Photovoltaic support accounting process flow chart

Are solar photovoltaic (PV) systems a good investment?

As solar photovoltaic (PV) systems have continued their transition from niche applications into large, mature markets in the United States, their potential as financial investments has risen accordingly. Mainstream investors, however, need to feel confident about the risk and return of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems before committing funds.

How does operations & maintenance affect PV investment?

A major influence on risk and return for PV is operations and maintenance (O&M)—but O&M practices and costs vary widely across the United States, making these variables difficult for investors to predict. To address this barrier to continued PV investment, the PV O&M Working Group has developed a new best-practices guide for PV O&M.

What is PV system monitoring?

PV system monitoring helps operators create an “energy balance” that accounts for the amount of solar resource available, as well as the losses in each energy conversion process up to delivery at the point of interconnection. Monitoring is a powerful tool for understanding PV system performance, and it is fundamentally dependent on the

What are the operating variables of solar energy?

The operating variables express the factors which have a direct adoption of solar energy (e.g., solar panel efficiency, the avoided electric bill, energy price, amount of self-consumption, credit terms for energy sales to the grid).

Does a photovoltaic system affect economic profitability?

ABSTRACT. The adoption of a photovoltaic system has positive environmental effects, but the main driver of the choice in the industrial and commercial sector is economic profitability.

How does a failure affect the performance of PV modules?

the degradation in the annual power of the part of the system which is affected by the fail-ure. The preliminary results of the analysis show that the highest impact on the performance of PV modules is due to defective bypass diodes in the hot and dry climate