IEA Photovoltaics Power Systems Programme: Task 2. Operational performance, maintenance and sizing of PV power systems and subsystems: Performance Database

The IEA PVPS Task 2 Performance Database is designed to provide PV experts and
other target groups as well as other Tasks of PVPS with suitable information on
the operational performance, reliability and costs of PV systems and
components. The database application allows easy selection of PV system data
and fast navigation through the database. Powerful tools enable the user to
present monitoring data and calculated results in standard reports and to
export these data into spread sheet programmes for later use.

At present the database contains high quality data of 410 monitored PV plants
with an installed capacity of 12 MW adapted to various applications (power
supply, domestic uses, rural electrification, professional applications).
Detailed system characteristics of selected PV plants as well as monitored data
are stored in the database. The new database features simplified data export to
spread sheet programmes, improved filter and sort criteria to navigate in the
database and an easy search for a specific PV plant. Data import and export
facilities have been developed including automatic calculations of annual
results. This tool can be used to check the operational behaviour of existing
PV plants and to get a report on its performance expressed in standard
quantities allowing any kind of cross-comparison between systems.

The implemented PV systems are located worldwide and operate therefore under
different climatic conditions. Most of the monitoring data have been gathered
under various national demonstration programmes in the IEA PVPS member
countries: e. g. Austrian Rooftop Programme, French Rural Electrification
Programme, EU Thermie Programme, German 1 000-Roofs-Photovoltaic-Programme,
Japanese Sunshine & Field Test Programme and Swiss demonstration programmes. A
collection of such a variety of high quality operational data can be considered
as a unique tool for PV system performance analysis.

The main website can be found at "http://www.task2.org"

The database application can be downloaded from
"http://www.task2.org/database/" . Updates of the collected PV system data
will be downloadable from this website as well.

For more information about the database, please read PVPS performance database
- A unique tool in PV Power, Issue 15, October 2001