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Title: Budgeting for Solar PV Plant Operations & Maintenance: Practices and Pricing.

Abstract

With rising grid interconnections of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, greater attention is being trained on lifecycle performance, reliability, and project economics. Expected to meet production thresholds over a 20-30 year timeframe, PV plants require a steady diet of operations and maintenance (O&M) oversight to meet contractual terms. However, industry best practices are only just beginning to emerge, and O&M budgets—given the arrangement of the solar project value chain—appear to vary widely. Based on insights from in-depth interviews and survey research, this paper presents an overview of the utility-scale PV O&M budgeting process along with guiding rationales, before detailing perspectives on current plant upkeep activities and price points largely in the U.S. It concludes by pondering potential opportunities for improving upon existing O&M budgeting approaches in ways that can benefi t the industry at-large.

Authors:
 [1];  [1];  [2]
  1. Electric Power Research Inst. (EPRI), Palo Alto, CA (United States)
  2. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office
OSTI Identifier:
1234935
Report Number(s):
SAND-2015-10851R
617688
DOE Contract Number:  
AC04-94AL85000
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
14 SOLAR ENERGY

Citation Formats

Enbar, Nadav, Weng, Dean, and Klise, Geoffrey Taylor. Budgeting for Solar PV Plant Operations & Maintenance: Practices and Pricing.. United States: N. p., 2015. Web. doi:10.2172/1234935.
Enbar, Nadav, Weng, Dean, & Klise, Geoffrey Taylor. Budgeting for Solar PV Plant Operations & Maintenance: Practices and Pricing.. United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/1234935
Enbar, Nadav, Weng, Dean, and Klise, Geoffrey Taylor. 2015. "Budgeting for Solar PV Plant Operations & Maintenance: Practices and Pricing.". United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/1234935. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1234935.
@article{osti_1234935,
title = {Budgeting for Solar PV Plant Operations & Maintenance: Practices and Pricing.},
author = {Enbar, Nadav and Weng, Dean and Klise, Geoffrey Taylor},
abstractNote = {With rising grid interconnections of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, greater attention is being trained on lifecycle performance, reliability, and project economics. Expected to meet production thresholds over a 20-30 year timeframe, PV plants require a steady diet of operations and maintenance (O&M) oversight to meet contractual terms. However, industry best practices are only just beginning to emerge, and O&M budgets—given the arrangement of the solar project value chain—appear to vary widely. Based on insights from in-depth interviews and survey research, this paper presents an overview of the utility-scale PV O&M budgeting process along with guiding rationales, before detailing perspectives on current plant upkeep activities and price points largely in the U.S. It concludes by pondering potential opportunities for improving upon existing O&M budgeting approaches in ways that can benefi t the industry at-large.},
doi = {10.2172/1234935},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1234935}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Dec 01 00:00:00 EST 2015},
month = {Tue Dec 01 00:00:00 EST 2015}
}