Estimation of PV System Reliability Parameters

Abstract

In evaluating the payback time and energy price per kWh generated by a renewable energy system, the system is usually assumed to work without interruptions over its entire life. Renewable energy systems are fairly reliable, but like any complex system, they may fail, and the effects of failures should be analysed and accounted for. This paper presents a procedure for filtering-out failures associated with the "infant-mortality" failure mode, and enables the estimation of distribution parameters of the constant failure rate mode that governs the behavior of the system throughout its useful service life. The procedure is best suited for cases when a large number of data are available, such as when a large number of similar systems are monitored.