International Energy Agency Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme (IEA-PVPS) - Update on the newest Task 13

I have just returned from the kick-off meeting of the latest IEA-PVPS Task in Cologne, Germany:

"Task 13: Performance and Reliability of Photovoltaic Systems"

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has a number of working groups that deal with specific energy technologies, one of which is the Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme (PVPS). The IEA-PVPS has a number of Tasks that have dealt with several issues related to PV over the last two decades, including:

Task 1: Exchange and dissemination of information on photovoltaic power systems
Task 5: Design and grid interconnection of building integrated and other dispersed photovoltaic system
Task 9: Photovoltaic services for developing countries
Task 10: Urban-scale grid-connected PV applications, including the PV urban database

The results of many of the tasks have been crucial to the development of the PV industry as a whole, such as certain IEC standards.

Over 35 people were present at the kick-off meeting for Task 13, all representatives of leading solar companies, universities, and institutions from around the world, for example, Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy, TÜV-Rheinland, Electricité de France (EDF), the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), among others. I represented CarbonFree Technology as Canada's participant in the group.

The overall objective of Task 13 is "to improve the operation, reliability and, thus, electrical and economic output of photovoltaic power systems and subsystems". While some PV systems have been in operation for over 30 years, the large-scale adoption of grid-connected PV only started 10 years ago, spurred by the launch of the German feed-in tariff for PV (Einspeisevergütung) in the Renewable Energy Sources Act of 2000 (Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz - EEG).

Thus, long-term operational experience is limited to the older generation of research and off-grid systems of the past, especially as the vast majority of grid-connected installations have occurred only in the last 5 years. Optimization of system performance and operation have been a research and development topic for some years, and the large number of installations in Europe have provided many learning opportunities; the average "performance ratio" of grid-connected systems as a result has risen from around 60% to over 80% in many excellent installations today. 

In any case, there are still many issues that are not fully understood. Performance prediction can be made even more accurate, and there is further work to be done to ensure optimal performance and reliability of components and systems. Task 13 hopes to address these issues over the course of its mandate. More information on Task 13 can be found here.

I will post updates here on future developments from the work of the Task.

Antonio