Effective Maintenance Saves Downtime

In the rush to benefit from the incentives and tariffs, we’ve seen a worrying increase in the number of solar sites that have been poorly designed, built or maintained. Owing to our experience and expertise, RES had recently been chosen by the Asset Manager as their preferred Solar O&M contractor, to replace the original O&M contractor on this 5 MW site, commissioned in 2011.

In the late summer, during peak generation an historical fault led to a fire and ultimate failure in an inverter, which converts power from DC to AC. Still under the original warranty, replacing the inverter, should have been carried out by the manufacturer. However, the manufacturer confirmed the lead time for replacement would be several weeks.

A Thorough Understanding of the Technology

As an alternative, RES were able to rebuild the inverter quickly using spare parts. This reduced the down time and therefore loss of revenue and did not require mobilisation of the manufacturer’s engineers from Spain.

The cost of repair is estimated to be approximately half of using the original manufacturer, due to avoiding their mobilisation costs. The repair completed more quickly – saving the client over £10,000 in repair and lost revenue.

Our experience meant we rebuilt quickly using spares. The original manufacturer was highly impressed with our repairs. 

When the Spanish manufacturer arrived to commission the rebuilt inverter they were highly impressed with the quality and standard of workmanship.

Having an O&M contractor with the right technical skills and experience can be a huge asset in resolving unplanned outages quickly and safely. Importantly, had RES been involved at an earlier stage, our inspection services can identify potentially serious issues under warranty and plan the maintenance to reduce peak down time.