Jim Dumas, Solect
Energy

In last month’s column, we wrote about how to optimize your solar investment with solar operations & maintenance (O&M) services, highlighting the fact that your return on investment (ROI) is directly tied to your system’s performance. This month, we thought we’d provide a real life example of a commercial business that is realizing the benefits that solar O&M services bring to its bottom line.

Solect conducted a case study with O&M services client, Equity Industrial Partners, to examine the effectiveness of our solar services program. The results, as described below, speak for themselves.

Solar Customer Profile:

• Company Name: Equity Industrial Partners (EIP)

• Location: Methuen, Mass.

• Array Owner: Equity Industrial Partners

• Solar System Size: 2,194 kW DC

Company Overview: Equity Industrial Partners (EIP) is a private equity developer and operator of industrial warehouse and distribution facilities throughout the United States.

Challenge: In early 2015, Equity Industrial Partners realized something wasn’t right with the 2,194 kW solar array installed on the roof of their Methuen, Mass. facility. Their system was substantially under-performing. EIP was not satisfied with the level of support being provided by the original company who installed their system and noticed that their under-performing array was resulting in a lower return on investment than what they were projecting.

Solution: EIP partnered with Solect Energy to diagnose issues with the solar system and figure out what was going wrong. The solect services team came to EIP and conducted a comprehensive test and inspection of the entire 2,194 kW system. This involved a complete technical commissioning of the system, with a list of recommended repairs to enable the solar system to reach optimal capacity production. The services team was quickly given the approval to make the repairs found during the technical commissioning inspection, as well as examined every aspect of the system, including both electrical and mechanical attributes, with the end goal of maximizing system performance.

Results: Since entering into a service agreement with Solect Energy, EIP has saved and recuperated $30,000 through the repairs made to their system with increased solar production and SRECs. A key part to the diagnostic process was leveraging the system monitoring service offered as a part of Solect’s operations and maintenance program. With the Solect team inspecting and finding issues, they were able to determine a major failure point with one of the system’s inverters. This issue was preventing 25% of the inverters capacity from producing electricity. Solect was able to quickly rectify the issue with the inverter through a warranty claim with the manufacturer, saving the customer money and allowing the system to produce at full capacity. With the security and optimization that came with the Solect services agreement, EIP is now able to take full advantage of their solar investment.

Solar service agreements can help you maximize the projected ROI for a project. An experienced solar services provider can help you manage production optimization, revenue management and system maintenance over the life of the system.

Jim Dumas is founding principal and chief operating officer of Solect Energy in Hopkinton, Mass.