How to increase your PV system performance through monitoring Stefan Jarnason, Clean Energy Week, July 2014 Agenda 1. Suntech update (a word from our sponsor) 2. Why monitoring is needed 3. Solar Analytics monitoring 4. Monitoring outcomes 5. Acknowledgements Leading Company Reliable Products 13 Years of Leading Global Manufacturing Solar expert Dr. Zhengrong Shi founds Suntech in Wuxi, China. SF Photovoltaics, a HKSE listed EPC&Investment company announced to acquire Wuxi Suntech in Nov 2013 Production capacity expands to 1 GW, ranking Suntech as one of the largest global solar manufacturers. As of Mar 2014, the integration is close to finalization. Solar Analytics 2001 2005 2008 Foundation of Suntech Initial Public Offering NYSE Achievement of 1 GW production capacity Suntech is China's first solar company to be traded on the NYSE. 3 2011 2012 7 GW of global installed power 2013 Shunfeng PV announced to acquire Wuxi Suntech Suntech shipped over 7GW of modules since inception. Looking forward, we see the synergy among the group is enormous. Together with our partners, we are ever confident to achieve greater success. Leading Company Reliable Products Industry Leading Energy Solution Provider Now part of a big family! Solar Silicon Ingots & Wafer Cell Solar Module/BOS Installation & Trade (25% share) More to come to the family: • • 4 A Frankfurt Stock Exchange listed German inverter & downstream company A US based EPC and energy turnkey solution company Leading Company Reliable Products Highly Reliable Products. Best Components These components ensure that our modules are reliable and efficient: Rigid frame: a hollow chamber profile ensures rigidity and high performance State-of-the-art solar glass: antiglare and self-cleaning for maximum output and low maintenance effort High-tech material EVA: highly transparent to provide an extremely stable connection of components Ground-breaking cells: developed and produced by Suntech for high and reliable yields Water-proof junction box: certified pursuant to IP67 (the standard being IP65), high waterproofness and ruggedness Solid back sheet: high level of UVA resistance – a solid basis delivers solid output 5 Leading Company Reliable Products VDE Quality Tested World leading independent test lab VDE offers a new level of quality assurance for photovoltaic (PV) modules. More stringent module testing sequences, in-line production testing and regular monitoring of manufacturing sites. Suntech is one of the first manufacturers to be certified to this highest level of product quality certification that ensures technical bankability on both the component and system-wide level. Leading Company Reliable Products 7 Agenda 1. Suntech update (a word from our sponsor) 2. Why monitoring is needed 3. Solar Analytics monitoring 4. Monitoring outcomes 5. Acknowledgements Why is a new monitoring required? Current monitoring products only show the actual energy production, with minimal fault notification. Hourly Generated Energy 8 7 6 kWh 5 4 3 2 1 0 17-Oct 18-Oct 19-Oct 20-Oct 21-Oct 22-Oct 22-Oct 23-Oct 24-Oct 25-Oct 26-Oct 27-Oct Is this system working well? How long will it take to identify a fault? What action do you need to take to rectify the fault? 27-Oct 28-Oct 29-Oct 30-Oct Up to 50% of solar PV systems in Australia are underperforming "Analysis of Ausgrid data from 8000 solar PV systems shows that approximately 50% are significantly underperforming" SunWiz, 2013 “The average solar PV system is only operating at 81% of optimum, costing customers $300-$3000 per year in lost revenue” “A review of 30,000 installations in Europe by Meteocontrol found 80% were underperforming" New York Times, June 2013 Theoretical PV system underperformance • System failure rate estimated at 12.3% -13.9% pa • Additional underperformance estimated at 20-30% systems • Energy loss depends on: a) Energy lost per day b) Time to detect fault, and c) Time to rectify fault Equipment Inverter Tier 1 Inverter Tier 2 Inverter Tier 3 Panels Tier 1 Panels Tier 2 Panels Tier 3 Other Components Grid TOTAL Market share 40% 30% 30% 30% 30% 40% 100% 100% Failure Rate (pa) 2.00% 3.00% 20.00% 0.20% 0.50% 1.00% 4.00% 0.01% 12.32% Current monitoring products cannot accurately determine or diagnose performance Features Residential Commercial Data Display • Energy production • Energy consumption • Environmental benefit Performance Analysis • Weather data • Expected energy • Historical analysis Fault Diagnosis • Fault type analysis • Recommended action • Maintenance log Readily available Not available Features offered by Solar Analytics Utility Agenda 1. Suntech update (a word from our sponsor) 2. Why monitoring is needed 3. Solar Analytics monitoring 4. Monitoring outcomes 5. Acknowledgements So what and who is Solar Analytics? Solar Analytics is a joint venture that provides comprehensive intelligent solar monitoring for residential and commercial solar PV systems. Daily Expected versus Actual Performance Check  Patented algorithms assess solar system’s performance Live PV Generation and load Consumption data  Monitor real-time energy usage and net electricity bought and sold Fault Detection and Diagnosis  Detailed recommended actions Performance Reports  Regular performance reports How it works Hardware - Solar Connect 22 • • • • • • Connects to 3G or customers WiFi Logs the PV output data online Monitors up to three phases Revenue grade Can provide AC load consumption data Suitable for all small to medium scale solar PV systems • Quick DIN rail installation and smart phone configuration Subscriptions MANUAL Solar Health Check A low cost way to manually check the health of your solar PV system each month. • Ideal for small residential PV systems (sub 5kW) • Requires no hardware AUTOMATIC Monitoring Peace of mind with live monitoring, fault alerts with fault diagnostics, and automatic monthly reports. • Ideal for larger residential to SME (5-30kW) • Requires hardware PROFESSIONAL Monitoring Maximise your energy generation with more detailed diagnosis, maintenance logs and historical fault diagnosis. • Ideal for larger commercial PV systems (>30kW) • Requires hardware Manual Solar Health Check Solar system performance ratio Daily expected energy Automatic / Professional Solar system performance information Generation and consumption Key fault alerts and diagnostics Live 5 second data Agenda 1. Suntech update (a word from our sponsor) 2. Why monitoring is needed 3. Solar Analytics monitoring 4. Monitoring outcomes 5. Acknowledgements Theoretically Solar Analytics increases lifetime system energy by 16.9% on average Systems under monitoring • Trial release July 2013, formal launch Apr 2014 • Hundreds of PV systems now under monitoring, growing rapidly, many having been monitored since 2012. • Mixture of new installs and existing systems • Predominately residential and small commercial systems System faults and issues • Annual fault rate of 9-15% • 26% historical systems underperforming • Communications and PV panel most common faults Benefits of effective monitoring Retailer/installer • Increased sales through differentiation and quality offering • Increased sales through referrals through customer interaction • Higher revenue per sale through additional monitoring margin • Ability to offer Operations and Maintenance service • Reduced warranty costs through faster diagnosis PV system owner • Increases lifetime energy generation by 15-20% • Able to optimise your energy usage to reduce energy bill • Compare their solar system performance to their friends systems • Peace of mind their investment is always performing at its best Agenda 1. Suntech update (a word from our sponsor) 2. Why monitoring is needed 3. Solar Analytics monitoring 4. Monitoring outcomes 5. Acknowledgements Acknowledgements • Dr Jessie Copper, School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering University NSW • Dr John Laird, Solar Analytics, Sydney, NSW, 2060 Australia • Alistair Sproul, School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering University NSW • CRC for Low Carbon Living, an Australian NGO dedicated to reducing green house emissions in the built environment. To learn more about CRC Low Carbon Living visit: www.lowcarbonlivingcrc.com.au. Retail Partners www.solaranaltyics.com.au