SmartHelio, a Swiss solar software developer, is launching its AI-powered Suite, offering up to 98.5% accuracy in forecasting Global Horizontal Irradiance (GHI) and wind resources, as well as 95% accuracy in predicting system failures. This technology helps minimize risks for solar investments, whether for new photovoltaic (PV) plants or existing ones. The Suite includes two key tools: SmartHelio’s predictive Autopilot solution, which provides advanced analytics, and the Climate Risk Assessment (CRA) tool, which uses meteorological and climatic data to support investment decisions. SmartHelio will showcase its AI Suite at RE+ 2024, scheduled for September 9-12 in Anaheim, California.
“Managing PV plants is often inefficient due to fragmented data and outdated reporting, leading to delayed decisions and significant financial risks for investors. Overcoming these issues is essential for boosting performance and profitability,” said Govinda Upadhyay, CEO of SmartHelio. “While many tools offer performance improvements, plants using SmartHelio’s AI-powered solution have reported up to sixfold returns on investment.”
Climate Risk Assessment (CRA) Tool
The CRA tool uniquely integrates socio-economic data such as urbanization trends, aerosol concentration, and other microclimatic factors. By analyzing over 100 variables, including real-time and historical weather data, environmental elements like proximity to natural features, and global climatic indices like El Nino/La Nina, the tool forecasts solar irradiance and wind conditions for solar farms. It also considers human factors such as pollution and urbanization to offer highly accurate predictions.
Autopilot Platform
The Autopilot platform provides actionable recommendations for optimizing solar plant operations, helping operators maintain maximum capacity at the lowest cost. By preventing downtime and cutting operational and replacement costs by up to 80%, the platform supports both future development and ongoing plant management.
AI-powered Suite
For the first time, users of SmartHelio’s AI-powered Suite, which combines the Autopilot and CRA tools, can see how climate change will affect the future performance of their PV plants and adjust current decisions accordingly. The solution also includes a component selection feature, allowing operators to choose the most suitable equipment for their installations to ensure compatibility, safety, and cost efficiency. This flexibility optimizes resource allocation, lowers costs, and enhances system performance without locking customers into a single provider.
By utilizing the AI-powered Suite, companies can streamline operations, improve decision-making, and avoid financial risks. The system processes time-series data like current and voltage, even in unstructured formats, feeding it into physics-based algorithms to predict failures such as inverter downtime or tracker malfunctions.
Case Study #1: Climate-Resilient Asset Design
A client with a 500MWp solar site in Spain struggled with inaccurate forecasts and underperformance. SmartHelio conducted a detailed climate study and probabilistic analysis, using climate change models and Deep Learning to increase forecasting accuracy to 95-98% over 25 years. This precise forecasting helped the client redesign the solar system, making it more resilient to climate dynamics and boosting annual energy output to 1.18 MWh/m², generating millions in additional revenue.
Case Study #2: PV Plant Acquisition Using CRA and Diagnostic Tools
A major oil company faced challenges when acquiring a portfolio of underperforming PV plants due to poor-quality data. SmartHelio’s One-Time Diagnostic tool enriched the chaotic data, streamlined due diligence, and provided comprehensive health reports. The CRA tool also forecasted realistic future cash flows, helping the client make an informed acquisition decision. Additionally, SolarGPT, SmartHelio’s conversational AI model, facilitated fast and accurate reporting. This approach reduced the initial data review time to 10 days and led to a final decision within 1-1.5 months, offering critical financial insights tied to technical performance.
Named Start-Up of the Year at RE+ 2023 in Las Vegas, SmartHelio will exhibit at RE+ 2024 in Anaheim. Visit SmartHelio’s booth (MP101) in the Platinum Exhibition Area at the Anaheim Marriott to learn more.