Power April 2022 Intl - 15

FOCUS ON O&M
installation of third-party evaluated
equipment?
■ Does the customer facility have requirements
only allowing for installation
of third-party NRTL evaluated
equipment?
■ Who is shouldering the liability for
the owner's engineering judgement
or self-evaluated equipment for suitability
of ordinary and hazardous-area
locations?
Facilities using the NEC Articles 505
and 506 Zone classification of hazardous
location classified areas are governed by
the approval requirements outlined in
the NEC articles for the wiring methods
and equipment certification.
When Zone method rated equipment
includes the AEx marking, it means the
equipment is certified to the American
standards per NEC Article 505.9 (C) and
Article 506.9 (C). That AEx marking ensures
the Zone equipment conforms with
both
hazardous
location
requirements
and general safety American standards
for ordinary locations. These certifications
give customers confidence and trust in
the equipment they're applying.
-Robert C. Potter is Eastern region field
application specialist for Eaton's CrouseHinds
business, and Richard A. Holub is
a principal engineering consultant with
DuPont Engineering.
Prioritizing O&M in Early
Stages of Project Design
Yields Big Payoff
The Connecticut State Colleges & Universities
(CSCU) system wanted to install
solar power to save money on energy
costs, reduce its carbon footprint, and
demonstrate its commitment to sustainability
for increasingly green-aware students.
This was a tall task for a system
with 85,000 students across 16 campuses.
DSD Renewables (DSD) installed
11.5 MW of solar canopies, parking lot
carports (Figure 2), and ground-mount
systems across nine colleges, offsetting
CSCU's traditional energy footprint by an
estimated 30% annually and generating
an estimated $15 million in savings over
20 years.
DSD designed and installed the systems,
all without interrupting the normal
flow of campus activities. Each system
was designed with operations and maintenance
(O&M) in mind to ensure the
systems run efficiently. The careful planning
at the micro and macro level, and the
hurdles encountered along the way, offer
lessons in improving design, installation
processes, and O&M for any project.
Maintaining Safety and Campus
Flow Through Installation
Safety was a primary concern, given the
number of employees, students, and
community members who have access
to CSCU campuses. Features were installed
at each site to ensure that only
approved personnel could access the
installations' equipment. Additionally,
downspouts were added to the systems
to channel water away from the structures
and prevent icicles from forming
during winter.
With parking typically at a premium
at CSCU institutions, it was important to
design the systems in a way that didn't
reduce the number of available parking
spaces. Overall, the goal was to have the
new solar installations blend seamlessly
into the campus without impacting accessibility
or interrupting campus life.
Construction is a significant concern
2. Solar panels were installed in several locations
across Connecticut State Colleges &
Universities (CSCU) campuses, including on
the roofs of parking structures. Courtesy: Distributed
Solar Development
April 2022 | POWER
for any large institution, so the installation
was planned to commence during a
break when students were off campus
to minimize disruptions. This approach
was also taken when it came time to energize
the installed system.
Managing the O&M of systems located
at busy sites, such as college
campuses, presents an added challenge.
While ongoing system monitoring, as
well as planned and unplanned maintenance,
are necessary to ensure the optimization
of each asset, CSCU wanted to
minimize disruptions and maintain a safe
environment for students and faculty.
O&M was kept in mind throughout
the early stages of the project, including
while designing the systems. Everything
was designed and strategically placed to
ensure easy access when it came time to
perform maintenance. For example, while
many systems have inverters spread
throughout the solar array, DSD placed all
the inverters in the same area (Figure 3)
www.powermag.com
3. Inverters in use on the solar systems at
the CSCU campuses are placed in areas that
provide easy access for maintenance workers.
Courtesy: Distributed Solar Development
to make access easier for technicians.
The same concept goes with the
monitoring equipment. Everything was
placed in readily accessible locations
adjacent to the arrays to ensure technicians
had access where it was needed,
particularly when they needed to course
correct an issue quickly and efficiently
without disrupting campus activity.
Rapid response is the key to effective
O&M, allowing teams to fix issues and
return the site to full operation as soon
as possible. The strategy was to assure
that any problems were manageable,
and would not spiral into larger issues,
through a program of monitoring assets
daily and reviewing asset performance
trends on a weekly basis.
Establishing good relationships with
stakeholders onsite is an essential component
of O&M; in this case, campus
workers need to know who to contact
when an issue arises. Similarly, it's vital
to have strong O&M technicians to call
on. These should be internal and external
resources who can respond to issues as
they arise and arrive on site quickly. Holding
meetings with the host customer to
identify major stakeholders, review site
access instructions, security, and communication
preferences is helpful in ensuring
everyone knows the site-specific
protocols and the people to notify when
action is needed.
Every single kilowatt-hour matters, and
designing a project with O&M in mind allows
for easier and quicker resolutions of
mechanical and performance issues to ensure
overall performance is optimized. The
solar arrays installed at the Connecticut
campuses approached O&M in a deliberate
fashion from design to maintenance,
helping keep the projects operational and
meeting customer expectations. ■
-Chris Larkin is senior asset manager
for Distributed Solar Development (DSD),
where he manages fleet operations
initiatives on the solar power team.
15
http://www.powermag.com
Power April 2022 Intl

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