[RE-wrenches] PV maintenance costs

[Joel Davidson]

Hello Phil,

Most people figure on $0.005/W, but I have not seen it actually go that high 
unless the project has a lot of inverter problems or needs array cleaning 
more than once a year (assuming the system was designed and installed 
properly). On residential PV systems without batteries up to 10 kW, if more 
than 1 hour per year is spent inspecting and cleaning, then it's tinkering, 
not maintenance. Most people plug into the equation inverter replacement at 
10 or 15 years. Older inverters usually did not last 10 years (except for 
workhorses like the SW4048 and older Xantrex 100 kW). Newer inverters with a 
solid track record (like SMA models that have been produced in the tens of 
thousands) seem to be headed for a very long lifetime, but how can you be 
sure when an inverter model (or solar module for that matter) has only 
around for a few years? Even long-time PV module manufacturers like Kyocera, 
Sanyo, BP, etc. have had serious problems. Unfortunately, first-year 
inverter problems (infant mortality) are a real cost factor because of 
manufacturers' enthusiastic rush-to-market and inadequate burn-in 
procedures.

We could all benefit by learning more about maintenance costs. Hopefully, 
Matt Lafferty, Bill Brooks, and others who have seen a lot of systems will 
add to this string.

Joel Davidson

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Phil Schneider" <phil at CEsolar.com>
To: "RE-wrenches" <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
Sent: Friday, March 06, 2009 6:47 AM
Subject: [RE-wrenches] PV maintenance costs


>I am preparing a presentation comparing PV and small wind systems.  I am
> interested to know what you all use for a 25-year O&M cost of a PV system
> (25 kW max).  Thanks!
>
> P.
>
> Phil Schneider
> Creative Energies
>
>
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