Detailed Analyses of the Failure and Repair Rates of Wind and Solar- PV Systems for RAM Assessment

This paper presents an extensive survey of the failure, and repair rates of wind, and solar- PV energy conversion systems. Various practical layouts of these systems are presented considering various operation modes (i.e. off-grid, and grid-connected), and load types (i.e. deferrable, and non-deferrable). The presented layouts of wind and solar-PV energysystems cover various energy solutions for various operation modes, and load types. The overall structure of each system is separated into a set subsystems, then each subsystem is separated into a set of subassemblies or items. Considering repairable, and nonrepairable items, the analyses of failure, and repair rates are then performed for identifying the reliable performance, and weak items. The confidence of the results is increased by collecting huge amounts of data. These data cover various configurations, and meteorological conditions (i.e. stress factors) are analyzed and represented by their confidence median values. Salient conclusions are reached from the analyses of the collected data. The presented results are essential for performing a detailed Reliability, Availability, and Maintainability (RAM) of wind, and solar-PV systems. In addition, they are useful in identifying the weak items, for setting appropriate maintenance plans forincreasing the overall reliability of the considered systems.