How to Improve the Efficiency of Your Commercial Solar System

Owning a commercial solar system provides many benefits, from reducing energy costs to contributing to net zero emissions. But in order to keep reaping the lasting financial and environmental rewards of your investment, you'll want to ensure that your photovoltaic system is running as efficiently as possible through regular optimization and maintenance.

In this blog post, we will discuss why optimization and maintenance is the key for success with commercial solar—outlining what needs to be done along the way for maximum efficiency throughout the lifetime of your system.

Regularly Monitor Your System Performance

A well maintained solar PV system performs up to 30% better than one that is not well maintained. But the only way to understand the system's performance is to monitor it. This can be done through installation of an energy monitoring system, which will track the output and performance of your PV panels over time, alerting you to any changes in efficiency or reduced output.

Being able to observe exactly how your solar system is performing will allow you to proactively identify any potential issues and take steps to address them before they deteriorate the performance of your system.

Pay close attention to your inverter

The inverter is at the heart of your solar system, converting the electricity produced by your solar panels into usable AC power. It is essential that you make sure your inverter is running optimally at all times in order to improve the efficiency of your PV system.

It takes a factory trained and certified electrical solar technician to conduct inverter preventative maintenance, plus visual inspections of the arrays and BOS such as: combiner boxes, disconnects and Data Acquisition Systems. 

Proactive maintenance is cost-effective

When it breaks, I'll fix it is a terrible strategy for any kind of solar PV system. A proactive approach to maintenance and optimization generates significantly more hourly kWh generation. We've seen our 'Gold Shield' customers get 15%+ more revenue vs. a maintenance deprived array.

Performance monitoring with Transform Energy includes real-time performance monitoring and alarm triage, thermal image scans on all electrical DC wiring, inverters, E-Houses, pad mount transformers and other electrical equipment, and biannual performance reports. 

Our 'Complete Shield' plan introduces annual performance testing and verification (Imp & Voc on all strings), DAS preventative maintenance & calibration, emergency response and/or dispatch within 48 hours or less, warranty compliance, and spare parts inventory management. 

Lack of routine maintenance voids warranties

Routine maintenance is a crucial aspect of commercial solar systems, and failure to perform it can impact your solar system's warranty.

Warranty terms require that maintenance is performed to the manufacturer's specifications, and failure to meet these requirements will result in the warranty being voided.

Routine Maintenance Schedule

To keep your commercial solar system running at peak performance, it is important to have a regular maintenance schedule in place. This should include:

• Inverter Preventative Maintenance 
• Inspection of Balance of Systems 
• Removal of Debris and Material 
• Thermographic Panel Scans 
• Amperage 
• Thermography Scans 
• And more.

Let's Get Connected for O&M Services

If you're looking to have your commercial solar system professionally maintained and optimized, get in touch with Transform Energy to learn more about our maintenance and optimization services. We can provide comprehensive monitoring, inspection, testing and maintenance for all of your solar PV systems.

We understand that making the investment in a commercial solar system is a major decision, and we want to ensure that you get the most out of your investment for years to come. Get in touch to discuss how our team can help maintain and optimize the lifetime of your system.