Poor Solar Project Quality Increases Levelised Cost Of Energy By 20 Percent
A new industry report finds that systemic defects in solar installations significantly reduce financial performance and drive up long-term maintenance costs.
Substandard quality in solar photovoltaic projects can drive up the levelised cost of energy (LCOE) by more than 20%, according to the fourth annual SolarGrade PV Health Report published by HelioVolta. The study evaluated workmanship and quality across more than 1,500 solar assets in the United States and Puerto Rico, representing a total capacity of 8GW.
HelioVolta assessed projects using a scoring system where points are deducted based on the severity and frequency of identified issues. Projects receiving an F grade, representing the lowest quality, experienced an LCOE increase of 21%. In contrast, projects graded as B, which lost more than 100 points, saw an LCOE increase of 7%. The report indicates that the lowest-quality systems underperform by 6% over their operational lifetimes and require up to three times more unplanned maintenance compared to top-tier installations.
The findings reveal that 87% of the inspected projects contained major issues necessitating urgent corrective action, while 8% had critical defects requiring immediate de-energisation. When categorised by system type, tracker systems exhibited the highest rate of critical issues at 18%, often attributed to failures in connector and wire management. Rooftop and ground-mounted systems reported critical issue rates of 8% and 4%, respectively. Canopy systems, which accounted for 3% of the inspected assets, showed no critical issues, though 59% of them still contained major defects.
James Nagel, co-founder and CTO of HelioVolta, noted that the disparity between high-quality and low-quality systems can determine whether an asset remains profitable or becomes stranded as tax credits expire. He cautioned that asset owners who accept aggressive cost-cutting from engineering, procurement and construction providers risk the long-term viability of their portfolios. David Penalva, co-founder and CEO of HelioVolta, emphasised that solar quality is now a quantifiable metric that can be integrated directly into contractual agreements.
