Performance Audit of Solar PV Power Plants

Undoubtedly solar energy is becoming an important source of energy all over the World and especially in India. So, it is important to undertake the performance audit of solar pv power plants. Knowledge about the performance of solar power plants will result in correct investment decisions, a better regulatory framework and favorable government policies.

In this post, the effort will be to understand the areas which should be studied for undertaking the performance audit of the solar plant.

Various factors contribute to the performance of solar power plants, such as radiation, temperature and other climatic conditions, design, inverter efficiency, other electrical equipment efficiency and degradation due to aging.

For complete performance audit or evaluation, the following data need to be collected and verified to the extent possible: –

DC Systems

• Irradiation
• Performance ratio (PR)
• Losses in PV systems
• Temperature and climatic conditions
• Design parameters of the plant
• Inverter efficiency
• Degradation of Modules
• Module mounting system / tracking system performance

AC Systems

• AC Cabling
• AC Switch-gear
• Transformers
• Plant Substation
• Earthing and surge protection
• The grid connection interface

Better performance of Solar PV power plants is essential in terms of increased revenue generation to the asset owner. The performance audit of the plants on regular interval will indicate the rooms for performance improvements on continuous basis as the saying goes “you can’t manage what you can’t measure “.

Still now the performance audit or Energy Audit of the utility scale Solar PV  power plants is not mandatory in India  but the Government may consider to make it mandatory through Bureau of Energy Efficiency ( BEE) to have as many as best possible performing plants in India . All these will ultimately help the Solar sector as a whole to grow.

We’ll track this progress about the steps taken by Asset Managers and Owners towards the Performance Audit of the Solar Power Plants and will keep updating you about. Follow us for more insight about the Solar Industry and its progress in India and the world. Do share your thoughts and ideas with us by comments, emails or WhatsApp, on what do you think should also be a part of the performance audit of the solar power plants.