RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT: THE “KILOWATTORA” PROJECT LAUNCHED
A new predictive protocol to detect and correct potential underperfomance
The operational heart of EF Solare Italia has always been the Operations area, which manages the extensive portfolio of power plants (more than 300 in Italy alone), ensuring their maintenance and proper operation. In an unprecedented time in which plants begin their normal path of aging and wear and tear, it is important to prevent possible complications caused by this process and to find effective solutions to intervene. From these premises and from the desire to internalize the skills needed to meet the new challenges of solar energy, the “Kilowattora” project was created: a research and development initiative carried out by EF Solare’s Asset Management team in collaboration with HBA, a company specializing in solutions for industrial automation applied to renewables, and with T8P for support in the coordination activities of the working group.
Four sample plants were analyzed over the past year, with the goal of identifying and developing a plan of technological, maintenance and organizational actions targeted at increasing the performance of EF Solare’s entire Italian asset base, balancing quick actions (“quick win”) and structural change actions. “The outcome of this project is an innovative and predictive protocol capable of indicating potential plant underperformance, correcting them, and updating itself through learning”, explain project leaders Francesco Palmieri and Simone Pazienti of the Asset Management team.
This is a unique project in this sector, for which EF Solare drew inspiration from other industries, incorporating best practices in data analysis and field investigations and cross-referencing them with decades of experience in solar energy to internalize an important step for its business: predictive maintenance. The “Kilowattora” project involved four phases: analysis of technical and performance data, site visit by Technical Inspector for field verification of plant status and operating conditions, consolidation of findings, and finally an in-depth analysis of corrective actions to be taken. Also contributing to the success of this project were Technical Inspectors Giorgio Marinozzi and Fabio Valente, along with Flavio Piacenti for the Engineering department and Claudio Alori from Monitoring & Performance.
The protocol was recently implemented and by the end of 2024 it will be extended to other plants in EF Solare’s portfolio. “Kilowattora” is an open protocol that is constantly being updated and allows EF Solare to optimize energy production, ensuring that plants are always operating at maximum capacity. This contributes to greater environmental sustainability of the plant: against a backdrop of growing demand for clean energy, predictive maintenance is a key element in ensuring reliability and optimal performance over the long term, supporting the transition to a greener, more sustainable energy future.
“EF Solare’s Operations team, with this project, has once again demonstrated exceptional skills capable of leading us to write a piece of industry history with this innovative protocol. I thank the entire team that worked on its development because predictive maintenance plays a crucial role in the photovoltaic sector, ensuring efficiency and longevity of plants and reducing maintenance costs,” explained Andrea Ghiselli, CEO of EF Solare Italia.