Photovoltaic systems operation and maintenance: A review and future directions

The expansion of photovoltaic systems emphasizes the crucial requirement for effective operations and maintenance, drawing insights from advanced maintenance approaches evident in the wind industry. This review systematically explores the existing literature on the management of photovoltaic operation and maintenance. Through the integration of bibliometric analysis and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) framework, 186 articles are selected for further comprehensive review. The selected articles are examined and categorized into four interconnected research domains: maintenance strategies, performance indicators, degradation modeling, and maintenance optimization and planning. The presented analysis underscores the importance of integrating maintenance strategies to enhance system effectiveness. It also emphasizes the necessity of a systematic approach that integrates reliability assessment with economic and technical considerations to optimize maintenance planning and enhance system availability and resource efficiency. This aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals for affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy, while also ensuring grid security. Furthermore, the study identifies gaps and proposes avenues for improvement, recommending a shift towards prognostic approaches and the advancement of predictive maintenance in photovoltaic systems. Key suggestions also include customizing metrics for large installations, implementing adaptive protocols that move away from traditional component-centric scheduling, and using reinforcement learning to prioritize risk and optimize long-term performance. Compared to previous reviews focusing on specific maintenance elements, this work provides a broader perspective by incorporating planning and organizational factors into the maintenance discussion.