The photovoltaic industry is currently booming. The surge in installations presents many challenges, including the need to maintain and monitor an increasing number of systems. This requires additional personnel, but the PV industry has a shortage of skilled workers. One way to address this issue is to automate as many tasks as possible.

Even if PV systems seem to be standing still and operating quietly in their respective environment, their operation in fact requires a lot of manual operations. Many of these recur on a cyclical basis and can be scheduled. Yet operators spend a lot of time getting these repetitive maintenance jobs on track in a large ticket system.

In this pv magazine Webinar, we want to look at the new ‘VCOM Automation’ feature for the VCOM monitoring system with our partner Meteocontrol, represented by Markus Hühnerbein, product manager cloud applications.

The function promises to be a toolbox for automating repetitive and manual processes in the O&M business. The first iteration of the feature allows users to create scheduled maintenance tasks – such as cleaning modules, mowing the lawn and routinely checking plug connections – for all their systems at once. Work orders are then issued to the respective partner companies (and technicians on site) on a recurring basis. If you have a portfolio of several dozen installations, you can free up a lot of time for yourself and your team to concentrate on what O&M operators do best – find faults.

In the webinar, we will briefly introduce the VCOM Cloud portal and discuss the new functions in detail. Cloud expert Markus Hühnerbein will share insights and show how O&M managers can make the most of their expertise – by getting rid of the simple, yet time-consuming busy work. Faisal Iqbal, O&M manager at YellowDoor Energy, will share how the company is using VCOM and VCOM Automation to its advantage.

pv magazine Webinar content

• Short introduction VCOM
• New feature: Automation
• Possible applications explained
• View on shortage of skilled workers in the growing PV market

Questions can be submitted beforehand or during the webinar through a chat window. Marian Willuhn from pv magazine will be the moderator of this webinar.

Registration for this pv magazine Webinar is free of charge.

Speakers

Markus Hühnerbein | Product Manager Cloud Applications, meteocontrol

Markus Hühnerbein started his career in the renewable energy industry two and a half years ago at meteocontrol after studying industrial engineering at the University of Augsburg. As an expert for cloud applications at meteocontrol, he is responsible for the further development of the proven cloud solution VCOM. Especially the areas of automation and CMMS are in focus in his daily work.

Faisal Iqbal | O&M Manager, YellowDoor Energy

As an Operations & Maintenance (O&M) Manager at Yellow Door Energy, Faisal is responsible for optimizing, monitoring, operating and maintaining the performance of solar PV projects in the UAE. He also provides engineering and technical support, given his extensive experience in project management, electrical engineering and energy management in the Middle East.

Moderators

Marian Willuhn | Senior editor, pv magazine