Solar O&M has changed. Our approach should too.
By Darren Lewis | 3-11-26
TL;DR | Short on time? Here’s the gist. |
Solar operations and maintenance has evolved significantly over the past decade, but some of the industry's approaches haven't kept pace. As solar portfolios mature, we need to move beyond reactive maintenance and towards smarter, risk-based strategies that consider asset performance, site conditions and long-term value. |
Ten years in solar. A very different industry.
After more than a decade working in solar, one thing is clear to me. The industry we operate in today is very different from the one many of us started in.
We've seen enormous growth in the number of operational assets, the scale of portfolios and the expectations placed on those responsible for looking after them. Technology has improved, data is more readily available and investors are increasingly focused on the long-term performance of their assets. Yet I sometimes wonder whether our approach to operations and maintenance has evolved at quite the same pace.
That was something I wanted to explore during our discussion at Solar & Storage Live this year. Because while the industry has made tremendous progress, I think there are still opportunities to rethink how we manage and maintain solar assets.
Moving away from a one-size-fits-all approach
Historically, much of solar O&M has been built around fairly standard maintenance schedules. You visit a site at certain intervals, complete a prescribed list of activities and move on to the next one.
There's obviously a place for planned preventative maintenance, and I'm certainly not suggesting we abandon it. But we need to ask whether applying the same approach to every site is always the most effective use of time, resources and money.
No two solar farms are exactly alike. Their age, equipment, environment, operating history and performance can vary considerably. So why would we assume they all need precisely the same maintenance strategy?
For me, the future is about understanding individual assets properly and making informed decisions based on their actual condition and risk profile.
Better information should lead to better decisions
We now have access to far more operational data than we did ten years ago. Monitoring systems, performance analysis, inspections and increasingly sophisticated digital tools can help us understand what's happening across a portfolio.
But having the information is only half the battle.
The real value comes from knowing what to do with it.
If we can identify potential issues earlier, understand which assets present the greatest risk and prioritise interventions accordingly, we can make maintenance more effective without necessarily increasing activity.
It's about moving away from the assumption that doing more automatically means doing better.
Sometimes the smartest decision is to intervene. Sometimes it's to monitor an issue and understand whether it genuinely presents a risk. The important thing is having the evidence and experience to make that judgement.
The importance of getting the basics right
Of course, none of this works particularly well if we haven't got the fundamentals in place.
One of the recurring themes in our industry is the quality of information passed between construction, commissioning and ongoing operations.
Documentation, asset records and an accurate understanding of what's actually been installed are essential. If the information isn't correct from the beginning, the challenges tend to follow the asset throughout its operational life.
We've seen how discrepancies between design documentation and installed equipment can create unnecessary complications further down the line.
As an industry, we need to place greater emphasis on that transition from construction into long-term asset management. Good O&M starts well before the first maintenance visit.
Thinking about the next ten years
As solar continues to grow, the responsibility to manage these assets effectively grows with it.
We're no longer dealing with an emerging technology or a relatively small collection of installations. Solar is an established and increasingly important part of our energy infrastructure, and the way we maintain it needs to reflect that.
That means being more considered in how we allocate resources, making better use of the information available to us and being prepared to challenge approaches that may have worked perfectly well in the past.
I don't think the answer is necessarily to make everything more complicated. Quite the opposite, in fact. It's about understanding what matters, identifying the real risks and focusing our efforts where they'll have the greatest impact.
After ten years in the industry, I'm still learning, and I think that's a good thing.
The industry has changed enormously. Our thinking should continue to change with it.
Because we care.
