Sector performance monitoring in utility-scale solar farms using data envelopment analysis

The South African Renewable Energy Independent Procurement Program has given rise to the commissioning of a number of utility size solar photovoltaic plants in recent years. Limited research has been conducted locally into performance monitoring and benchmarking of these large-scale solar photovoltaic plants. This paper presents the results of an exploratory study to investigate the potential of Data Envelopment Analysis for evaluating the energy conversion performance of a utility size photovoltaic plant. The results obtained with Date Envelopment Analysis are interpreted in the context of results obtained with traditional methods and with reference to the effects of local weather conditions on plant performance. Plant performance is examined both over time and in terms of its individual sectors. DEA is found to have potential as a performance and condition monitoring tool.