With the rise of environmental awareness and government policy support, Taiwan’s Solar PV system installation area has rapidly increased; according to the Industrial Research Institute’s 2018 “Taiwan Green Industry Report”, the power generation of  Solar PV devices in Taiwan has increased by 6 times from 2011 to 2018. ! However, problems have emerged behind the scenery, among which “solar power plant orphans” have frequently jumped onto the media page. Based on our experience and investigation, we found that “solar power plant orphans” have three major characteristics:

1. Poor initial planning
2. 2. Low preparation cost
3. 3. Lack of risk awareness

In fact, these three factors are highly related to the cost of solar system construction. We understand that every builder wants to comply with the expenses, but if you save some details, you will regret it later! The following is based on the common problems in our project service for your reference.

Material selection is an important part, taking solar Solar PV panels as an example, solar Solar PV system company on the market can make a warranty of 5-12 years; however, in addition to the warranty period, the warranty conditions should also be carefully checked! Especially need to pay attention to the conditions which are not covered by the warranty! For example, most of the warranty commitments exclude wind damage.

In addition, the power conversion rate of solar Solar PV panels is also the focus of everyone’s attention. However, the conversion efficiency of solar Solar PV panels will decline year by year; therefore, it is necessary to understand the brand of Solar PV panels used, the extent of the decline in conversion efficiency, and review the investment benefits of 20 years, and then understand the benefits and guarantees of installing a solar system. Before construction, the installation environment of the solar Solar PV panels should also be evaluated, including the roof and beam and column carrying capacity, and whether the roof originally leaked or not, so as to reduce the risk of subsequent renovations; in addition, the lowest carrying capacity can also be simulated by computer Under multiple conditions such as wind resistance, reaching the maximum solar light, etc., the optimal erection angle of this case was estimated.

Other factors such as the material, width, and thickness of the panels and fixed angle materials are also factoring that affect the life of solar PV panels; taking roof solar energy as an example, the height of the floor, the terrain where the factory is located, and the maximum wind power over the years will all affect the installation of the Solar PV system Material selection standards.

In fact, the initial systematic and complete planning not only helps to improve the safety and efficiency of the solar energy system, but also avoids the gradual emergence of various conditions after the start of construction, and additional engineering costs.

Now, every solar PV system supplier can provide a cloud monitoring system, which can grasp the status of power generation, daily electricity sales revenue and other data information at any time. However, “response speed and ability” and “maintenance measures and frequency” are all messages that system company rarely mention to customers. We are also in the relevant Facebook community and found that the most common problem that everyone encounters is the original system company did not contract or promise to maintain the business, so the client must entrust other operators to assist in the maintenance! Many invisible details are more aware.

In terms of “response speed and ability”, the cloud-based solar power monitoring system can make emergency notifications for abnormal data, so that the project supervisor and related personnel can grasp the real-time information; however, countermeasures, error elimination time, etc., Not only need a complete SOP mechanism, but even a long-term follow and optimization mechanism, in order to make the response speed and ability sounder.

For “maintenance measures and frequency”, the difference in environmental conditions of each site leads to different dust deposition and accumulation. When too much dust is attached and there is no rain for a long time, the power generation efficiency begins to decline significantly. Ability to regularly inspect and maintain according to the initial plan, and even increase the frequency of maintenance operations if necessary. If the system company’s commitment could be obtained at the beginning of the planning stage and before the contract is signed, the invested capital can be recovered, and stable income can be guaranteed.

Taiwan faces 5-10 typhoons every year, especially in recent years, the wind speed of typhoons has hit new highs! Every solar PV system manufacturer has been cautiously proposing perfect plans, but no one guarantees that accidents will not happen! solar PV systems often require hundreds of millions of investments, if risk aversion is not done well, there may be another “solar power plant orphan”. Therefore, it is recommended that you also carry out insurance planning for the case of the s solar PV system; once the wind disaster causes inevitable damage, you can still obtain compensation and repair it.

Finally, it is recommended that who are interested in setting up solar PV systems can pay attention to all kinds of information, and please contact the system supplier inquiring to provide the necessary information so that you can select a trustworthy solar PV system supplier.