The time has come for the solar industry to take action on energy losses

What are the challenges with alternate sources of energy? This article specifically talks about solar power. In an article published by Solar Power Portal and written by Jonas Corné, CEO of the energy software company Greenbyte, the risks of solar power are discussed.  Solar power has seen an increase in production during this Covid-19 pandemic, the only form of electricity that has increased this year. This has proven how important it is to maintain solar energy generation and make sure that it continues to accelerate, while also discussing the risks and shortcomings.  There is a lot of competition in the industry at the moment but “competition is good for the industry, multiple data formats are not, and data managers need to be able to collect and organize different data sets into a comparable format, or face the risk of increased asset downtime, lower life expectancy and reduced rate of return.” This makes things a bit complicated because it may be more difficult to manage, and although it may be better for the environment, if it can’t be organized properly, less people will want to utilize it. “Without the ability to fully understand data, identifying where issues lie becomes harder, which matters when you don’t know whether the problem is affecting a single panel or an entire array. The potential lost energy is therefore incalculable.” That makes it a risk, so currently Greenbyte is researching a way to make solar energy more manageable, because the benefits are clear. “Greenbyte’s research suggests that causes of energy loss in the solar PV sector usually fall within two categories, (1) failures and (2) inefficiencies….greater number of internal electrical components - and therefore parts that can fail - in solar panels...higher level of complexity when identifying and preventing or mitigating internal issues leading to energy loss. Component failures and inefficiencies can be caused by a multitude of factors, both internal and environmental, including: (1) the electrical grid, wiring and inverter/transformation stations and (2) module degradation, shading and soiling effects, tracker misalignment, inverter overheating and wiring.” Because each solar site needs to be managed individually and there isn’t a quick fix, it’s more difficult to manage and keep track of, rather than a traditional grid system.  Greenbyte is working on a data management software and a mapping system with alerts in order to keep track of solar sites. There needs to be continued work on the issues in the solar industry in order for it to fully excel and overtake traditional forms of energy.