On-Field Operation and Maintenance of Photovoltaic Systems in Cameroon

Abstract

The objectives of this work are to examine the causes of the breakdown in the photovoltaic power systems, to propose strategies to solve them, and to evaluate the field lifetime of some elements of the PV systems. The data analyzed were obtained from maintenance records and measurements over a period of 9 years (from 2007 to 2015) for the backup PV systems and 2 years (from 2016 to 2018) for photovoltaic water pumping (PVWPS) systems. It appears from this analysis that 29% of the batteries went bad (leading to curative intervention); this contributed to about 64.9% of the total breakdown registered. Using the failure modes, effects and criticality analysis (FMECA) method for PVWPS, criticality is 252, 402, and 504 for inverters, PV module, and motor pump, respectively. This demonstrates that motor pumps are more sensitive than other elements in the PVWPS. This study also permitted not only to evaluate the quantity of preventive and corrective maintenance impacts on solar PV systems but also to propose maintenance strategies to rapid diagnosis of PV systems.