Availability

Availability (or "time-based availability") expresses the proportion of time that a system is actively producing energy at or above its minimum operational threshold, compared to the expected production time.

Note: The weighted calculation is optional. In the example below, the weighting parameter is Irradiance, but you can choose any variable.

Availability is a crucial KPI to analyze the performance of PV assets, as a minimum value is usually required to comply with regulatory authorities, grid operators, and contractual obligations.

Availability calculation

GPM SCADA calculates the capacity factor using the following formula:

A v a i l a b i l i t y ( % ) = U p t i m e I r r a d i a n c e   u p t i m e × 100

Where:
  • Uptime (in minutes): time when the device is producing and meets the following conditions:

    • Power is higher than the minimum threshold configured in the system.

    • Irradiance is higher than the minimum threshold configured in the system.

    • (Optional) Device is communicating

  • Irradiance uptime (in minutes): time when the device is expected to be producing and meets the following conditions:

    • Irradiance is higher than the minimum threshold configured in the system.

    • (Optional) Device is communicating.

Aggregation methods

You can configure the system to aggregate availability metrics.

To calculate these KPIs, the system aggregates the following data:
  • Time when a device is producing.

  • Total time when the device is expected to be producing.

  • Peak Power of each device (when aggregating multiple devices).
There are three types of aggregation, combining devices and time periods:
  • Single device:

    • Multiple periods:

      Av ( % ) = D ay i = 1 D ay i = n   Uptime Day i D ay i = 1 D ay i = n Irradiance   Uptime Day i * 100

  • Multiple devices:

    • Daily aggregation:

      Av ( % ) = Av j = 1 Av j = m P p Av j * Uptime Av j Av j = 1 Av j = m P p Av j Av j = 1 Av j = m P p Av j * IrradianceUptime Av j Av j = 1 Av j = m P p Av j * 100

    • Multiple periods:

      Av ( % ) = D ay i = 1 D ay i = n Total   Uptime   Agg Day i D a y i = 1 D a y i = n Total   Irradiance   Uptime   Agg Day i * 100

Exceptions

You can correct the Availability by manually entering exceptions. This allows you to retrospectively exclude a period from the Availability calculations when you need to account for production downtimes caused by an external event (for example, curtailment requests from the grid operator).

Note: For more information, see the Exceptions section.