Multi-Objective Maintenance Strategy Optimization of Distributed Photovoltaic Plants

Nowadays, loads of distributed photovoltaic (PV) plants in China are lack of maintenance activities although the installed capacities of PV power generation are increasing year by year. This paper proposes a multi-objective maintenance strategy optimization of distributed PV plants using Markov models, in order to support the PV maintenance decision-making. Firstly, a multi-state transition Markov model is established to simulate the deterioration process of the PV components. Secondly, the condition-based maintenance optimization model, combining the reliability and economy of the PV plant, is given to achieve the maintenance strategy. The Genetic algorithm is used to solve the model. Finally, the case study illustrates the effectiveness of the proposed method and the results show that the proposed method minimizes the total risk, and achieve a balance between the maintenance cost and power loss cost.