The new solution reduces maintenance costs and optimises yields, also thanks to multispectral analysis by drones
algoWatt S.p.A. , a GreenTech Solutions Company listed on the Italian Stock Exchange’s electronic share market (MTA), launches the new integrated digital platform ER-PAM (Energy R.evolution – Performance Asset Management), to guarantee a complete service for the maintenance and management of newly built or already installed and operating photovoltaic systems.
ER-PAM is a solution of the BU Green Energy Utility
ER-PAM is part of the algoWatt integrated solutions dedicated to the world of green utilities, operators in the renewable sector, managers of in-house control rooms or for the management of plant portfolios, EPC and O&M companies specialising in the management of maintenance processes, interested in the supervision, remote control and real-time monitoring of the performance and operation of photovoltaic plants.
The new integrated platform, perfectly in line with the growing trend of demand for digital energy solutions, for increasing plant energy efficiency, for increasing clean energy production and reducing emissions, is an algoWatt innovation that brings together the technological skills and experience gained in the field in over 10 years of EPC and O&M activities by the Group.
The functionalities of the new platform
ER-PAM makes it possible to reduce maintenance costs, optimise the performance of photovoltaic systems, centralise services, increase O&M and power generation performance, reduce intervention times and make field engineering more efficient. In a single platform accessible via the web, even on-site and with any device. The supervision of all types of plants guarantees the collection of field data acquired from heterogeneous SCADA systems, the calculation of plant and O&M KPIs thanks to algorithms based on tensor analysis for the predictive programming of maintenance operations. For Asset Management operators, there is the optimisation of maintenance activities and management of maintenance workers, the management of ordinary, extraordinary and predictive maintenance, the management of spare parts and spare-part warehouse (also with interface to existing external systems). The platform also integrates Document Management modules, such as administrative scheduling, standardisation of procedures and workflow.
Automated defect detection with multispectral drone analysis
Particularly innovative is the management of visual, thermographic, photographic and video inspections carried out by drones, thanks to the proprietary PV Inspector software for automated image processing, which allows the acquisition of digital data and the highlighting of critical aspects of the installations, such as hotspots, malfunctioning or underperforming panels and strings; accurately determines the location of panels in the plant; allows the acquired images to be graphically annotated to highlight the anomalies found, add text notes and finally automatically produce an inspection report that includes descriptive sheets of the anomalies detected; guarantees the monitoring of the evolution of defects and the correlation between defect and plant PR.
O&M and On-Site engineering for utility scale solar plants
In addition to the design, development and marketing of innovative digital solutions, algoWatt also carries out all types of plant engineering, as well as ordinary and extraordinary maintenance on industrial-size plants, thanks to the expertise of its On-site Engineering team. The company has an impressive track record, accumulated over 10 years of experience as a system integrator and renewable asset manager. algoWatt provides O&M contracted services of plant (re)commissioning, quality control/inspection, monitoring and installation/retrofit, as-built design documentation, plant design review, efficiency services. Finally, the company offers plant check-ups for tailor-made revamping and repowering, carries out electrical and electromechanical works, mechanical assembly, civil works, optimisation of structures, revamping of inverter cabins and transformers, rewiring as well as implementation and installation of new monitoring systems.