Critical Failure Modes in Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Power Plants for the 53^rd IEEE Photovoltaic Specialist Conference (PVSC)

As photovoltaic technology has rapidly advanced, legacy systems have become challenging to maintain as failures arise and replacement parts for obsolete technology are no longer commercially available. This circumstance requires increased resources to troubleshoot and perform repairs while facing inaccessible replacement components, creating an indefinite interruption in solar power generation. A team of researchers from the University of Rhode Island and Duke University collaborated to conduct research studies structuring this problem through a Failure Mode and Effects Analysis, collecting data from technical experts to obtain insight into the most critical failures in photovoltaic power plants. The result of this study identifies photovoltaic modules, central inverters, and tracker systems as the most vital component failures. The feasibility of maintaining these when they become obsolete technologies will be essential to recognizing the most critical failure modes to the sustainability of solar power generation.