The Effect of Inverter Failures on the Return on Investment of Solar Photovoltaic Systems
Return on investment (ROI) analyses of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems used for residential usage have typically shown that at least 10 to 12 years is needed to break even, with this amount varying based on tax credits and reliability. This paper discusses the challenges with the reliability of curr...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IEEE
2017-01-01
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| Series: | IEEE Access |
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| Online Access: | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8039151/ |
| _version_ | 1818332081967595520 |
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| author | Tyler J. Formica Hassan Abbas Khan Michael G. Pecht |
| author_facet | Tyler J. Formica Hassan Abbas Khan Michael G. Pecht |
| author_sort | Tyler J. Formica |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Return on investment (ROI) analyses of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems used for residential usage have typically shown that at least 10 to 12 years is needed to break even, with this amount varying based on tax credits and reliability. This paper discusses the challenges with the reliability of current solar photovoltaic systems and the key reliability bottlenecks, with a focus on the ROI. The problem stems primarily from reliability issues of currently available power electronics hardware. This paper's analysis of failure data shows that the short warranties and reliability concerns associated with solar PV inverters reduce the long-term ROI of residential solar PV systems by up to 10%. This paper, therefore, provides key insights for accurate ROI calculations for solar PV investments. Furthermore, methods to improve the reliability of PV inverters, such as selection of capacitors, inverter topology, and incorporating wide-bandgap semiconductor devices, are presented. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T13:30:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-bfe6d635fdec43b180b60e331a6b5ed0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2169-3536 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T13:30:05Z |
| publishDate | 2017-01-01 |
| publisher | IEEE |
| record_format | Article |
| series | IEEE Access |
| spelling | doaj.art-bfe6d635fdec43b180b60e331a6b5ed02022-12-21T23:44:12ZengIEEEIEEE Access2169-35362017-01-015213362134310.1109/ACCESS.2017.27532468039151The Effect of Inverter Failures on the Return on Investment of Solar Photovoltaic SystemsTyler J. Formica0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4125-0981Hassan Abbas Khan1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2847-9773Michael G. Pecht2Center for Advanced Life Cycle Engineering, University of Maryland at College Park, College Park, MD, USADepartment of Electrical Engineering, School of Science and Engineering, Lahore University of Management Sciences, Lahore, PakistanCenter for Advanced Life Cycle Engineering, University of Maryland at College Park, College Park, MD, USAReturn on investment (ROI) analyses of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems used for residential usage have typically shown that at least 10 to 12 years is needed to break even, with this amount varying based on tax credits and reliability. This paper discusses the challenges with the reliability of current solar photovoltaic systems and the key reliability bottlenecks, with a focus on the ROI. The problem stems primarily from reliability issues of currently available power electronics hardware. This paper's analysis of failure data shows that the short warranties and reliability concerns associated with solar PV inverters reduce the long-term ROI of residential solar PV systems by up to 10%. This paper, therefore, provides key insights for accurate ROI calculations for solar PV investments. Furthermore, methods to improve the reliability of PV inverters, such as selection of capacitors, inverter topology, and incorporating wide-bandgap semiconductor devices, are presented.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8039151/Solar energysolar photovoltaic systemsreliabilityinverterswarrantymicroelectronics |
| spellingShingle | Tyler J. Formica Hassan Abbas Khan Michael G. Pecht The Effect of Inverter Failures on the Return on Investment of Solar Photovoltaic Systems IEEE Access Solar energy solar photovoltaic systems reliability inverters warranty microelectronics |
| title | The Effect of Inverter Failures on the Return on Investment of Solar Photovoltaic Systems |
| title_full | The Effect of Inverter Failures on the Return on Investment of Solar Photovoltaic Systems |
| title_fullStr | The Effect of Inverter Failures on the Return on Investment of Solar Photovoltaic Systems |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Effect of Inverter Failures on the Return on Investment of Solar Photovoltaic Systems |
| title_short | The Effect of Inverter Failures on the Return on Investment of Solar Photovoltaic Systems |
| title_sort | effect of inverter failures on the return on investment of solar photovoltaic systems |
| topic | Solar energy solar photovoltaic systems reliability inverters warranty microelectronics |
| url | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8039151/ |
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