What Are Your Options in the Post Warranty Stage for Solar O&M?

Solar operations and maintenance is a hot topic these days due to the number of solar PV installations in the United States that are maturing into a post-warranty stage. At this juncture, utility-scale solar asset managers are taking a look at their options.

For most multi-megawatt installations, asset managers typically have an O&M plan in place since back the project was in its engineering and design phases; however, it’s been a long road since those plans were first developed and, as we all know, plans change.

The reasons for seeking a new solution to O&M are varied. Perhaps it is because of failures in the original plan or whether business needs have changed or the company you’ve contracted with isn’t doing the best job. Whatever the case, there are several options for post-warranty stage solar O&M from which to choose.

The three options for ongoing solar operations and maintenance service that plant owners and operators are as follows:

1. Stick with the Original Equipment Manufacturers Contract
2. Manage O&M In-house
3. Sign a Deal with a Third-Party Provider

Let’s explore each of these options.

OPTION 1: Stick with the Original Equipment Manufacturers Contract

Here are some of the pros and cons to consider when deciding whether to stay with the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for post-warranty operations and maintenance (O&M):

• PRO: Keeping communication open about upgrades to the control systems and the solar equipment.

Knowing firsthand when a control system has been upgraded or improved upon can mean a lot to the bottom line if these upgrades affect performance. Sometimes this also means better OEM parts pricing.

• CON: OEMs may always be trying to sell to you.

Yes, it’s true keeping communication open can help with system upgrades. However, to whose advantage is this really, the OEM or the plant owner? For the OEM, they may see the opportunity to keep the sales channel open. When a piece of equipment fails, will the OEM be more apt to sell you new, more costly part instead of repairing the existing equipment? And, will you receive dozens of sales calls and emails worked into your day-to-day maintenance updates?

• PRO: Familiarity with Equipment.

When equipment fails, often the best solution is being able to go direct to the manufacturer for replacement or repairs. This could mean lower risks of long down times diagnosing equipment problems.

• CON: Many Points of Contact.

Going directly to the OEM may mean that you will have numerous points of contact to keep all equipment in working order. You’ll still need in-house staff to diagnose which piece or pieces of equipment failed. This person or team would need to contact the correct OEM and have good follow-up ensuring the anomaly has been fixed. The list of potential contacts may include; the company who manufactured your inverter, the company who manufactured your panels, and then there’s the monitoring system company, the racking company, the combiner company, and the list goes on. Also, note that equipment failures could turn into a finger pointing game where you spend more time than you’d like managing the OEMs and maintenance issues. It might be easier to take the O&M in-house.

OPTION 2: Manage O&M In-house

Solar power plant owners that choose to manage their own O&M in-house must ensure their personnel:

• Are equipped with appropriate skill-sets
• Understand the how the complete system functions
• Have the qualifications and experience
• Can manage spare-part inventory
• Have a firm grasp on quality control
• Understands and can manage all maintenance procedures – both scheduled and emergency services.
• Have good time management experience

Some of the pros and cons of choosing to manage your O&M in-house are as follows:

• PRO: Lower costs.

Not having a flat monthly fee and being tied to an ongoing contract certainly is appealing. Your costs are tied directly to the employee’s time and the cost of parts and other maintenance needs. You are assured that you are only paying for services you need. This option offers the most control of your solar farm.

• CON: More pressure on managing staff.

Optimizing photovoltaic system performance completely depends on the in-house staff. O&M will only be as effective as the people managing it behind the scenes. Hiring, firing and managing staff takes time and energy. Staff must understand how to meet performance targets and be able to effectively perform the scope of services required for preventative maintenance as well as emergency services. Should an employee be underperforming, the effect can trickle down to degrade system performance too.

• PRO: More direct control over maintenance.

Managing solar O&M in-house you will have more control over maintenance, because you are solely responsible for it. You set the schedule, make the inspections, keep spare parts inventory in check, clean panels, and monitor the system for anomalies. If there is a failure, it’s under your control.

• CON: Too much time and energy dedicated to maintenance.

Having direct control over your own maintenance may sound comforting; however, this is a double edge sword. While you have complete control of the maintenance when managing it in-house, you may not have the resources (both time and staff) to effectively manage it 24/7/365. Logistical and employee issues may turn into a nightmare.

• PRO: Availability of technicians for emergency services.

Providing your own in-house O&M team means you dispatch the technicians for emergency services. There’s no waiting for a call back from the O&M company, your staff can respond as quickly as you schedule them. Again, you’re in complete control.

• CON: Cost of shift-differential or overtime for emergencies.

A total system failure may happen on a holiday weekend. Is your in-house O&M staff required to respond and fix it within a certain time frame, no matter what? Depending on how you’ve hired your employees, any monitoring, outage repairs, or emergency services may be part of their daily duties or you may end up paying a shift-diff for nights, weekends, and holidays. For most solar farms, 24-hour monitoring and fast emergency services assures maximum ROI, but this comes at a cost that can weigh heavily on an already taxed plant operator who needs to balance employees, vacation coverage, sick days, employee issues, budgets, and ROI.

OPTION 3: Sign a Deal with a Third Party Provider

There are many reasons solar power plant operators and owners decide to use a third party O&M provider.

You may have contracted services from the EPC company that constructed your array for O&M after the system was commissioned. Now you’ve discovered that just because a company built your solar array it doesn’t mean they are the best people to maintain it for years, or even decades down the road. They may have already failed as an operator since the system went live, or other issues have cropped up. Or, you may have been managing your solar O&M in-house and the headaches of doing it all yourself are just too overwhelming. Whatever your obstacles have been, signing a deal with a third party provider may be right for you.

Here are some of the pros and cons in contracting with a third party solar O&M provider:

• PRO: Third Party Providers are Focused on O&M Only

Few companies are positioned to only offer solar O&M services. A company that takes on the challenge of offering O&M services as a stand-alone service will be highly motivated to operate and manage your solar power plant to the highest standards. It is their core business, so you can expect excellent customer service and the highest quality workmanship.

• CON: There may be a learning curve.

The lack of familiarity with the ins-and-ours of your particular system may take some time for the technician to get acquainted with its nuances. If you have decided to go with a third party solar O&M provider, you’ll want to be confident that the company will conduct a complete system review as soon as possible. This will ensure they are up to speed with what has happened during the development and construction phases and will know as much as possible about the system to proactively schedule maintenance. That way, in an emergency situation, you can be rest assured that long troubleshooting times won’t be needed to cypher out system-specific design or operational issues.

• PRO: Capable solar service technicians are a phone call away.

Third party solar O&M providers will be capable of dispatching capable solar service technicians, sometimes in different states at the same time. In your O&M agreement, specific times will be detailed for emergency services, preventative maintenance visits and any other O&M service related response that could be needed. You’ll have in writing what kind of service you can expect to receive.

• CON: Turnover rate and lacking equipment.

Unless you find an experienced O&M company with deep energy experience and equipment that they own to provide contractual services, you take the chance of getting in with a company that may have high turnover rates with their contractors or one that lacks the proper equipment to get the job done. Both of these instances will result in longer down times. If the technician is not familiar with your site, or doesn’t have the correct equipment or tools to perform the required repairs, the time they waste getting up to speed or waiting on equipment is time you can’t recoup. Time loss is energy loss, so be sure to find a reliable third party partner.

• PRO: More cost effective.

Outsourcing your solar O&M can be more cost effective because you will not be adding permanent positions to your existing work force.

• CON: Creates an added reporting structure.

Although one call, will do it all with a third party contractor, it still removes the service outside of your organization and under the control of another company. When you are turning your installation over to another company you’ll want to ensure they have a solid, presentable plan to minimize plant downtime, reduce risk of power production losses, produce expected or greater than expected investment returns, and maximize overall solar output. The O&M provider should have a proactive approach to solar O&M and be able to show detailed record keeping procedures and checklists for preventative maintenance. The bottom line on outsourcing your O&M to a third party service company is, do you trust them?

Miller Bros. Solar (MBS) is a chosen leader in operations and maintenance (O&M) solutions due to the company’s project expertise, full construction capabilities, and 160+ pieces of heavy equipment. MBS is one of the few electrical contractors that can simultaneously self-perform multiple utility scale solar projects while exceeding client expectations, controlling costs and adhering to timelines and customer schedules.

Miller Bros. Solar provides O&M services for solar projects in the following states: Connecticut, Delaware, Ohio, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia.

For more information, visit http://millerbrossolar.com or call 610-832-1000.

post warrantysolar O&M

Solar O&M is All About the Response

When your solar farm is confronted with unexpected obstacles, how your operations and maintenance (O&M) service company respond means everything!

While the sun may have set for the day, solar O&M technicians and employees work tirelessly around the clock to provide clients with 24/7/365 availability and access to on-site first response and emergency service. In theory that all sounds well and good, but is it just a great marketing message or do you have it guaranteed and in writing?

While an O&M provider can offer each client the convenience of a state-of-the-art Network Operations Center (NOC), without any guaranteed response times, energy is being lost and there’s nothing you can do about it except maybe fix the issue yourself. Knowing there’s an issue with the solar array and getting something done about it are two different things.

Be Sure to Get Guaranteed Response Times
In your O&M agreement there should be a section outlining and guaranteeing response times for various situations. Without such guarantees, nothing motivates a provider to fix the solar array problem. You certainly don’t want to wait until, well, whenever they get the chance.

Guaranteed response times and services provided should be detailed for different sets of operating challenges. For example, should an operator detect an anomaly or a monitoring system send out an alert, the O&M service company should respond via phone within 12 hours of initial contact. Depending on the anomaly, they should also perform any necessary on-site emergency visits in less than 24-hours for critical repairs and replacement solutions.

What Does Your Contract Include?
At the start of every contract, Miller Bros Solar (MBS) provides our clients with a list of direct contacts to call in cases of system trouble, ensuring constant client communication.

While MBS makes certain to operate and maintain PV systems utilizing the best industry practices, products, means and methods, some systems experience challenges above and beyond anyone’s expectations. With years of experience servicing and repairing solar photovoltaic equipment, MBS technicians pinpoint the problem, investigate possible root causes and repair the failed equipment in an a very effective and efficient manner.

Our Services Include:
• On-site/Remote Monitoring and Mitigation – Working together to identify issues allows for rapid response to action in whatever capacity is needed.
• Proactive and Reactive Repair & Equipment Replacement (Planned and Unplanned) – Through our network of trained units, MBS is able to service your site and get your system back on-line, whether it is routine system maintenance or an unplanned system failure.
• Original Manufacturer’s Warranty Enforcement – Warranty enforcement enables MBS to further protect you and your investment by holding the manufacturer and original installer responsible for the proper installation, functionality, and life cycle of your equipment.

Miller Bros. Solar (MBS) is a chosen leader in operations and maintenance (O&M) solutions due to the company’s project expertise, full construction capabilities, and 160+ pieces of heavy equipment. MBS is one of the few electrical contractors that can simultaneously self-perform multiple utility scale solar projects while exceeding client expectations, controlling costs and adhering to timelines and customer schedules.

Miller Bros. Solar provides O&M services for solar projects in the following states: Connecticut, Delaware, Ohio, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia.

For more information, visit http://millerbrossolar.com or call 610-832-1000.

How to Have a Maintenance Free Solar Farm

Solar installations are extremely reliable, but like any piece of equipment they do need to be kept in good working order to deliver profitable returns over their service lifetime. So, if you’re looking for a maintenance free, set-it-and-forget-it type renewable energy solution, keep looking! Solar is not maintenance free. But, don’t give up on solar! The solution to maintaining a lower maintenance solar farm that’s capable of achieving acceptable ROI standards for several decades of service is simple – have a proactive operations and maintenance (O&M) service plan.

Proactive Solar Maintenance

A solar preventative maintenance program should be custom tailored to each individual client’s needs in order to maximize overall system performance as well as minimize the need for corrective maintenance and costly downtime.

A dedication to preventative maintenance helps to ensure that all equipment is in proper working order, lessening the chance of equipment failure.

Using a combination of pre-scheduled tests, comprehensive site inspections, component evaluation and maintenance, non-critical repair management, effective maintenance procedures, and predictive equipment replacement, will ensure that that your system is always operating at its maximum design capability.

Some proactive solar maintenance services include, but are not limited to:

Comprehensive Inspection – Following system OEM specifications, ensure system integrity is being upheld, consistently identifying and documenting areas of improvement and correction.

Upkeep of Data Acquisition Systems (DAS) – Ensure calibration points are being maintained, communications are up and running, and environmental are aligned properly in order to produce the most accurate readings of system production.

Adherence to Manufacturers’ Specifications – Adhering to the manufacturers’ specifications is vital for your system to meet or exceed standard life-cycle expectations.

Cost Effective Field Service/Maintenance – Your PV system will need dedicated resources to maintain its integrity. By partnering with a qualified solar O&M company, you are guaranteed a quality team of professionals at cost-effective prices throughout the life of the system.

Panel Cleaning – Based upon local environmental conditions, solar module cleaning services are an integral part of many system owners’ needs. You solar O&M service provider can make recommendations for overall site maintenance based on system review and site inspections.

Vegetation Management & Wildlife Prevention – The environment of the site plays a key part in production. As such, the management of vegetation, wildlife, and water drainage plays an important role in the reporting and proactive services.

Miller Bros. Solar (MBS) is a chosen leader in operations and maintenance (O&M) solutions due to the company’s project expertise, full construction capabilities, and 160+ pieces of heavy equipment. MBS is one of the few electrical contractors that can simultaneously self-perform multiple utility scale solar projects while exceeding client expectations, controlling costs and adhering to timelines and customer schedules.

Miller Bros. Solar provides O&M services for solar projects in the following states: Connecticut, Delaware, Ohio, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia.

For more information, visit http://millerbrossolar.com or call 610-832-1000.

Solar Panel Cleaning

Solar panel cleaning is a vital component of any solar operation and maintenance (O&M) program. Experts agree, dirty panels, or as solar asset managers in the North East discovered this winter – solar panels covered in snow, produce less electricity than clean, unobstructed panels.

In some areas, without adequate solar panel cleaning, photovoltaic (PV) performance can degrade as much as 25% according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. This can increase a solar arrays pay back time by three to five years!

To maintain optimal energy production, solar arrays require periodic solar panel cleanings especially in those areas of that are prone to high airborne particulates such as pollen, exhaust, dust, industrial processes, coastal salts, organic debris, and in certain regions in the winter — snow.

Why Clean Solar Panels

To understand why solar panels need to be kept clear of airborne debris, it’s important to know a bit about how a solar array works. A solar array contains several solar modules wired together. Each solar module, also know as a solar panel, consists of solar cells mounted collectively in a frame and covered by a protective glass coating. Solar cells are made of semiconductor materials like silicon. One side of a solar cell is positive and the other is negative. When sunlight hits a solar cell, it excites the electrons in the semiconductor material. This energy is captured as electricity. Pollution, dust from traffic, bird droppings and leaves or other organic debris prevents sunlight from reaching the solar cells in the solar panels thereby reducing the amount of energy generated.

Solar panel cleaning is so important to ensure maximum energy production from a solar array that some solar panel manufacturers are now even making panel cleaning a condition of their warranty.

When to Clean Solar Panels

O&M companies that have years of experience in solar maintenance will layout a preventative maintenance plan that includes, amongst other things, a detailed cleaning schedule for the solar array.

In addition to the predetermined, Preventative Maintenance schedule, solar operation and maintenance companies have two methods to determine if and when the panels need to be cleaned. They will visually inspect the solar panels on a periodic basic and/or use a monitoring system. Most commercial O&M companies will do both.

What Happens During a Solar Project Inspection

During a physical inspection of a solar project, panel cleanliness is not the only thing that technicians are reviewing. Other components of the array will also be inspected by the skilled technician including, but not limited to: the mounting, cabling, the inverters and connecting boxes, shading and vegetation growth, water drainage, fencing, the security of the area, and wildlife or pest activity. A physical visual inspection can often detect potential hazards or smaller problems that could turn into major headaches down the road. Identifying and making repairs or adjustments before they interfere with energy production is key to a successful O&M plan.

How Solar Monitoring Systems Work

A solar monitoring system connected to a commercial solar array is an extremely helpful tool for Asset Managementkeeping a watchful eye over a solar project, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, three hundred-sixty-five days a year. And, what’s even better — this monitoring can happen from any where in the world or within feet of the array itself.

A solar monitoring system is basically a computer program that accesses, compiles and reports on data generated from a solar array. Through thorough and regular analysis, operators can determine if the solar array is, among other things, meeting or exceeding performance projections. It will also indicate when the array or part of the array is offline or if it’s not performing as expected.

What Determines the Amount of Energy an Array Generates

Every solar array has a projected amount of energy that it will produce each month based on several factors including:

• Solar Panel Efficiency
• Size of Panels and System Size
• Solar radiation in the Region
• Angle of the Sun to the Solar Panel
• Weather and Seasonal Variations
• Pitch and Orientation of the Solar Panels
• Temperature
• Shade
• Panel Soiling

Before any solar projects commencement, the positive and negative results of these factors are compiled. Energy projections over the life of a solar farm are made to determine the long-term costs and potential revenues the project will generate. Solar financing depends heavily on these energy projections and investors do too.

Whenever a solar array is under-producing, or offline not generating energy, it means its costing investors money. And, as stated earlier in this article, soiled panels can degrade PV performance up to 25% which can increase the pay back time by three to five years. An undetected outage could have even more dire consequences over the long haul. Which is why Emergency Solar Services for offline outages are extremely important.

No matter what the cause of the under production or outage, the faster the solar array returns to normal operational levels, the better.

How to Detect System Events

Should a solar farm be underperforming or offline, key personnel will receive automatic emails of events affecting the system performance. Additionally, monitoring systems have the capability of running remote and/or onsite diagnostic programs to narrow down system failures to a particular string, inverter or other issue to expedite repairs. In the instance of panel soiling, as expected, data trends will show a declining production in energy as more and more soiling occurs on the surface of the solar modules.

Cleaning Solar Panels

There are several methods to clean solar panels, all of which are relatively easy; however, the sheer volume of panels in a commercial solar array adds a level of effort, which can be beyond some company’s limits, which is why utility scale solar power plants typically enlist the help of an O&M company.

Miller Bros. Solar (MBS) is a chosen leader in operations and maintenance (O&M) solutions due to the company’s project expertise, full construction capabilities, and 160+ pieces of heavy equipment. MBS is one of the few electrical contractors that can simultaneously self-perform multiple utility scale solar projects while exceeding client expectations, controlling costs and adhering to timelines and customer schedules.

Miller Bros. Solar provides O&M services for solar projects in the following states: Connecticut, Delaware, Ohio, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia.

For more information, visit http://millerbrossolar.com or call 610-832-1000.

Solar Farm Operations and Maintenance Issues

For the operation of commercial and utility scale PV power plants, a critical solar industry sector that needs particular attention is operations and maintenance, usually referred to simply as O&M. The performance, and ultimate profitability of a solar installation depend upon the competence and experience of the O&M team.

What Should Be Done
Through a proactive preventative maintenance plan, the O&M team keep tabs on potential issues and are sometimes able to stem off major failures by making smaller repairs keeping a solar installation in good working order.

While it is impossible to prevent all potential failures or damages that can occur on a solar farm, should a solar monitoring system set off an alarm indicating an outage, the response time of the O&M team can impact power generation if failures, damage or other issues are not addressed in a timely manner. As important as a preventative maintenance plan, a well-developed corrective maintenance plan can reduce costly downtime.

Any time a string or entire array is offline or experiencing periods of underperformance due to an O&M issue basically results in energy loss – or to be blunt, money going down the drain.

Performing Comprehensive Inspections
As part of a preventative maintenance plan, consistently identifying and documenting areas of improvement and correction helps uphold system integrity. Checklists for inspections are used to assure potential issues aren’t overlooked including environmental factors, equipment and other general issues. Here are some of the items that are regularly inspected and managed:

O&M Environmental Inspection

Vegetation Abatement
Vegetation growth under a solar array can range from a slight nuisance to a major issue very quickly. Vegetation can shade cells, interfere with wiring and affect structural integrity. Additionally, wildlife may be attracted to nest, graze or burrow into vegetation causing added potential concerns for system integrity.

Panel Shading
Trees and other obstructions should be cleared during the planning and construction phase of a solar installation; however, not all solar power plant plans are created equally. Therefore, landscape should be accessed regularly and trees that are causing shading should be removed to optimize power output.

PV electrical output is very sensitive to shade. Shaded cells absorb power instead of adding to the power produced by a solar panel. A shaded cell has a much greater reverse voltage compared to the forward voltage of an illuminated one, it can absorb the power of many cells in the string and the output will fall drastically.

Natural Damage 
A hurricane or hailstorm can destroy the solar panels and equipment on an array. Damaged panels, or wind torn racking and other equipment can severely decrease output or completely take a system offline. Keeping a watchful eye on changing weather conditions and inspecting the equipment following a storm is necessary for the overall health of the solar farm.

Ground Erosion
Sudden soil and ground erosion caused by water and wind can have an adverse effect on a PV plant. Loss of topsoil can cause racking to shift affecting the ability of panels to generate the energy. As racking moves, panels are moved from their optimal positioning and energy generation suffers. Erosion can also lead to flooding and destruction of equipment. Proper and frequent site inspections will alert the O&M team to any erosion that could put operations at risk.

Dirty Panels
Pollen, dust, snow, leaf fragments, and bird droppings can absorb sunlight on the surface of a panel, reducing the light that reaches the cells. Solar panel cleaning helps increase performance over the lifespan of the equipment. Routine cleaning should be a part of all O&M plans.

Animal Abatement
Care should be taken to keep any wildlife out of a solar farm. During an inspection, technicians will look for any signs of animals burrowing under fences, holes in fencing, or even animal droppings on the ground around panels. Once inside the perimeter fence, equipment can be destroyed, wires chewed, holes dug causing racking to shift and countless other destructive behaviors have been recorded as a result of wildlife breaching a solar installation’s perimeter.

O&M Equipment Inspection

Shorted Cells
Production defects in semiconducting material often go undetected before PV cells are put into solar panel assemblies. Shorted cells can impact the productivity of a panel if not addressed in a timely fashion. Infrared imaging is used to identify these defects. This type of testing is efficient and cost-effective to test and measure a cell’s performance and its electronic structure help ensure maximum energy production.

Cell Browning/Discoloring
Aging panel cells will turn brown and discolor from the UV radiation exposure. This degradation in the film leads to impaired output and productivity. During inspections, cells will be visually inspected on a regular basis.

Defective Trackers
Solar trackers can increase total power produced by about 20-25% for a single axis tracker and about 30% or more for a dual axis tracker. Defective trackers can contribute significantly to lowered performance output and should be serviced as soon as detected.

Transformer Leaks
Preventative maintenance inspections to certify that transformers are in good condition help avoid transformer leakage. Transformer leaks can cause land contamination and other safety risks. There several ways to carry out preventive maintenance in transformers; however, monitoring transformer oil temperature, pressure and level to prevent a transformer from leaking in the first place is the best way to avoid down time issues.

Inverter Damage 
Inverters are core components of grid-connected solar energy systems converting low voltage, high current signals from PV panels into voltage that is compatible with the utility grid. Regular inspection and monitoring of inverters is very important, since changes to voltage and frequency may occur that affect performance as well as the safety of those in proximity. Eighty percent of PV system downtime, including partial string outages or complete outages, is the result of inverter failures.

Broken Conduit
Ground movement, vegetation growth, and animal activity can all lead to broken conduit. Regularly measuring isolation on cables ensures underground runs are damage free. This is an important part of any regular preventative maintenance inspection as broken conduits can cause cable breakage or damage, leading to personal and property hazards such as shock and fire.

Combiner Box Damage
With the ability to simplify wiring, combiner boxes combine inputs from multiple strings of solar panels into one output circuit. Normally 4 to 12 strings are connected to a combiner box. If damaged, they pose a safety risk as well as a major decrease in productivity.

O&M Additional Inspection Items

Vandalism Damage
Vandals pose a major threat to the operation of a solar farm and attending to the business at hand – the generation of energy. Destructive behaviors such as panel and other equipment damage as well as theft can occur. Maintaining perimeter fencing and enlisting security, if vandalism becomes a major issue, is key to maintaining operations.

Perimeter Fence Damage 
In addition to deterring vandals from entering a solar installation, perimeter fencing keeps unauthorized personnel and animals away from the solar array and the potential risks of coming in contact with high voltage equipment. Signs of animal activity or other type of perimeter breach during a regular inspection requires quick response for repair to avoid future infringement.

Miller Bros. Solar (MBS) is a chosen leader in operations and maintenance (O&M) solutions due to the company’s project expertise, full construction capabilities, and 160+ pieces of heavy equipment. MBS is one of the few electrical contractors that can simultaneously self-perform multiple utility scale solar projects while exceeding client expectations, controlling costs and adhering to timelines and customer schedules.

Miller Bros. Solar provides O&M services for solar projects in the following states: Connecticut, Delaware, Ohio, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia.

For more information, visit http://millerbrossolar.com or call 610-832-1000.