The new service of Solarschmiede GmbH covers assembly and product defects as well as reduced output of a solar power plant during the entire warranty period. The warranty check includes the final plant inspection on location and the laboratory investigaion of individual modules. The result will enable plant operators to enforce claims upon manufacturers and installers before the warranty service period expires. Until now, final plant inspections have only been conducted directly after the commissioning.

“Trust is good, but control better! The experience we have gained from our final plant inspections in 2010, having a total power output of over 100 megawatts, show us that plant owners, operators and investors should have independent third party examine the quality of their solar power plants without fail”, explains Rudolf Haas, leader of the PV system engineering of Solarschmiede and adds, “according to our check, plant operators can rest assured that their solar plant runs reliably and profitably and that the returns are secure”. Solarschmiede offers this new service to plant operators in all of Europe.

Customers who take advantage of the warranty check receive the entire services from a single source with very short processing times. In cooperation with the Munich University of Applied Sciences, Solarschmiede has acquired and incorporated the latest scientific insights.

Quick and efficient error search by the plant acceptance and module audit
During the final plant inspection, the engineers check the photovoltaic plant optically and metrologically on location. In addition to making a visual test of the installation as well as of the components used, the experts do a large scale thermography measurement. High resolution infrared images reveal damages to inverters or modules, which cannot be detected by any other measurement procedure. This way, for example, hotspots can be localised, which would lead to yield losses if otherwise not discovered.

In addition, the Solarschmiede employees measure the characteristic curves of the modules. Through this, defects in the switches, defective modules or improper deviations in the output of the individual strings can be identified.

If power losses are detected during the tests, Solarschmiede conducts laboratory tests subsequently such as flash tests and electroluminescence measurements for defect
analysis.

Solarschmiede GmbH
Solarschmiede GmbH was founded in Munich in 2004 and currently has 20 employees. The company has years of experience in the development of custom software and licensing programmes for solar energy systems, which serve, first and foremost, to dimension solar plants and optimise systems. Co-operative contacts to manufacturers, research institutes and universities contribute to helping the company continuously adapt its daily work to the state-of-the-art in scientific sector.

In addition to providing yield reports, Solarschmiede’s engineering department offers services for quality assurance of PV plants, such as module audits, final plant inspection and Warranty checks. Thermography measurements and plant analyses help PV plant operators find defects and assess damages.

As a complement to their range of services, Solarschmiede has been awarding the “DGS Solar Seal” since October 2011, in cooperation with the International Solar Energy Society, German Section [DGS], Berlin Brandenburg Association e.V. With this seal of quality, the DGS and Solarschmiede honour high quality photovoltaic plants.

The experts from Solarschmiede GmbH will be presenting this and other services at Intersolar at their fair stand, number 658 in Hall B6.