Voice of industry: Shyam Lohidakshan
Shyam Lohidakshan is Product Manager Repowering at SMA Solar AG who are a leading global specialist in photovoltaic system technology. Employing over 3,000 people and with a turnover of more than €900 million, they’re a significant force within the solar power community. How should the sector be approaching PV repowering? According to Shyam:
“Operators and investors should be urgently looking for information on modernising their power plants, even before they’re technically due for an upgrade. After all, repowering solutions can significantly increase profitability.
Yes, the engineering can be challenging. You have to think about matching power capacity, meeting regulatory requirements, minimising operational expense and more. But it also opens up new income opportunities like added battery storage and grid management services.
Factory warranties get renewed, often with cheaper extension contracts. The positives add up quickly.
When determining an effective solution, repowering teams must analyse:
- MPP input voltage and current
- Derating of PV panels over the plant’s lifetime
- Output voltage
- Short circuit current
- Local installation requirements
- Transformer integration capabilities
Then, if you’ve got a strong product portfolio, it’s best to propose more than one solution for the customer to choose from. Determining ROI means factoring in various inputs; existing feed in tariffs, liquidated damages, spare part costs, lead times and labour.
Despite the benefits, many shy away from the effort involved in repowering. That’s mainly due to nerves about complexity but, with effective planning, projects can be completed in stages. This spreads out the logistical headache, as well as the cost.
SMA’s repowering goal is to maximise availability and increase yield, while minimising operational costs. We look at each plant individually and put together a customised solution that fits its architecture and gets ROI back on track. Once we’re done, projects are ready to integrate with a lot of new technologies.”
Voice of industry: Will Hitchcock
Will Hitchcock is the founder and CEO of Above, an aerial inspection and data analytics service provider to the utility scale solar industry. Having operated for 7 years, Above has inspected thousands of assets throughout the world, with a significant number being the ageing assets across Europe.
“Above’s experience has provided us with a unique view across different module technologies ageing in different environments and the challenges this presents our clients. What’s abundantly clear is that waiting for an asset to underperform before initiating robust module condition monitoring is flawed thinking. With robust condition monitoring comes full asset digitalisation enabling informed decision making about when to repower as well as options around partial or phased repowering. Ultimately reducing asset risk and operational costs.”