Performance and reliability of photovoltaic (PV) systems are important issues in the overall evaluation of a PV plant and its components. While performance is connected to the amount of energy produced by the PV installation in the working environmental conditions, reliability impacts the availability of the system to produce the expected amount of energy. In both cases, the evaluation should be done considering information and data coming from indoor as well as outdoor tests. In this paper a way of re-thinking performance, giving it a probabilistic connotation, and connecting the two concepts of performance and reliability is proposed. The paper follows a theoretical approach and discusses the way to obtaining such information, facing benefits and problems. The proposed probabilistic performance accounts for the probability of the system to function correctly, thus passing through the complementary evaluation of the probability of system malfunctions and consequences. Scenarios have to be identified where the system is not functioning properly or at all. They are expected to be combined in a probabilistic safety analysis (PSA) based approach, providing not only the required probability, but also being capable of giving a prioritization of the risks and the most dominant scenario associated to a specific situation. …

None

As one of the premier research laboratories operated by the Department of Energy, Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) is pursuing an energy research agenda that focuses on renewable energy systems and will help to secure the nation's energy security. A key element of the BNL research is the advancement of grid-connected utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) plants, particularly in the northeastern part of the country where BNL is located. While a great deal of information has been generated regarding solar PV systems located in mostly sunny, hot, arid climates of the southwest US, very little data is available to characterize the performance of these systems in the cool, humid, frequently overcast climates experienced in the northeastern portion of the country. Recognizing that there is both a need and a market for solar PV generation in the northeast, BNL is pursuing research that will advance the deployment of this important renewable energy resource. BNL's research will leverage access to unique time-resolved data sets from the 37MWp solar array recently developed on its campus. In addition, BNL is developing a separate 1MWp solar research array on its campus that will allow field testing of new PV system technologies, including solar modules and balance of …

None