Work Package 1
Project Management & Dissemination
This WP includes setting up the administrative routines and carrying out activities to ensure that all partners fully understand their role and are committed to the project.
It implements routines for communication, document exchange, technical and economic progress reporting, to assure that resources allocated for design, demonstration, and innovation objectives are properly utilised. All management and dissemination activities is carried out within this WP.
Work Package 2
Failure Detection/Degradation Algorithms
The aim of this WP is the development of an advanced performance prediction simulation model (PV plant Digital Twin – virtual replica of a PV plant operating at optimum performance level) that will be further integrated with the formulated failure diagnosis routines, performance loss rate algorithms, and financial functions that will act as an on-line health state monitor providing sophisticated analysis of PV plant monitoring data.
In the end, the developed data-driven health state monitor will provide on-line comparisons between the actual and simulated performance of the PV plant and provide through user-friendly visualizations, information on the actual performance of PV plants. The developed monitor will be thoroughly benchmarked on an experimental test-setup at the OTF of AIT.
Work Package 3
Prescriptive Maintenance Tool
The aim of this WP is the development of a least-cost prescriptive maintenance approach based on bi-level Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP).
Subject to heterogeneous factors like weather conditions, number of personnel, distance to the PV site and available routes, Health and Safety Executives (HSE) of the specific PV site, infrastructure availability in the PV site warehouse (i.e. number spare parts of inverter power units, cables, etc.), contract characteristics, distribution system operator special requirements, current degradation state of the modules, inverter failure historical events and other special conditions, the scope is to minimize the overall maintenance cost.
The first level will correspond to short-term decisions within a 24h period, i.e. the time slots that a maintenance event will be triggered. Based on the results of the first level, the second level will refer to maintenance actions in the medium-term, i.e. covering a period of 1 week.
Work Package 4
Mobile Work Force Management Tool
This MFWM will provide a holistic approach to the operation and maintenance works of solar power plant.
Using this single platform, O&M companies shall get the benefit of both data analytics (powered by AI and machine learning) with advance algorithms on failure detection and equipment degradation and managing all site works through a single platform which gives all necessary suggestions to complete any task with a mobile app having audio-visual guidance as well as on-line knowledge sharing platform.
Feedback from the MWFM to analytics tool will also increase the accuracy of the overall system in terms of decision making in an autonomous way. All KPIs about the power plant operation will be monitored and reported through this MFWM. Besides, increasing the engagement and continuous training of the staff will be supported by using some gamification tools such as offering some earnings as a result of high KPIs or frequent using of embedded training tool.
Work Package 5
Integration and Field Validation
In this WP, integration interfaces of the sub-systems shall be developed in accordance with an integration plan.
Before the integration of all sub-systems, each system shall be tested by the responsible partner as per the requirements defined in the beginning of the project. Fault detection/degradation algorithms and prescriptive analytics tools shall also be tested in the laboratories of FOSS and AIT. Field tests, which will validate the effectiveness of the system based on the KPIs targeted, shall be conducted by using test procedures to be in the scope of this WP.
Field tests will monitor the KPIs both on technical and economical parameters where maximization of the production with minimization of the operational costs of the O&M company are the main objectives. During the period for observation and getting the models more trained with historical data, system shall be improved by analyzing the use cases which will be reported through the mobile work force management.
Work Package 6
Evaluation and Recommendations
This final WP will be evaluating the effectiveness of the developed solution in terms of technical and economical aspects.
For this purpose, a detailed cost-benefit analysis shall be performed which will be considering the total production, availability, performance ratio etc. of the solar power plant and all operational costs of the O&M company for the pilot power plant as well as other indirect costs saved by the proposed solution.
After this evaluation, a roadmap for the commercialization of the final product shall be prepared by all stakeholders in accordance with the consortium agreement which will also keep the IP rights of each partner.
