5 steps for effective Solar maintenance

If your business has a roof-mounted, ground-mounted or carport Solar PV installation, you’ll want to maximise your cost and carbon savings. Ongoing servicing is critical to ensure your Solar installation continually delivers the best performance, while remaining safe and compliant. But what do you need to consider when choosing an Operations and Maintenance partner?

We’ve outlined five maintenance steps you should take to ensure you get the appropriate standard of aftercare for your commercial Solar installation.

1. Consider O&M in the design phase

It’s important that you consider your maintenance plan right at the very beginning of the design phase. It’s critical that specialist engineers can get regular access to the installation so that cleaning, servicing and repairs can be carried out. You may also find that your planning conditions have specific conditions that must be adhered to during the operation of the plant, to ensure it remains legally compliant. The right service plan can manage this for you.

From the outset, you should also factor in lifetime maintenance costs. Good quality proactive maintenance reduces the risk of (potentially more expensive) corrective maintenance being required later on. This should also be planned well in advance, to guarantee peak performance, component longevity and safe working conditions.

2. Bundle maintenance with flexible financing 

As your Solar project progresses, you may consider funding it with flexible financing, instead of through capital expenditure. If you choose to partner with Centrica Business Solutions, we can bundle this with O&M - so we’ll look after your asset throughout its lifetime. 

For example, with our Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) option, we will install a Solar PV on your site with zero upfront capital cost. Instead, you’ll pay for the electricity generated by the system, at a kWh price that’s typically lower than grid pricing. We’ll also bundle Operations and Maintenance into the same contract – simplifying your energy strategy, and ensuring your Solar PV system always performs at it’s best.

By including O&M in your flexible financing package, you’ll be protecting your organisation for the long term. It’ll reduce your asset performance risk – and you can

rest assured knowing we’ll manage every aspect of your Solar installation to a high standard.

3. Surround yourself with the right expertise

Solar installations present a number of key safety risks: from fires, to panel displacement, to the high voltage current that’s produced by the plant. A structured maintenance plan ensures the site is safe – with tightly controlled access, clearly identified electrical hazards, and high and low voltage components that are regularly inspected for safety. This helps to safeguard the safety of employees or visitors who find themselves in the vicinity.

With this in mind, it’s important to surround yourself with experienced talent who are well-versed in the management of Solar installations. With experience built over 35+ years, our highly skilled and qualified engineering team have plenty of experience in managing these kinds of risks. What’s more, as part of your service plan, you’ll also get access to an experienced account management support and a dedicated support helpline during office hours, for assistance with any other elements of your maintenance agreement. Together, these teams will help you to optimise performance and uptime; maximise efficiency and savings; and ensure safety and compliance.

4. Choose the right service package

There are a range of different service plans available, depending on your business’ needs.

At a minimum, you should receive one service visit per year, to inspect the performance and safety of your Solar installation. This can help to anticipate and resolve potential issues before they arise - including possible electrical hazards, structural issues, damaged/degraded components, or uncontrolled access to the site. If any faults or issues are identified at this stage, corrective action can be taken right away. This can help to reduce the risk of more expensive corrective action being needed later on.

However, many organisations opt for a more comprehensive service plan, to give them complete reassurance that their system is being maintained to the highest safety and performance standards. Comprehensive servicing typically includes:

• Two service visits per year – double the amount of preventative maintenance as our Standard Service
• Round-the-clock remote monitoring and diagnostics, to proactively identify potential issues
• Annual cleaning of your PV modules
• Inspection and certification of the ManSafe system
• Annual thermal imagining of the solar array
• Guaranteed time-to-fix, if an issue does arise – subject to parts availability
• Performance guarantees

5. Choose a provider who can do it all

We currently support 500+ customers around the world with their servicing needs, including maintaining solutions like Combined Heat and Power (CHP) and Heat Pumps, alongside commercial Solar installations. Three fundamental pillars underpin our approach:

• Always looking out for you - Our services are delivered by highly trained, qualified engineers, backed by state-of-the-art smart technologies, automated systems and advanced analytics.
• Keeping you in control - For us, transparency and accountability is everything – keeping you in the know and helping you take greater control of the way your business uses and consumes energy.
• There when you need us - Our service team is on the road, nationwide and at the end of the phone 365 days a year – enabling us to be highly responsive to your business demands.

To find out more about how this could work for your organisation, read more about our Solar Operations and Maintenance packages or speak to one of our experts.