30 May/June 2014 | Renewable Energy Focus

focus: Interview | Evelyn Butler, business development director, UL Energy and Industrial Systems

About: Reginald Tucker is US Editor of Renewable Energy Focus magazine.

The benefi ts of assessing risk in PV project management

UNDERWRITERS LABORATORIES

(UL) recently launched an extended suite

of services off ered to help stakehold-

ers manage risks and reduce costs associ-

ated with building and operating PV plants.

The comprehensive programme was developed to pro-

vide assistance to investors, developers and operators to

make better and more informed decisions as they assess

the risks and uncertainties associated with designing and

commissioning a PV plant.

Renewable Energy Focus magazine caught up with

Evelyn Butler, business development director of UL’s

Energy and Industrial Systems business, to discuss the

company’s newly expanded PV Plant Services programme

in greater detail. Following are excerpts of the discussion:

REF: Consider the complexity of the various laws, regulations and codes specifi c to each country on matters related to renewable energy projects and contracts. Explain how UL’s suite of PV Plant Services might take these diff erent regional factors into consideration when developing risk assessment programmes.

Evelyn Butler: There are not

only diff erences between countries,

but also diff erences between various

regions within the US. As an exam-

ple, let’s look at some of the diff er-

ences between India, China and the

US: India has some pretty stringent

administrative requirements in terms

of aesthetics, format, inspections, etc.

So when we off ered the PV plant ser-

vices in India, we really wrapped what

we were doing around each of those

diff erent areas so that the develop-

ers or plant owners could specifi cally

draw that connection and say, “OK,

what do we need to investigate in

terms of equipment, quality and con-

nection on site.” Essentially we were

able to provide a report that shows all

of the information.

In China, by comparison, it tends

to be a little bit diff erent, because

there are a lot of requirements placed

by the Government. There are also a

lot of investor-based requirements.

So there we have two sets of things

that were a little bit diff erent than

what is normally done to take into

consideration — so not only the basics,

but also performing some specifi c

tests on the PV module that was going

to be installed, specifi cally the longev-

ity and durability of those modules.

The client also asked us to look into

diff erent parts of some of the inter-

national standards, so they could pick

and choose from those requirements.

In the US, by comparison, a lot

depends on the region or jurisdic-

tion, where the electrical inspec-

tors, the building inspectors or even

the utilities might have some require-

ments that they need to employ. A

good example is the state of Califor-

nia; the modules have to be tested

for California’s Energy Commis-

sion requirements. So it is neces-

sary for the PV plant owner to show

that the requirements have been met

(i.e., testing score, testimonial from

the PV manufacturer, etc.). So we

help to provide that information as

well as the testing itself. At the same

time, if there are any technical ques-

tions about the equipment that is

being installed, we can provide that

as well. This way the client is able to

[proceed] to commissioning of the full

package.

REF: So, it sounds like there’s a lot of fl exibility in UL’s Plant Services Programme, depending the client’s needs or based on some of these regional preferences?

EB: Yes, absolutely. I think you will

fi nd that no two PV module projects

are ever identical — even, for exam-

ple, if you had two similar residential

apartment buildings. There are usu-

ally various nuances — the way the

sun is shining on the building, how

the equipment has to be installed and

operated, etc.

As a result, we’ve developed a suite

of basic services that can be tailored

[to a specifi c application] because we

recognize that every project is diff er-

ent — diff erent hardware, connectors,

inverters, etc. There could even be dif-

ferent engineers involved, or diff erent

utilities and regulations. The fl exibil-

ity is important, because that gives

us the opportunity to showcase our

expertise to the client.

REF: Looking at the various markets and regions that you serve, are you fi nding a greater demand for these PV plant services in the US vs. other parts of the world.

EB: I would say that the type of

need varies. Certainly the US has

quite a lot of demand because of

the sheer number of projects that

are being scheduled to come online

in the next couple of years. There’s

also a high demand in China; it’s just

going crazy with solar PV installa-

tions. I think last year alone it was

12GW. They use of a lot of locally

REF0314_Focus_Interview_UL 30 17-06-14 09:52:12

31May/June 2014 | Renewable Energy Focus

Interview

made equipment, but that doesn’t

absolve anybody from still meeting the

requirements. India tends to fl uctu-

ate, depending on government support

of the projects and how the states get

involved in that. At the end of the

day it really depends on the size of

the projects and where they are being

installed.

REF: New entrants to the PV market seemingly come and go with great frequency. What are some of the common mistakes/pitfalls that new PV plant players encounter when planning or developing projects? Put another way, which aspects of a PV project are operators more likely to overlook that may expose them to greater risk?

EB: One of the big challenges is

gaining knowledge from an equip-

ment perspective, given the growth

the industry has seen over the past

few years. Not only do you have your

main products, such as the modules

and inverters, but there are also other

critical components, such as the con-

nectors, wiring, fuses, junction boxes,

mounting systems. As the indus-

try has grown and evolved, no stan-

dards have been created to address

the safety and performance of some of

those products. So, sometimes there’s

a lack of general knowledge about the

fact that requirements exist.

REF: What is UL doing to address this knowledge-defi cit issue?

EB: We are helping primary prod-

uct manufacturers as well as com-

ponent suppliers and buyers better

understand how all these pieces fi t

together. In other words, helping cli-

ents understand how all these prod-

ucts are connected together on site,

so that they don’t run into problems

such as over-sizing fuses or under-siz-

ing wiring, etc. Certifi ed, experienced

installers tend to be a little bit ahead

of the curve, but there are some who

are not keeping up with that. So, what

we try to do is also help provide some

of that education that installations

have to be done with these require-

ments in mind. This goes a long way in

preventing the commissioning inspec-

tion from resulting in a lot of re-work.

REF: Can you cite some real-world examples where UL has provided guidance that PV plant developers, owners or operators have utilised in practice?

EB: Yes, there was a case where

we helped a buyer validate the cer-

tifi cation status of a particular mod-

ule they purchased (the original label

stated the product was not certi-

fi ed for the US market, but rather an

international certifi cation). So when

the local [HJ] took a look at the label,

they said: “Whoa, hold on a min-

ute; I don’t know that this is OK.” So,

what we did for that plant developer

was conduct a sampling of very crit-

ical steps in order to identify if there

were any major issues that might have

[impacted] the connection. We also

supported it with additional informa-

tion after visually inspecting the con-

struction of the product and doing

some additional research. (The devel-

oper/product provider worked with

us as well to provide any additional

information we required because there

were some concerns with the prod-

uct.) And we were able to help resolve

that in a way that was satisfactory

for the HJ, so that he was comfort-

able that the decision he was making

to accept it so that the product would

not be dangerous to the handlers or

to the grid itself. (We were able to

resolve this in about 45 days. Note: the

project was not delayed as a result,

and they were able to embed that into

some of the other work that needed to

be done.)

Another example — and something

that’s actually ongoing right now…

we’re not only working with manufac-

turers of inverters but also the Cal-

ifornia State Utility Commission, a

few of the utilities as well, to redefi ne

the [inter-operability requirements]

for distributed generation technol-

ogy that’s connected to the grid. That

goes behind just the protocols but let’s

the grid know when the right kind

of energy is available, either as a pri-

mary source or back-up during peak

times. These requirements are actu-

ally going to be incorporated into the

UL Safety standard for inverters (UL

1741).

So, we’re also covering that work

with the developers and operators by

saying: “Here’s what’s coming, and

that you also need to take this into

consideration as you are [choosing]

your equipment and as you’re per-

forming your commissioning, because

you will need to demonstrate that you

are able to provide the right com-

munications protocols to the util-

ity operators.” So, rather than being a

document that’s created and industry

published and handed over to these

power plant operators and say, “OK,

here it is, fi gure out how to do it,”

we’re actually working with them and

saying, “OK, you are going to learn

along with us, we’re going to create

this system together.”

UL’s expanded services range from PV design review and yield assessments to plant performance and hardware certifi cation.

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