Extreme weather is no longer a rare event for PV sites in the United States. It is a costly, recurring reality that erodes performance, reliability and profitability. Wayne Burnett, Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Technology Officer at Sensor Equipment supplier EKO Instruments, offers insights from projects in hard-struck regions. With lessons from the US, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, he investigates how this forms the best practices for the yield and resilience in the long term.
Van Hagel in the midwest to hurricanes in the southeast, forest fires in the west and dust storms in the southwest, American solar projects are confronted with location-specific threats that may cause billions of dollars in annual losses. Modules and inverters get the most focus in protection efforts, while measuring technology, in particular pyranometers and reference devices, are often overlooked. Nevertheless, accurate radiation data is essential for performance monitoring, warranty claims and solid operational decisions, regardless of the weather.
Radiation data is of vital importance for distinguishing weather -related under performance of equipment failure. Advanced sensors offer accurate, temperature -compensated measurements, but data can be misleading if these are affected by extreme weather, which causes further problems for a project. To guarantee reliability in less than ideal conditions, sensors must be chosen, installed and operated with local risks.
Greeted dangers
In recent years, Hagel has been the most harmful type of extreme weather for PV sites. Pyranometers, often mounted on tracker or highlights, are immediately exposed. Although dome -shaped glass, the actual standard shape, helps to bend off the effects, it is crucial to have a pyranometer with sufficiently strong dome material, such as borosilicate glass, which has a strong resistance to cracking and shattering.
Sites in Europe and the American Midwest, where Hagel is increasingly becoming frequent, have shown that material feud is more important than extra shielding. Mechanical protection adds costs and complexity, while choosing a pyranometer with robust dome materials offers reliable, low -maintenance defense.
In addition to equipment spoil, inspections after the event are essential. Even if domes seem intact, micro cracks or internal incorrect alignment can influence the accuracy. Fast checks after a hailstorm help to maintain data reliability.
Lightning and peaks
Lightning -induced peaks pose a serious threat to pyranometers, especially at locations with long cable runs and raised mounting points. Even with overvoltage protection devices (SPDs), incorrect grounding or other design errors often lead to sensor failure. Effective protection against lightning for sensors and an entire system requires an extensive strategy that goes much further than just installing SPDs.
Tracker Booms or Pyranometers mounted high on masts are also more exposed to lightning. Mechanical protection such as bars in the neighborhood can help, but cannot replace electrical guarantees. Ultimately, a layered defense including SPDs, earthing, clean cable layout and routine controls are the best way to protect data integrity. These practices are crucial for developers to maintain reliable radiation data and to prevent expensive sensor replacement or downtime.
Rain and flood
Even if they are mounted above the flood levels, sensors can suffer from long -term moisture damage to be close to water. Housing rated at least IP66, quality seals and corrosion -resistant connectors are essential. In flood zones, increased wiring and increased pipes can add further protection. Inspections after the storm can see early problems such as the penetration of moisture or signal loss, preventing long -term demolition.
Heavy snow
In snow -covered climates, heated pyranometers and fans to manage frost and light snow, but are less effective in extreme cold or during “snow bridges” – when snow bends over the dome without actually touching it. This isolates the snow of every heat and does not effectively make internal stoves in the sensor. In these cases, manual clearing or additional measures for snow management are often necessary to maintain continuous radiation data.
Extreme heat
Persistent high temperatures can cause sensor abnormality, break down materials and shorten cable life. This can be combated with temperature-compensated sensors and UV-resistant high temperature cabling.
Heat-absorbent surfaces must also be avoided. Materials in the sensor, such as adhesives, seals and electronic circuits can break down faster if they are regularly exposed to temperatures from more than 50 ° C to 60 C.
Selecting temperature -compensated sensors with a robust thermal design and validating their performance with field data is essential. Sites in Extreme Heat zones can also require more frequent calibration intervals to guarantee data follower in the long term. Similarly, protecting and roubling cables can carefully reduce the voltage and extend the operational lifespan under extreme heat conditions.
Dust and sand
In dry regions such as the American southwest, dust storms and persistent particles in the air can significantly increase pollution on sensors, leading to skewed radiation data and a mismatch with actual plant performance. Lessons from long-term activities in the Middle East and North Africa have shown that consistent cleansing protocols are effective in maintaining data hubbyism. Sensor ventilators have shown mixed results in these environments, because they tend to hide or fail under long -term exposure to dust and sand. Some operators also implement double sensors: one cleansed regularly and one remained contaminated to model the loss of pollution over time.
In addition to pollution, sand loaded windows can cause long -term wear and pits on pyranometer domes. This wear reduces the optical clarity and damages the measurement precision. The use of non-relaxed cloths and godified water, and avoiding dry sweeps, is essential to protect the optical surface during maintenance.
Data -featherkracht
As extremely a permanent fixture of the American solar landscape, as developers, developers have to reconsider how they design and maintain performance strike systems. Especially in the light of new financial pressure on American developers and wealth owners, investing in high -quality monitoring equipment and knowing how to maintain their accuracy has never been so critical.
Sensors designed for lifetime and resilience of the environment help minimize O&M costs in the life of the system. Reliable radiation measurements depend on sustainable hardware and a well -transparent system strategy, both of which also ensure that sensors perform consistently over a wide range of circumstances, and offer the most accurate performance data that is possible during their lifespan and the lifespan of your site.
About the author
With more than two decades of experience in meteorological and radiation instruments, Wayne Burnett acts as the CTO of EKO instruments USA, where he supports advanced measurement solutions for the renewable energy sector.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are the author, and do not necessarily reflect it by PV -Magazine.
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