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DOE OSTI · 3029741

PV Operations Software Transparency: A PVMAC Industry Snapshot

Theristis, Marios [Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)]
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Abstract

The rapid growth of photovoltaic (PV) deployment has increased reliance on software platforms for monitoring, workflow automation, diagnostics, and performance analytics. As these tools play a central role in asset management and operations and maintenance (O&M), greater transparency in methodologies, data handling, and validation practices benefits the broader PV ecosystem. To better understand current practices and identify opportunities for improved clarity and interoperability, 24 software providers contributed detailed responses through the PV O&M Analytics Collaborative (PVMAC) initiative, the first structured questionnaire of its kind in the industry, covering onboarding, interoperability, data quality, diagnostics, AI/ML, and other operational categories. These providers represent over 1.1 TW of solar assets under management. The analysis shows broad adoption of digital twins, AI/ML, and API integrations, but also highlights challenges in onboarding processes, inconsistent definitions and methodologies, variability in key performance indicator (KPI) calculations, and limited independent validation. Greater standardization, clearer documentation, and stronger validation frameworks could improve transparency, comparability, and trust across PV operations software platforms.

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14 SOLAR ENERGY97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING

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Theristis, Marios [Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)]. 2026-04-01. PV Operations Software Transparency: A PVMAC Industry Snapshot. https://doi.org/10.2172/3029741

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