administrator an estimation of the time (battery)
charging is expected to stop, as well as an estimation of when
discharge is expected to start. The producer should also
communicate their expected production at constant power
on a daily basis. In some cases, the producer must provide
the grid administrator with hourly estimations of charge/
discharge periods and peak production capacity. In any case,
an understanding of the precise rules of the different national
electricity systems are required to determine the obligations
relating to forecast usage of the battery storage system.

9 Note: this list is intended to be illustrative and not limiting.

89 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

15 O&M for Rooftop Solar
15. O&M for Rooftop Solar
This chapter is to assist in the application of established (500kWp-10 MWp), the best practices highlighted elsewhere
utility-scale best practices, detailed in the previous chapters in these Guidelines should be applied to these installations.
of the document, to rooftop solar projects. It also highlights However, their location on rooves and their situation in
where rooftop solar projects are distinctively different from commercial/industrial environments require additional
utility-scale projects, and where they may require specific guidelines to address these factors.
O&M best practices that may not be present or applicable for
utility-scale projects. Regarding H&S considerations for C&I rooftop solar, the
necessary precautions outlined in Chapter 3. Environment,
A rooftop solar PV system has its electricity-generating solar Health & Safety should be taken into account, but need to
panels mounted on the rooftop of a residential or commercial be complemented to address the dangers associated with
building or structure. On residential buildings they have working at height (see for example Best practice guidelines
typically a power of about 5 to 20 kWp, while those mounted for working at height in New Zealand, HSA Guide to the Safety,
on commercial buildings often reach 100 kWp to 1 MWp. Health and Welfare at Work or IACS Guidelines for Working at
Large rooves can house industrial scale solar PV systems in Height). These additional precautions include:
the range of 1-10 MWp. Since O&M organisation depends on
size and structure of the asset we distinguish between: » Presence of permanent guardrails or other forms of edge
protection
» C&I (commercial and industrial) rooftop solar and
» Presence of maintenance corridors
» Huge portfolios of residential systems (distributed solar
portfolios) » Use of mobile elevating work platforms, forklift platforms,
etc.
15.1. C&I rooftop solar » Use of safety mesh

C&I rooftop solar systems are designed and installed for » Use of temporary work platforms (also to avoid damage
commercial or industrial applications. They are either built, of modules)
owned, and operated by an IPP who then sells electricity to a » Marking of dangerous areas (for example, fragile roof
company or institution via a PPA, or ownership is transferred material)
to a company or institution by an IPP which continues to
operate the installation. In addition, a growing trend observed » Correct use of harness systems and lifelines
internationally in energy-intensive built-up urban areas with » Correct use of ladders
high-rise residential, commercial, or mixed-use blocks, is for
rooftop solar systems that either feed into the grid or are set As a best practice, aerial inspections should be conducted
up as distributed generation. with drones as they can safely and accurately capture visual
and thermographic data in significantly less time than it
C&I rooftop solar systems frequently occur in what is known takes to manually inspect the entire array. The images and
as a “distributed generation” setup. Distributed generation reports generated allow O&M technicians to identify precise
refers to energy-generating technologies, including solar solar locations and even the types of rectifications required. This
PV, that are sited either on or nearby the premises that are enables swifter, safer repairs that also save costs in terms of
consuming that energy generated. Sometimes distributed repair time required.
generation energy systems are part of a microgrid that offers
a degree of crucial power independence from the main grid
in cases such as mains electricity outages during extreme
climate events. C&I distributed generation is being paired
increasingly with on-site energy storage solutions to enhance
energy independence and efficiency for the site.

Due to the relatively significant size of C&I rooftop systems

90 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

15 O&M for Rooftop Solar / continued

15.2. Operations » Spare part Management

» Decommissioning
An asset-centric approach to operations that promotes the As best practice, drones equipped with visual, thermographic,
free flow of data and transparency between all stakeholders and other specialised inspection equipment should be used to
for the entire lifecycle of the asset should be followed. This is support the O&M operations of C&I rooftop solar assets. They
made possible by using a monitoring and asset management can provide image data that can identify anomalies missed
platform. by ground monitoring equipment. This allows problems to be
spotted and rectified in a proactive, time- and cost-efficient
Operating a C&I rooftop solar asset is similar in principle to the manner, reducing the likelihood of more serious issues further
guidelines mentioned in Chapter 6. Power Plant Operation. To down the line.
recap, it should include:
» A Document Management system To accurately calculate the Energy Performance Index,
» Plant performance monitoring and supervision collection of Reference Yield (Local Irradiation) and
» Performance analysis and improvement temperature data is required.
The following methods can be applied for collection of
» Optimization of O&M reference yield:
» Maintenance scheduling

TABLE 10. METHODS SUGGESTED FOR THE COLLECTION OF REFERENCE YIELD

Reference yield source Accuracy Hardware Cost Comment

For more information, see

section 10.10.1. Irradiance
Onsite Pyranometer High* High measurements.
Public pyranometers may
be used if available
Module level sensor High High
For more information, see
Satellite Data Medium-High** None section 10.10.1. Irradiance
measurements.
Cell Sensors Medium Low
The established baseline
Local Comparison Medium-Low None
must be verified
Monthly variation
Historic Data Low None
may be +/- 20

* Pyranometers and cell sensors need periodical cleaning and recalibration to keep the highest level of accuracy. If this cannot
be sustained, a good satellite irradiation data set is preferable.

** Satellite data accuracy depends on type of source. However, the best references have a granularity of 3x3 km² and do
not include local shades. It is also worth noting that real-time satellite data provision comes at a cost. Another alternative is
comparing the performance of neighbouring systems

The variety of conditions leads to a higher incidence of proximity to trees and gardens, as well as ongoing construction
uncertainty: greater shade, lower data accuracy, lower of neighbouring buildings that could affect the shading profile
comparability between assets. of the solar PV installation site, drones can be considered as
a fast, accurate, safe and non-intrusive method of delivering
For example, greater and more variable shade profiles, due to shading analysis and vegetation management inspections at
significant roof obstacles, require that expected yields used regular intervals appropriate to the site.
in the EPI are adjusted based on shade expectation for the KPI
interval. As a recommendation, horizon and obstacle plotting should
As shading and vegetation control tend to be an ongoing be included in all yield modelling.
problem for smaller-scale C&I given their relative size, and

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15 O&M for Rooftop Solar / continued

15.3. Maintenance required for working at height.

C&I O&M service providers should provide a Maintenance Plan Normally C&I solar PV systems are situated next to other
to the Asset Owner during or before system commissioning. third-party activities. This can entail extra considerations that
Roofs under warranty require annual preventive roof need to be made:
maintenance to maintain the roof warranty. It is best practice » The risk assessment should analyse dangers arising from
for the retailer/installer and O&M service provider to meet proximity to third parties and plan countermeasures
with the roof maintenance provider to make sure both teams » O&M service providers should propose a “stakeholder
understand their roles and responsibilities and respect each training” for people working next to the installation
other’s needs.
» Dangerous areas should be marked in a way that is also
Maintenance staff need to control the security infrastructure understood by third-party personnel
regularly for integrity. The Owner should ideally opt for local Table 11 summarizes incident handling for C&I rooftop solar
maintenance service providers to minimise the cost of PV systems.
maintenance and keep response times low. This means that
further emphasis should be placed on training and skills

TABLE 11. INCIDENTS COVERED BY O&M SERVICE AGREEMENTS FOR ROOFTOP SOLAR SYSTEMS

Incident Classification Comment

Alarms generated by the inverter should be acknowledged at least daily.

The personnel responsible for maintenance should take necessary
Inverter alarms Minimum requirement
actions within 2 days for smaller C&I installations. Faults in larger
installations with central inverters need to be dealt with quicker.

Remote diagnosis of monitoring failure should be completed within 2 days for

smaller C&I installations. Faults in larger installations with central inverters
need to be dealt with quicker. As monitoring failure is often caused by inverter
failures or DC issues, this diagnosis must be done quickly to determine if
the failure is limited to monitoring or if yield production is impacted.
Monitoring
Minimum requirement
Failure O&M service provider should have good guidelines and troubleshooting
guides that allow the Owner to self-diagnose and resolve.

Resolution of monitoring failure without yield losses: Within 2

days for smaller C&I installations. Faults in larger installations
with central inverters need to be dealt with quicker.

As soon as inverter failure is indicated by inverter alarms or monitoring

Inverter failure Minimum requirement
failure a replacement or repair should be done within 1 day

Duration and frequency of reporting should be according to the

System Level
expected accuracy and availability of live irradiation data.
Performance Best Practice
Best Practice is a monthly comparison, and annually as a minimum.
Alerts

For commercial projects with more than one inverter,

Module- String/
reporting should be at the inverter level as a minimum.
Inverter Level Recommended
String or MPPT level reporting to enable string failure
Alerts
alerts, is recommended where possible.

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15 O&M for Rooftop Solar / continued

Module
The expectation for module cleaning planning should be based on
cleaning (and
the site, installation type, size, and environmental conditions.
pyranometers Minimum requirement
Actual planning of module cleaning can be adjusted based
or sensor cells
on the performance (EPI) of the system over time.
if present)

15.4. Spare parts management (including monitoring systems) and panels

» The common presence of stakeholders who are not solar
If economically feasible, the O&M service provider should professionals
have basic spare parts in stock. Failing this, care should be » Getting access to the house for maintenance activities
taken to select component manufacturers which can provide requires making appointments with the tenants.
local service and fast replacement of faulty goods in Jordan.
The inverter is the most important spare part as energy
production and most monitoring processes rely on it.
15.6. Operations
15.5. Distributed residential solar Since physical site inspections and callouts at multiple sites
portfolios mean higher costs, it is economically cheaper to invest into
monitoring hardware (temperature / irradiance) on top of
Distributed solar portfolios refer to portfolios comprising inverter monitoring, and implement automatic root cause
multiple, small assets installed on residential rooftops. analyses, where this is possible. Therefore, monitoring
Ownership of assets varies from country to country and is equipment accounts for a greater percentage of the total
based on the bilateral agreement between the constructor/ investment.
operator and the roof owner. Generally, there are three kinds
of owners: For large portfolios of small installations extra monitoring
hardware might be too expensive. Automated analysis
1. Homeowners that own the installations on their homes methodologies comparing neighbouring installations can
be used in combination with irradiation data coming from
2. Third-party companies that own the installations and meteorological stations and satellites, or theoretical clear-sky
usually lease the rooftop or sell the electricity produced irradiation data.
to the owner of the rooftop at a discounted price from
the one offered by utilities one Monitoring of a large portfolio of residential installations
requires a different approach to monitoring an individual
3. Local councils or private and social housing associations installation. For the latter, the inverter built-in monitoring
that have equipped their properties with solar panels system via Wi-Fi might be sufficient, making the tenant
responsible for communication with the server.
Homeowners that own the installations on their homes
have paid for the installation themselves and usually have a
When performing long-term monitoring of a high
bilateral net- metering agreement with the local utility for the
number of installations, using a communication channel
energy produced.
independent from the house Internet connection, i.e., cellular
communication is advised. This largely decreases the
In the case of third parties that have paid for the installation
number of support calls and local interventions to resolve
themselves, they usually undertake the maintenance as well.
communications issues. It also decreases the installation
The financial model depends on the bilateral agreement
cost (cabling, configuration) and the risk of cyber security
between themselves and the rooftop owners. Common
issues.
practices include leasing the rooftop area and taking
advantage of all the generated power, or selling the power
For local data acquisition, three approaches can be followed:
produced at a discounted price to the rooftop owner.
» Inverter manufacturer built-in system: This is often free-
of-charge including access to a portal for the installer
Apart from the general aspects of rooftop solar systems, main
and end-user. The disadvantage is that, when multiple
challenges of large distributed solar portfolios are:
inverter brands are used, different monitoring systems
need to be managed which makes it more complex and
» The multitude of assets: portfolios of 10,000+ installations
time consuming
are common
» The variety of conditions (for example, shading, » Independent data logger: These are compatible with
inclination, orientation, etc.) multiple inverter brands decreasing the dependency on
a single manufacturer.
» The variety of equipment used: multiple inverter brands

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15 O&M for Rooftop Solar / continued

» The disadvantage is the extra investment 15.7. Maintenance

» External energy meter: These are easy to install and often
have an integrated communication module. It is the only The Installer should not state that solar systems are self-
solution when a calibrated measurement is required cleaning and do not require any maintenance. As best practice,
following the European Measurement Instrument the Installer should educate their clients about the necessity
Directive (MiD). and benefits of a regular, high-quality O&M practice for the
lifetime of their solar assets. This should include a minimum
» The disadvantage is the extra investment and that only yearly inspection, and cleaning and maintenance based on
AC parameters are measured the environmental conditions. This will ensure the continuous
In case only an energy meter is used in the monitoring safe operation of the asset and minimise H&S risks to building
systems, the following parameters need to be measured at users. It will also maximise the energy production capability
the minimum: of their asset throughout its lifetime.
Preventive Maintenance of large residential portfolios is
» AC Energy production: This is the basis for yield often limited to cleaning as part of a maintenance contract.
calculations. A resolution of minimum 15 minutes is Cleaning should be condition-based, rather than conform to a
advised for further intra-day performance analysis. regular schedule. This can be combined with visual inspection
» In some contractual models a calibrated measurement of the cabling and cleaning of inverter ventilators.
is required following the European Measurement
Instrument Directive (MiD) It is important to inform homeowners or tenants that they
» AC voltage: In areas with a lot of local production, AC should not clean the panels themselves using high pressure
voltage can rise to a level that sends the inverter into systems. This would void the warranty.
safety mode. The level is dependent on local legislation
In areas with a high density of residential solar PV installations,
» In case more detailed inverter data is acquired, the
collective drone inspection should be considered. In a short
following parameters provide useful information:
period, thermographic data of lots of installations can be
» Inverter alarms collected.
» Inverter temperature: This can give an indication of an
upcoming problem or clogged ventilation holes Corrective Maintenance of large residential portfolios relies
When monitoring large portfolios of solar PV installations, heavily on a good monitoring system. Besides detecting and
the following challenges can occur: communicating alarms it should be able to detect decreasing
performance trends.
» High volumes of different installations with very different
characteristics
Once an anomaly is detected, a trade-off will be made between
» Base parameters (Wp, orientation, tilt) are often incorrect speed of intervention and financial loss. Often it is cheaper to
or missing in the monitoring database group interventions in a certain geographical area. A limiting
factor is also the access to the house. Appointments must be
» Shading effects (trees, chimneys, etc.) which are season made with the occupants, which can take time.
dependent resulting in errors in yield analysis
» Local irradiation measurement is too expensive To avoid the cost of sending an intervention team on-site,
tenants are often requested to perform certain actions
» Errors in yield analysis due to clipping effects such as removing dust from ventilators and resetting an
installation (switch off/on). O&M service providers should
The following best practices should be adopted:
propose training for these tasks.
» Apply robust procedures during installation to start from More advanced residential monitoring systems calculate
correct parameters. Installer technicians need to provide trends in decreasing performance and increasing inverter
the correct information as part of the commissioning temperature. Both parameters predict an upcoming failure.
process
» Avoid a high variety of data acquisition methods and
monitoring systems
» Apply performance index calculations that are immune
from the effects of shading (e.g., part of the day, clear sky
index)
» Compare with a pool of nearby installations to neutralise
temperature, wind, and pollution effects on performance
indexes

94 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

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96 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

Annex
a) Applicable international standards for solar O&M

Generic for O&M

Photovoltaic (PV) systems - Requirements for testing, documentation and maintenance -
IEC 62446-1:2016
Part 1: Grid connected systems - Documentation, commissioning tests and inspection
Photovoltaic (PV) systems - Requirements for testing, documentation and maintenance
IEC 62446-2
- Part 2: Grid connected (PV) systems – Maintenance of PV systems
IEC TS Terrestrial photovoltaic (PV) systems – Guidelines for effective quality
63049:2017 assurance in PV systems installation, operation and maintenance
IEC 60364-7- Low voltage electrical installations - Part 7-712: Requirements for special
712:2017 installations or locations - Solar photovoltaic (PV) power supply systems

System Performance and Monitoring

IEC 61724-1:2017 Photovoltaic system performance - Part 1: Monitoring
IEC TS 61724-
Photovoltaic system performance - Part 2: Capacity evaluation method
2:2016
IEC TS 61724-
Photovoltaic system performance - Part 3: Energy evaluation method
3:2016
Photovoltaic system performance - Part 4: Degradation rate evaluation
IEC TS 61724-4
method (not yet published as of October 2019)
IEC TS
Photovoltaic power systems (PVPS) – Information model for availability
63019:2019
ISO 9847:1992 Calibrating field pyranometers by comparison to a reference pyranometer

Specialised Technical Inspections

IEC TS 62446- Photovoltaic (PV) systems - Requirements for testing, documentation and maintenance
3:2017 - Part 3: Photovoltaic modules and plants - Outdoor infrared thermography
IEC 61829:2015 Photovoltaic (PV) array - On-site measurement of current-voltage characteristics
IEC TS 60904-
Photovoltaic devices - Part 13: Electroluminescence of photovoltaic modules
13:2018

Other supporting documents

IEC TS
Ground-mounted photovoltaic power plants - Design guidelines and recommendations
62738:2018
IEC TR
Land usage of photovoltaic (PV) farms - Mathematical models and calculation examples
63149:2018
Photovoltaic devices - Procedures for temperature and irradiance
IEC 60891:2009
corrections to measured I-V characteristics
Photovoltaic (PV) module performance testing and energy rating - Part 1: Irradiance
IEC 61853-1:2011
and temperature performance measurements and power rating
Photovoltaic (PV) module performance testing and energy rating - Part 2: Spectral
IEC 61853-2:2016
responsivity, incidence angle and module operating temperature measurements
IEC 61853-3:2018 Photovoltaic (PV) module performance testing and energy rating - Part 3: Energy rating of PV modules
Photovoltaic (PV) module performance testing and energy rating
IEC 61853-4:2018
- Part 4: Standard reference climatic profiles
Photovoltaic devices - Part 5: Determination of the equivalent cell temperature
IEC 60904-5:2011
(ECT) of photovoltaic (PV) devices by the open-circuit voltage method

97 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

Annex / continued

b) Proposed skill matrix for O&M personnel (Download it from [Link])

name
First
Surname
Employee

Data & Comms

Administration

Administration

Administration

Electrician/

Electrician/

Electrician/

Electrician/

Electrician

Electrician

Electrician
Managerial

Managerial

Managerial

Managerial

Electrician
supervisor

supervisor

supervisor

supervisor
Function

Trainee

Trainee

Trainee

Trainee
Company's Services introduction
Health & Safety assessment test
Manual Handling
Display Screen Equipment
Risk Assessment
Occupational Health &
Safety training course
Health & Safety

Training to handle Health

& Safety in a team
Certification of Occupational
Health & Safety
First Aid at Work
HV Substation Access
Managing Contractors
Other task, company or country
relevant requirements (e.g. working
at height, asbestos awareness, use
of specific equipment, construction/
installation certificate etc.)
Certificate of Environmental
Environmental

Management and Assessment

Other relevant training

course and/or certificate of
Environmental Management

Certain Monitoring tool training

& Metering
Monitoring

Meter accreditation and calibration

Other relevant skills (e.g.

data handling tool)
Basic knowlege about the installed
product (e.g. handling, general
PV Modules

sefety guidlines, installation etc.; see

also recommendations by module
manufacturer / installation manual)
Basic measurement skills (e.g.
thermography, power measurements)
Power Electronics
Inverter

Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI)

Other skills (e.g. experience with
specific product and type of inverter)
Certification of Electrical Qualification
Electrical

Other relevant skills (e.g. Specific

Inspection & Test training, relevant
accredited courses etc.)
Termination of specific
communication cabling
Data & Comms

Installation of the monitoring system

Installation and connection of meters
Installation of satellite broadband system
Other skills

Planned Not required Required Update required

98 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

Annex / continued

c) Documentation set accompanying the solar PV plant (Download it from [Link])

Information type and depth of detail / as-built documents

No. Minimum Requirements Description Comments

» Location / Map / GPS Coordinates

» Plant Access / Keys
» Access Roads
» O&M Building
1 Site Information » Spare Parts Storage / Warehouse
» Site Security Information
» Stakeholder list and contact information (for
example, owner of the site, administration contacts,
firefighters, subcontractors / service providers, ...)
» Plant Layout and General Arrangement
» Cable routing drawings
» Cable list
» Cable schedule/ cable interconnection document
“Lightning
» Single Line Diagram
Protection System
» Configuration of strings (string numbers, in
2 Project Drawings layout drawing”
order to identify where the strings are in relation
can be considered
to each connection box and inverter)
as optional
» Earthing/Grounding System layout drawing
» Lightning Protection System layout drawing
» Lighting System layout drawing (optional)
» Topographic drawing
» Shading study/simulation
3 Project studies » Energy yield study/simulation
» Inverter sizing study
» Voltage drop calculations
» Protection coordination study
Studies according to
» Short circuit study
4 national regulation
» Grounding study
requirements
» Cable sizing calculations
» Lightning protection study
» Datasheets
» Flash list with PV modules positioning on the field
PV Modules
(reference to string numbers and positioning in the string)
» Warranties & Certificates
5
» Installation and O&M manual
DC Combiner Boxes- » Warranties and certificates
PV Array boxes » Electrical wiring drawings
» Internal communication wiring drawings
» O&M Manual
» Commissioning Report
» Warranties & Certificates
6 Inverters
» Factory Acceptance Test
» Inverter settings
» Dimensional drawings

99 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

Annex c) Documentation set accompanying the solar PV plant / continued

» Medium Voltage/Inverter Cabin layout

and general arrangement drawing
» Medium Voltage/Inverter Cabin foundation drawing
» Erection procedure
» Internal Normal/Emergency Lighting Layout Drawing
Medium Voltage/ » Fire Detection and Fire Fighting System
7
Inverter Cabin Layout Drawing (if required)
» HVAC system Layout Drawing
» HVAC system Installation & O&M Manual
» HVAC Study (according to national regulations)
» Earthing system layout drawing
» Cable list
» O&M Manual
» Commissioning Report
» Factory Acceptance Test Report
8 MV/LV Transformer » Type Test Reports
» Routine Test Reports
» Warranties & Certificates
» Dimensional drawing with parts list
» Datasheets
9 Cables
» Type & Routine test reports
» Single Line Diagram
» Switchgear wiring diagrams
» Equipment datasheets and manuals
» Factory Acceptance Test report
» Type Test Reports
10 LV & MV Switchgear
» Routine Test Reports
» Dimensional drawings
» Warranties & Certificates
» Protection relays settings
» Switching procedure (according to national regulations)
» Single Line Diagram
» Steel structures assembly drawings
» HV Switchyard general arrangement drawing
» HV Equipment Datasheets and Manuals (CTs, VTs, Circuit
Breakers, Disconnectors, Surge Arresters, Post Insulators)
11 HV Switchgear
» Protection & Metering Single Line Diagram
» HV Equipment Type & Routine Test Reports
» Interlock study
» Switching procedure (according to national regulations)
» Warranties & Certificates
» Installation & O&M Manual
» Commissioning report
UPS, Batteries &
12 » Warranties & Certificates
Auxiliary Generator
» Datasheets
» Dimensional Drawings
» Mechanical Assembly Drawings
13 Mounting Structure » Warranties & Certificates

100 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

Annex c) Documentation set accompanying the solar PV plant / continued

» Mechanical Assembly Drawings

» Electrical Schematic Diagrams
» Block diagram
» Equipment Certificates, Manuals and
14 Trackers Datasheets (Motors, Encoders)
» PLC list of inputs and outputs (I/O) by
type (Digital, Analog or Bus)
» Commissioning reports
» Warranties & Certificates
» Security system layout/general arrangement drawing
» Security system block diagram
» Alarm system schematic diagram
Security, Anti-intrusion
15 » Equipment manuals and datasheets
and Alarm System
» Access to security credentials (e.g.
passwords, instructions, keys etc)
» Warranties & Certificates
» Installation & O&M manual
» List of inputs by type (Digital, Analog or Bus)
Monitoring/
16 » Electrical Schematic diagram
SCADA system
» Block diagram (including network addresses)
» Equipment datasheets
» Power Plant Control System description
» Control Room (if applicable)
» Plant Controls instructions
17 Plant Controls
» Breaker Control functionality (remote
/ on-site) and instructions
» List of inputs and outputs
» Installation and O&M manual
» System internal communication
» External Communication to monitoring
Communication system
system or Operations Centre
» IP network plan
» Bus network plans
» Installation and O&M manual
18 » Data sheets
Metering System » Warranties and certificates
» Electrical wiring drawings
» Communication wiring drawings
» Installation and O&M manual
» Data sheets
Weather stations
» Warranties and certificates
» Electrical wiring drawings

101 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

Annex / continued

d) Important examples of input records in the record control (Download it from [Link])

Record control
No. Activity Type Information Type Input Record References/Comments

Date and Time, Affected Power, Equipment

Alarms / Operation Code / Name, Error messages / Codes,
1 Alarms description
Incidents Severity Classification, Curtailment Period,
External Visits/Inspections from third parties
Contract Contract general Project Name / Code, Client
2
Management description Name, Peak Power (kWp)
Contract
3 Asset description Structure Type, Installation Type
Management
Contract
4 Contract period Contract Start and End Date
Management
Contract Value, Availability (%),
Contract
5 Contractual clauses PR (%), Materials / Spare parts,
Management
Corrective Work Labour
Detailed Failure Typification, Failure,
Corrective EN 13306 - Maintenance.
6 Activity description Fault Status, Problem Resolution
Maintenance Maintenance terminology
Description, Problem Cause
Corrective Corrective EN 13306 - Maintenance.
7 Associated Alarms (with date), Event Status
Maintenance Maintenance event Maintenance terminology
Date and Time of Corrective Maintenance
Creation (or Work Order), Date and
Corrective Time status change (pending, open,
Corrective EN 13306 - Maintenance.
8 Maintenance recovered, close), End date and time of
Maintenance Maintenance terminology
event log the intervention, Start date and time
of the intervention, Technicians and
Responsible Names and Function
Intervention
Corrective Affected Power and Affected
9 equipment/
Maintenance Production, Equipment Code / Name
Element name
Inventory Warehouse Inventory Stock Count and Movement,
10
Management management Equipment Code / Name
Monitoring & Date, Status log (protection devices, inverters,
11 Equipment status
Supervision monitoring systems, surveillance systems)
IEC 61724 - Photovoltaic
Irradiation, Module temperature, Other system performance
Monitoring &
12 Meteo data meteo variables (ambient temperature, air monitoring - Guidelines
Supervision
humidity, wind velocity and direction, …) for measurement, data
exchange and analysis
AC active and reactive power at PV Plant IEC 61724 - Photovoltaic
Injection Point and other subsystems or system performance
Monitoring & Production /
13 equipment, Consumption from auxiliary monitoring - Guidelines
Supervision consumption data
systems, Other variables (DC/AC voltages and for measurement, data
currents, frequency), Power from DC field exchange and analysis
Monitoring & PV Plant Energy Production;
14 Performance data
Supervision PR; Expected vs Real
Preventive
15 Maintenance Plan Preventive Maintenance Plan
Maintenance
Intervention Affected Power and Affected
Preventive
equipment/ Production, Equipment Code / Name,
Maintenance
Element name Intervention Start and End Date

102 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

Annex d) Important examples of input records in the record control / continued

Measurements, Preventive Maintenance

Tasks Performed, Problems not solved
Preventive Maintenance
16 during activity and its Classification
Maintenance description
and Typification, Technicians and
Responsible Names and Function
IEC 62446 - Photovoltaic
(PV) systems - Requirements
for testing, documentation
PV Plant Commissioning Documentation and maintenance -
17 Commissioning
Documentation and Tests Results Part 1: Grid connected
systems - Documentation,
commissioning tests
and inspection
IEC 62446 - Photovoltaic
(PV) systems - Requirements
for testing, documentation
PV Plant Operation and and maintenance -
18 Equipment Manuals, PV Plant O&M Manual
Documentation maintenance Part 1: Grid connected
systems - Documentation,
commissioning tests
and inspection
IEC 62446 - Photovoltaic
(PV) systems - Requirements
for testing, documentation
PV Plant System As built documentation (Datasheets, and maintenance -
19
Documentation Documentation wiring diagrams, system data) Part 1: Grid connected
systems - Documentation,
commissioning tests
and inspection
Affected Equipment, Claim Description,
Warranty
20 Claims registration Occurrence Date; Communications between
Management
O&M, client and manufacturer/supplier

103 Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

104
Maintenance plan for 3-5MW site (land-locked site far from seashore) Annex
Equipment Task Importance D M Q SA Y nY Extent
Integrity inspection & replacement Minimum requirement x T
Thermography inspection Recommendation x T
Measurements inspection if required x S
Modules
/ continued

Check tightening of clamps Minimum requirement x R

Modules cleaning According to local conditions (x) T
Sample internal inspection of junction boxes (if possible) Recommendation x T
Integrity check & cleaning Minimum requirement x T
Documents inspection if required x T
Electrical cabinets and switchboards
- Array/string junction box Check labelling and identification Minimum requirement x R

- Generator junction box Electrical protections visual inspection & functional test Minimum requirement x T
- AC switchboards Check fuse status Minimum requirement x T
- AUX switchboard Check surge protection status (if applicable) Minimum requirement x T
- General utilities switchboard Check integrity of cables & state of terminals Minimum requirement x T
- Weather station›s cabinet Sensor functional verification (if applicable) Recommendation x T
- Monitoring system cabinet Measurements inspection Best practice x T
- Communication cabinet Thermographical inspection Recommendation x T
- Security system board Check tightening Minimum requirement x T
- Other cabinets Lubrification of locks Minimum requirement x T
Monitoring operation test (if applicable) Recommendation x T
Integrity inspection Minimum requirement x R
Cables Check labelling and identification Minimum requirement x R
- DC / AC cables
Check cable terminals Minimum requirement x R
- Cables in switchboards, cabinets, inverters
Measurements inspection Recommendation x R
e) Annual Maintenance Plan (Download it from [Link])

Integrity check & cleaning Minimum requirement x T

Documents inspection Best practice x T
Check labelling and identification Minimum requirement x R
Electrical protections visual inspection,
Minimum requirement x T
check correct operations
Check fuses Minimum requirement x T
Check surge protections Minimum requirement x T
Thermographical inspection Best practice x T
Inverters Sensors functional verification Minimum requirement x R
- Central inverters Measurements inspection Minimum requirement x T
- String inverters Check parameters Minimum requirement x T
Functional test of ventilation system Minimum requirement x T
Check batteries (x) T
According to manufacturer›s
Replace batteries 3 T
recommendations
Replace fans 5 T
Safety equipment inspection Minimum requirement x T
Clean filters Minimum requirement x T
Replace filters Minimum requirement 2 T

Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

 Integrity check & cleaning Minimum requirement x T

105
Check labelling and identification Minimum requirement x R
Thermographical inspection Best practice x T
Transformer Functional verification of sensors & relais Minimum requirement x T
- Power transformer
Check parameters Minimum requirement x T
- AUX transformer
Check oil level (if applicable) and max. temperature Minimum requirement x T
Check of cooling system (fans) if applicable Minimum requirement x T
Check of MV surge discharger devices (if applicable) Minimum requirement x T
Integrity check & cleaning Minimum requirement x T
Safety equipment inspection Minimum requirement x T
Check labelling and identification Minimum requirement x R
Electrical protections visual inspection Minimum requirement x T
Thermographical inspection, if possible Recommendation x T
Sensors functional verification Minimum requirement x T
Measurements inspection Minimum requirement x T
Check correct operation Minimum requirement x T
MV switchgear incl. protection devices
Check fuse status Minimum requirement x T
Check cables terminals Minimum requirement x T
Battery / UPS check Minimum requirement x
Mechanical lubrication (5) T
According to manufacturer›s
Replace certain mechanical parts (5) T
recommendations and necessity
Battery / UPS replacement (3) T
Check protection parameters (5) T
According to local grid code
Functional check of protection devices 5 T
Annex e) Annual Maintenance Plan / continued

Integrity check & cleaning Minimum requirement x T

Check labelling and identification Minimum requirement x R
Measurements inspection Minimum requirement x T
Power analyser
Software maintenance Recommendation x T
Monitoring operation test Minimum requirement x T
Check parameters Minimum requirement x T
Integrity check & cleaning Minimum requirement x T
Check labelling and identification Minimum requirement x R
Energy meter Check values and parameters Recommendation x T
Check of communication devices
Recommendation x T
(modem, converters) if applicable
Check batteries (x) T
According to manufacturer›s
Replace batteries 3 T
Power control unit recommendations
Functional verification x T
Integrity check & cleaning Minimum requirement x T

Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

 Integrity check & cleaning Minimum requirement x T

106
Check batteries Minimum requirement x T
UPS
Replace batteries Recommendation 3 T
Functional test of ventilation system (if applicable) Best practice x T
Integrity check & cleaning (x) T
General maintenance According to manufacturer›s x T
Emergency generator (if applicable) recommendations
Check correct operation x T
Replacement of filters 5 T
Integrity check & cleaning Minimum requirement x T
Lights and electric sockets Check correct operation Minimum requirement x
Check conformity to local security standards Minimum requirement 3 T
Integrity check & cleaning (x) T
According to manufacturer›s
HVAC (if applicable) Functional verification x T
recommendations
Change of air filters x T
Water supply system (if applicable) Integrity inspection if applicable x T
Integrity check & cleaning (x) T
Check correct operation According to manufacturer›s x T
Fire detection central (if applicable) Battery inspection recommendations and x T
Sensors functional verification local requirements x T
Cleaning of cameras & sensors x T
Lightning protection (if applicable) Integrity inspection Minimum requirement x R
Integrity inspection Minimum requirement x T
Fences and gates
Lubrication of locks Minimum requirement x T
Vegetation Vegetation clearing According to local conditions (x) T
Annex e) Annual Maintenance Plan / continued

Integrity inspection Best practice x T

Paths
Vegetation clearing Recommendation x T
Drainage System General cleaning Minimum requirement x T
Manholes Integrity inspection Best practice x T
Integrity check & cleaning Minimum requirement x T
Lubrification of locks Minimum requirement x T
Buildings Documents inspection (x) T
Check fire extinguishers According to local requirements x T
Check earthing 3 T
Integrity check & cleaning Minimum requirement x T
Safety equipment
Check correct operation Minimum requirement x T
Integrity inspection Minimum requirement x R
PV support structure Check tightening Minimum requirement x R
Check potential equalization Minimum requirement 2 T
Integrity check & cleaning Minimum requirement x T
Check correct operation (x) T
Tracker system Check tightening According to manufacturer›s x R
General maintenance recommendations x T
Mechanical lubrication x T

Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

 Integrity check & cleaning (x) T

107
Functional test of sensors x T
According to manufacturer›s
Weather station Check correct operation x T
recommendations
Check batteries (if applicable) x T
Monitoring operation test x T
Integrity check & cleaning According to manufacturer›s (x) T
Irradiation sensors Calibration recommendations and 2 T
Monitoring operational test local requirements x T
Communication Board Functional communications check Minimum requirement x T
Integrity check & cleaning Minimum requirement x T
Functional verification of intrusion detection (x) T
Intrusion detection and verification system Functional verification of alarming According to manufacturer›s x T
Functional verification of cameras recommendations x T
Specific maintenance x T
Inventory of stock Minimum requirement x T
Stock of spare parts Visual inspection of stock conditions Minimum requirement x T
Stock replenishment Minimum requirement x x T
Annex e) Annual Maintenance Plan / continued

Operation & Maintenance Best Practice Guidelines / Jordan edition

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