As those who are familiar with the day-to-day operations of solar PV plants may already be aware, the complex mechanical features of the solar power producing facilities make it prone to many types of system failures or incidents on a daily basis. Considering the fact that many commercial or utility-scale solar power plants rely on pre-established power-purchasing agreements for revenue in return for transmitting clean energy produced, unexpected system downtime or mechanical errors can incur parts replacement or repair costs, but more crucially, the loss in operational income. That is why, using the energy big-data collected via REDI infranet, we have expanded our research and application of systematic failure diagnostics and predictive maintenance. Using various energy data, including but not limited to — power production data, inverter operational data, and error code records — we expect to provide on-demand solutions for unforeseen errors and systematic downtime can be forecasted before the incidence arises, allowing for drastic reductions in time and resources required to provide the necessary parts to be ordered for technicians to arrive on-site to perform necessary maintenance tasks.
REDi has been officially selected by the Korean Ministry of Science and ICT to participate as the official data service provider for the 2022 data voucher program for the second consecutive year. “Data service providers” are selected each year, in distinction of their capabilities in data acquisition and consolidation in their respective field of expertise, to provide ‘demand’ firms such as startups and SMEs with the necessary tools to advance their products and services. As per the voucher program schedule, we expect to initiate negotiations with various demand firms in the coming months with mutual interests in applying data collected by REDi infranet to enhance new business opportunities across the energy industry.
Not to be confused with our REDI-001 monitoring device, REDI remote monitoring combines functions in real-time energy data acquisition with actual remote control (ie. emergency stop) by mobile app. This recent advancement in features is in response to recent regulatory changes that waives the requirement for technicians to always be present on-site for solar PV plants, if those sites are equipped with the designated remote monitoring features. So far, more than 40MW of large-scale solar PV plants have been equipped with the new features, and have each passed government approval for its technical requirements. With advanced methods in data acquisition, as well as the added remote oversight and control, energy data is safely stored and authenticated so that only those verifiably certified can have access to the solar asset management system.