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DOE OSTI · 3364908

PV Fleet Performance Data Initiative 2026 Update

Deline, Chris [National Laboratory of the Rockies, Golden, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000298678930)·Perry, Kirsten [National Laboratory of the Rockies, Golden, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000280957472)·Springer, Martin [National Laboratory of the Rockies, Golden, CO (United States)] (ORCID:000000016803108X)·Jordan, Dirk [National Laboratory of the Rockies, Golden, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000221837489)·Muller, Matt [National Laboratory of the Rockies, Golden, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000238354096)·White, Robert [National Laboratory of the Rockies, Golden, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000252084061)·Ovaitt, Silvana [National Laboratory of the Rockies, Golden, CO (United States)] (ORCID:000000030180728X)·Meyers, Bennet [National Laboratory of the Rockies, Golden, CO (United States)]
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Abstract

We provide an update on the PV Fleet Performance Data Initiative at the 2026 PV Reliability Workshop. Our latest runs incorporate additional data sources and an integrated analysis pipeline run on our Kestrel HPC cluster. Initial degradation findings suggest that single-axis tracked PV systems exhibit higher performance loss rates than fixed-tilt systems, an increase of 0.5 %/yr, almost double. We discuss multiple methods for identifying stuck tracker rows, which are suspected to be a contributor to the enhanced degradation. Through satellite image detection and data-driven approaches we address the topic of identifying when stuck trackers are occuring and to what extent the problem exists. Preliminary results suggest that the increased performance loss detected for the tracked systems would be consistent with stuck tracker rows affecting on the order of 5% - 10% of the system.

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14 SOLAR ENERGY36 MATERIALS SCIENCE97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTINGdegradationPLRPV Fleetsolartrackers

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Deline, Chris [National Laboratory of the Rockies, Golden, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000298678930), Perry, Kirsten [National Laboratory of the Rockies, Golden, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000280957472), Springer, Martin [National Laboratory of the Rockies, Golden, CO (United States)] (ORCID:000000016803108X), Jordan, Dirk [National Laboratory of the Rockies, Golden, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000221837489), Muller, Matt [National Laboratory of the Rockies, Golden, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000238354096), White, Robert [National Laboratory of the Rockies, Golden, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000252084061), Ovaitt, Silvana [National Laboratory of the Rockies, Golden, CO (United States)] (ORCID:000000030180728X), Meyers, Bennet [National Laboratory of the Rockies, Golden, CO (United States)]. 2026-05-18. PV Fleet Performance Data Initiative 2026 Update. https://doi.org/10.2172/3364908

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