Usecase 3 Solar panel manufacturers

Key Challenges.

Before one addresses the issues of solar photovoltaic (PV), one must understand the nature of
solar PV O&M first. The common belief is that solar requires very little to almost no
maintenance at all. This statement turns out to be true, but at the same time can be very
misleading. In the past utilities have dominated the energy industry and more or less have
supplied all the electricity to residential and commercial customers. You pay for the energy you
consume per month and that’s it. Why would one consider solar, then? A typical answer might
be because it is cleaner than coal or natural gas. This is true, but ultimately it comes down to
money, and if solar is the cheaper option. This is where the central idea comes from in order to
understand PV O&M. Solar is an investment that is likely to last you 20-25 years. How can one
know if converting to solar will save them money, especially if initial capital costs are very high?
In order to calculate an accurate return on investment, one must account for O&M issues, as
well as understand them as to develop procedures for dealing with these issues in the most
efficient and cost effective way. This is why the statement that solar requires little
maintenance can be misleading. If one has very low margins to convert to solar, and does not
accurately create a return on investment report, economically the results could be disastrous.

As the main component of a solar PV system, maintaining panels is key to achieve an ideal
power output. Throughout the life of a PV system, there are multiple issues that can lead to
panel failure, or loss of optimal efficiency.

All solar cells naturally degrade over time, regardless of the environment they are in. This is
called natural degradation, and is completely normal for all solar cells to experience once in
operation