My name is Lesego and I am responsible to for a new venture called Solarvalet based in Gaborone, Botswana - dedicated exclusively to professional solar panel cleaning. I’m here to learn, collaborate, and hopefully add value where I can. If I can return even a fraction of the insight I’ve already picked up operating in this industry, I’ll consider that a win. Looking forward to connecting with you all and growing alongside this community. A quick question: If a client requests an Inspection report: what is your current inspection process, what is most critical to share with a client and what write up do you give to your clients?

ii’m here mainly to learn — trying to understand the real, day-to-day problems solar installers face, especially around: - client acquisition - missed calls / slow follow-ups - messy CRM workflows - bottlenecks in booking or qualifying leads - anything that kills momentum i’m building AI systems and want to create stuff that actually solves real problems… not just “AI for the sake of AI.” so if you’re in the solar space (or help solar clients), i’d love to hear what’s not working on the operations / sales side.

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In utility-scale solar operations, the choice between centralized and string inverters is no longer just an engineering preference but an O&M strategy with major implications for reliability, downtime, and long-term performance. Centralized inverters give you high capacity, simplified AC integration, and lower upfront costs, which is attractive for large, uniform terrains. But they also create a major operational risk: when a central unit trips, an entire block can drop off the grid at once, leading to large energy losses and requiring heavy-equipment support for repairs. String inverters flip the equation. Their distributed architecture improves fault isolation, reduces downtime, and gives operators granular visibility into module- or string-level performance. In plants where shading, soiling patterns, or uneven module ageing are challenges, string inverters often deliver better energy yield and faster troubleshooting. Still, they come with more components, more distributed maintenance, and potentially higher replacement frequency. So how do we decide? The answer often lies in site conditions, workforce capability, reliability targets, and O&M philosophy. Centralized systems may suit teams with strong heavy-equipment maintenance capacity and stable grid conditions, while string architectures shine where uptime, diagnostics, and agile maintenance matter most. Some developers now use hybrid designs, combining the robustness of centralized units with the intelligence of string-level monitoring. Do string inverters give you better diagnostics, or do their numbers overwhelm your maintenance plan? which architecture has proven more reliable? and If you had to design a new plant today, which would you choose and why?

Hello everyone, glad to be a part of this community. Thank you @Călin Sas for creating this forum. My name is Rohith, and I am excited to share that I’ve just started my own Solar O&M company based in India. I’ve onboarded my first client, who has a ~5MW solar plant at a single location. The plant is currently only undergoing regular cleaning, weeding, and occasional repairs to cables and connectors, but there is no formal Preventive Maintenance (PM), Corrective Maintenance (CM), or PV analytics being done at the moment. In the next week or two, I will be taking over the plant’s O&M responsibilities and am looking to get some advice and insights from the community. I’m in talks with SCADA providers to bring the plant's SCADA system online, and once the data starts flowing, I plan to explore more optimization opportunities. I’ve gone through some best practices guidelines, and I’ve come up with a preliminary schedule for electrical and mechanical checks, but I’m sure there are areas where I could improve and avoid common pitfalls. I would greatly appreciate any guidance or tips on: 1. A highly implemented and efficient daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, half-yearly and annual maintenance activities. 2. Best practices for implementing a PM and CM program for a plant of this size. 3. Recommendations on tools, excel templates or resources for efficient performance monitoring and data analytics once the SCADA system is live. 4. Insights into building a productive O&M process, systems and scaling for future plants. I’m eager to learn and improve my approach, and I’d love to hear from anyone with experience in managing similar plants. Looking forward to hearing your suggestions!