Enhancing Inverter Reliability: Current Status and Paths to Predictive Maintenance

In large-scale PV plants, inverters have consistently been the leading cause of corrective maintenance and downtime. Improving inverter reliability is critical to increasing solar photovoltaic (PV) affordability and overall plant reliability. This study combines a literature review with field diagnostics to better understand inverter failure modes, and to identify opportunities for improving inverter reliability and developing predictive maintenance practices for inverters. It is an important step towards the longer-term goal of developing and demonstrating methodologies for predictive inverter maintenance and establishing best practices for inverter-focused inventory management and retrofitting at large-scale PV plants.