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Request a site assessment
Office +27 87 711 3013WhatsApp +27 84 539 9954

Eight services that keep a solar plant producing

Each service works on its own part of the plant.

Response times are agreed for each site.

Planned care

A steel walkway running between long rows of solar modules on the Shelly Centre roof, with the town beyond
Shelly Centre, rooftop array and walkway

Preventive maintenance

Planned, scheduled work on the modules, mounting, cabling, inverters and protection of a plant, to find wear and loose connections before they cost generation.

  • The array: modules, mounting and roof fixings, as they age in the weather
  • The DC side: connectors, cabling and combiner boxes, where loose or overheated joints start
  • The inverters: cooling, alarms and the event log
  • The AC side and protection: breakers, terminations, earthing and the LV board

Module cleaning

Removing the dust, pollen, bird droppings and residue that build up on modules and hold back their output.

  • Soiling assessed by inspection and by comparing output before and after
  • Method and water matched to the module manufacturer’s guidance
  • Roof access, walkways and safety lines checked before work starts
  • Each clean recorded by site and date
Module clean
Performance ratio each day, before and after a module clean. Example. Figures illustrative.

Inspection and testing: thermography and IV curves

Thermographic imaging finds hot spots in modules and connections that the eye cannot see. IV-curve tracing measures a string against its rated curve, so a weak string is identified by number.

  • Thermographic survey of modules, combiner boxes and terminations under load
  • IV-curve tracing of each string, compared with its rated curve
  • Insulation resistance testing of DC cabling

Monitoring and fault response

Alarm list

Four platforms, one alarm list

RaisedPlatformSiteAlarmState
06:42Sungrow iSolarCloudSite BInverter 3 offlineOpen
07:15SolarEdgeSite AString 2.6 current lowIn hand
08:03VCOMSite CLogger not reportingIn hand
09:30SolarEMSSite DGeneration below expectedClosed
Example. Figures illustrative.

Remote monitoring

Generation and equipment status, watched through each plant’s own monitoring platform and compared with the revenue meter.

  • Generation compared with what the plant should have produced
  • Inverter, string and communication alarms reviewed and followed up
  • Gaps in the data found, so a silent logger is not mistaken for a working plant

The platforms on which Sunbird O&M watches the plants in its care: SolarEdge, Sungrow iSolarCloud, VCOM and SolarEMS.

Corrective maintenance and fault response

Diagnosis and repair when a fault takes an inverter, a string or a connection out of service.

  • The fault located from the alarm and the platform data
  • The cause diagnosed on site, safely isolated
  • The failed part repaired or replaced
  • Generation confirmed against neighbouring strings or inverters after the repair
  1. Alarm
  2. Confirmed remotely
  3. Repaired on site
  4. Generation confirmed

Spares management

Identifying the critical parts a plant needs for repairs, such as fuses, isolators and fans, and tracking what is held.

  • Critical spares listed per site, from the single-line diagram and the equipment models
  • A minimum holding set for each part
  • Each use recorded, and stock reordered below the minimum
  • Warranty returns tracked to replacement

Inverters and battery storage

A long inverter room at Belgotex, a row of wall-mounted inverters above a cable tray
Belgotex, inverter room
A battery storage cabinet on a raised platform with yellow safety railings, beside a factory wall
New Concept Mining, battery storage

Inverter and battery storage (BESS) maintenance

Servicing for the inverters that convert a plant’s output, and for battery energy storage systems (BESS) where a site has them. Both carry their own maintenance requirements from the manufacturer.

  • Inverter filters and fans cleaned, and cooling checked
  • Event logs and firmware versions reviewed
  • Battery state of health, temperature and enclosure cooling checked
  • Manufacturer service visits where a warranty requires them

Monthly reporting

The solar check meter on its panel at Irene Village Mall, its display showing live readings
Irene Village Mall, solar check meter

Monthly reporting

One report to each owner every month, with generation read from the revenue meter and the monitoring platform and reconciled against the monthly production report.

  • Seven sections, from generation against expected to next month’s planned work
  • Every figure labelled Measured, Annualised or Estimated
  • Plants Sunbird Solar built reported apart from plants taken over
The monthly report, section by section

Taking over a system someone else built

When an installer moves on, the plant still needs someone accountable for its output. Sunbird O&M takes it over in four steps, then reports on it like every other plant in its care.

Plants taken over

  • Jubilee Mall1,385 kWpTaken under management beside the 3,522 kWp plant Sunbird Solar built on the same site
  • Belgotex1,400 kWpTaken over beside the plant that replaced a failing third-party system

What helps at handover

None of it is required to start. The meter data is what the performance gap report is built on.

  • As-built drawings What was installed, and where.
  • The single-line diagram How the plant is connected, from strings to the meter.
  • Monitoring platform access An administrator login, so history is kept.
  • 12 months of meter data The baseline the first reports are measured against.
  • The yield estimate What the plant was designed to produce.
  • Warranties For modules, inverters and any battery, with their terms.

Takeover record

Illustrative

Four steps from handover to the first report

  1. AuditAs found

    • The plant is assessed as found, before anything is changed

  2. RemediationPut right

    • Faults and defects found in the audit are put right

  3. Onboarding to monitoringWatched

    • The plant is brought onto a monitoring platform Sunbird O&M already watches

  4. First monthly reportReported

    • The plant joins the owner’s monthly report, in the same format as every other plant

Questions

Anything else? Call the office on +27 87 711 3013.

What does an O&M contract with Sunbird O&M cover?

The eight services on this page. Every plant in Sunbird O&M’s care is monitored, and its owner receives a report every month.

Where do you work?

In South Africa, in all provinces.

Will you take over a system another installer built?

Yes. At Jubilee Mall and Belgotex, plants already on site were taken under Sunbird O&M’s management. At Belgotex, a failing third-party system was removed and replaced with a plant built by Sunbird Solar.

The Belgotex case study
Do you maintain battery storage?

Yes. Battery energy storage systems are serviced with the inverters, under inverter and battery storage maintenance, wherever a site has one.

Can you report across a portfolio of sites?

Yes. A fund receives a report for each plant and a view across its sites, with plants Sunbird Solar built kept apart from plants taken over. Vukile Property Fund’s retail centres are reported this way.

The fund view

Send us 12 months of meter data for any plant

We return a performance gap report, whoever built the plant. It is the first step of a site assessment.

Request a site assessment

Or speak to Scott Rogers, DirectorOffice +27 87 711 3013WhatsApp +27 84 539 9954