Quantcast
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 4445

Trending in solar O&M: Industry players call for standardization

Although O&M has finally become something solar asset owners consider up-front rather than as an annoying afterthought, the market is still in disarray, said Amanda Bybee, CEO of the Amicus O&M Cooperative. A lack of consistent standards related to operations and maintenance was one of the reasons the Amicus O&M Cooperative came to be.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
“We want to work with the industry to come up with standards,” Bybee said. “The cooperative will provide an infrastructure for companies like a library of documents, software. We’ll train and certify our members to a common understanding, try to standardize what we can and bring some consistency to the industry.”

The debate currently within O&M is whether asset owners with large portfolios should perform O&M in-house or outsource it. At the C&I level, it seems more are outsourcing O&M. But even when companies choose to bring O&M within the company’s services, it’s not always truly in-house or done at the same consistent, high standard.

“Very few companies have direct-hire employees all over the country that are suited to O&M,” Bybee said. “Everyone doing it on some type of scale has subcontractors involved. We think the cooperative model is better because everyone is thrown in together and we co-own this thing and we’re training and sharing the knowledge.”

The Amicus O&M Cooperative received a DOE SunShot grant for its efforts at streamlining O&M requirements and is just beginning to get on its feet. The North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) also received a SunShot grant last year to develop new certifications for individuals who specialize in PV system design, installation or maintenance. NABCEP hopes to help define personnel obligations and fill a gap in solar workforce standards, especially within O&M. These new NABCEP certifications are expected to launch this year.

Solar Power World

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 4445

Trending Articles