The client – a company doing business in the power industry in the Czech Republic – had a photovoltaic (PV) power plant built in the south of Moravia with the installed output of 1.7 MWp. Before taking over the work from the general contractor the client had to make sure that the power plant production corresponded with the production parameters of the technology guaranteed by the manufacturers and also the terms and conditions of the general contract for work. Therefore we recommended the client to implement the performance ratio test, which directly measures the PV power plant's capability to transform the actual solar radiation into a corresponding quantity of electric power.
We began to implement independent measuring by installing measurement sensors and facilities within the object of the power plant. The measurement of 10 sunny (strong) days took the total of two weeks. Based on measurement results, we established the actual power production and its efficiency. Pursuant to the theoretical model, we established the estimated volume of production and the estimated production efficiency. By comparing the estimated and real results, we came to surprising conclusions. The power really produced at the PV power plant did not reach the estimated values.
Based on results of the performance ratio test, the client did not take over the power plant from the contractor within the regular deadline and applied a claim for defects on the work. The contractor had to identify specific problems of the power plant and to fix them within a short period of time to be able to hand it over to the client for regular use as soon as possible.
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