An Optimal Preventive Maintenance Policy for a Solar Photovoltaic System

Amir Baklouti, Lahcen Mifdal, Sofiene Dellagi and Anis Chelbi
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Amir Baklouti: Department of Mathematics, College of First Common Year, Umm Al-Qura University, Mecca 21955, Saudi Arabia
Lahcen Mifdal: Laboratoire d’Innovation Durable et de Recherche Appliquée, International University of Agadir, Bab Al madina, Quartier Tillila, B.P. 8143 Agadir, Morocco
Sofiene Dellagi: Laboratoire de Génie Informatique, de Production et de Maintenance, University of Lorraine, 3 rue Augustin Fresnel, BP 45112, CEDEX 03, 57073 METZ, France
Anis Chelbi: Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Ingénieurs de Tunis, Centre de Recherche en Productique, University of Tunis, Montfleury, Tunis 1089, Tunisia

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 10, 1-13

Abstract: In this paper, we develop a preventive maintenance (PM) strategy for a solar photovoltaic system composed of solar panels functioning as a series system. The photovoltaic system is considered in a failed state whenever its efficiency drops below a predefined threshold or any electrical wiring element is damaged. In such a situation of failure, a minimal repair is performed. The proposed PM strategy suggests systematically replacing n panels with their respective wiring system every time units T over a finite operating time span H . The panels to be preventively replaced are selected by the maintenance agent after an on-site overall assessment of all panels, making sure every time not to replace panels previously replaced during a given replacement cycle of all panels of the system. An analytical model is proposed in order to simultaneously determine the optimal PM period, T , and the optimal number of solar panels, n , to be replaced at each PM. This is done by modeling and minimizing the expected total maintenance cost over the finite operating time horizon H . A numerical example is presented to illustrate the use of the proposed modelling approach and to discuss the obtained results. The latter provide the optimal solutions ( T*, n* ) for different combinations of input parameters. They also show the economic relevance of the proposed PM strategy through estimation of the economic gain when comparing the situations with and without preventive maintenance.

Keywords: preventive maintenance; solar panel; reliability; sustainability; optimization; minimal repairs (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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