Arizona Public Service Corporation(APS) is the largest utility in Arizona and one of the leading solar utilities in the United States, with an installed solar capacity of over 170MW. It is worth mentioning that under such a huge energy supply volume,apsWith only six field technicians deployed, the plant was able to manage the health of the plant's assets in a holistic manner. "Spend a little money and do a lot of things. ”**eva pi systemBehind the scenes, we continue to guard the smooth progress of APS's innovative residential solar program.
Factories are dotted,The numbers are one
apsHas one of the most diverse solar portfolios in the United States.
Through the Solar Partner Program, APS operates nine utility-scale solar farms and 59 commercial-scale solar arrays with facilities and factories scattered throughout the city. APS also operates more than 1,500 company-owned rooftop residential systems.
In a sense, electricity is the key lifeblood of economic development, and there is no room for error. As a result, workers in conventional power plants need to be on duty 24 hours a day to keep their equipment running smoothly. However, under the planning of the **EVA PI system, the solar power plants scattered in different regions of APS are largely unmanned. Whether it's from the company's headquarters, or from wherever the technicians are locatedThe team can realize real-time monitoring of the power plant, and can respond quickly to any unexpected situation such as inverter downtime, ** failure, etc.
ForapsThe difficulty in controlling the global trend lies in the huge volume and too much data
Solar power plants can range from 300 to 400 acres in size.
More than 90,000 solar panels.
More than 20 inverters.
Hundreds of *** motors as well as standard electrical equipment such as transformers that require oil pressure monitoring and regular maintenance.
With massive amounts of data** and to keep everything under control, APS deployed PI Vision, which allows technicians to view offline inverters, monitor power output or irradiance, and drill down to the power block to troubleshoot issues from anywhere via the PI Vision drag-and-drop tool.
Compared with the traditional mode of rushing to the scene, troubleshooting, analysis, and then solving and reporting the process**The EVA PI System's mobile solutions greatly increase the freedom of the technician's workAPS can troubleshoot unattended power generation facilities from headquarters or remote vehicles and shorten the workflow to "find the problem, then fix the problem." At the same time, PI Vision is also synchronized with text and email notifications, giving the team a complete view of the operation of all power generation facilities anytime, anywhere, reducing downtime and costs while increasing power generation.
Excellent results in A+A:A company-wide innovation strategy tool
APS has entered into an enterprise agreement with **EVA to fully integrate the PI System into the company's solar program.
Rather than software use alone, an Enterprise Agreement can more closely align software licensing with business goals, effectively simplifying technology management. With the Enterprise Agreement, APS can explore how the PI System can support new applications that can scale as the enterprise grows, rather than focusing on licensing.
APS uses the Asset Framework, Notifications, PI Vision, and PI Process Book for solar programs to monitor the status of solar assets.
With a single screen page, APS can view the performance of solar farms at the scale of all nine power utilities. From macro to micro, while controlling the overall situation, there is no pressure to obtain details. By zooming in on a single farm, technicians can get real-time information on factors that affect power output (e.g., solar irradiance, wind, temperature, and dynamic comparison between actual and expected power output) at the touch of a button.
The PI System is also an important strategic tool for APS's innovative residential projects.
with a collaborative approachCreate a new energy supply ecosystem
According to the Solar Partner Program,apsPaying homeowners $30 a month to rent a rooftop to install a residential PV system is a groundbreaking attempt in the industry. WhileapsThe purpose of this initiative is data.
"If we install these systems on the roof of a house, we have the data. ”
With data in hand, APS can accurately grasp the current status of residential solar systems and analyze and predict the future impact of the system on the grid.
To make the most of solar data, APS partnered with experts from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and the University of Arizona. In one of the research projects, the American Electric Power Research Institute installed a power quality monitor on the APS feeder, and with the help of the powerful data integration and analysis capabilities of the PI system, the team was able to jointly study the voltage peaks generated by the residential solar system, so as to analyze the impact of residential solar performance problems on the local substation, and further make strategic adjustments to capital and maintenance costs with the support of the data.
The key influencing factor of solar power supply is its instability, "the sky cannot be leaked", and it cannot be cloudy or sunny. However, with the power of data, APS used the PI system to try to "glimpse the heavens" and achieved good results. With historical data, APS can generate solar power up to seven days in advance. With the ability to carry solar energy, APS is able to get natural gas generators up and running more efficiently and reduce fuel consumption.
The results of the APS Innovative Residential Project have propelled the company to add more residential solar in the future and lay the groundwork for electric vehicle charging or new grid balancing applications.
With the help of the PI System, APS has achieved data collection from residential meters every second and nearby feeders every minute. "Every second counts" data tracking undoubtedly provides strong support for APS to make better strategic decisions.
If we know that solar energy is unusable, we can plan the pace of operation of the farm a few days in advance and calculate how much gas we need to buy, and have a plan B ready before it happens. That's where the future of data capabilities comes in.kurt pager
Arizona Public Services Corporation PI System Administrator.