PV Measures Up for Fleet Duty : Data from a Tennessee Plant Are Used to Illustrate Metrics That Characterize Plant Performance

Abstract

Conventional power plant performance metrics are designed for dispatchable generation. These can be difficult to apply to variable generators such as wind and solar power. This article describes additional metrics that can be applied to photovoltaic (PV ) power plants and illustrates these metrics using measured data collected from a 1-MW PV plant in Tennessee over a one-year period. The article persuades that new metrics will be needed to measure and effectively employ PV for duty in a traditional generation fleet.