5AO.8.5 OPERATIONAL EXPERIENCE AND ECONOMICS OPERATIONAL COSTS AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON LCOE OF PV PLANTS EXPERIENCE AND OUTLOOK ON OPERATIONAL COSTS FOR SMALL TO MEDIUM PV PLANTS IN SWITZERLAND FROM A POINT OF VIEW OF AN INDEPENDENT POWER PRODUCER

摘要

Operational costs of PV plants become more relevant for levelized costs of electricity (LCOE) with decreasing upfront costs for PV systems. This is true due to the shift of the balance in shares of LCOE for the two main components of LCOE capital costs and operational costs. Understanding and optimizing operational costs is therefor essential for further reduction of LCOE for future PV plants. This work analyses true operational costs for small to medium (30...250 kWp) PV plants over a period of time of five years in terms of most relevant components as well as absolute numbers and gives an outlook on possible future developments of operational costs. The share of operational costs in the LCOE rose from 17% to 29% in the observed period of time, although absolute numbers of operational costs were reduced by around 15%. This is mainly due to the fast reduction of capital costs of about 55%. While the trend for the capital costs seems to be given with PV system price learning curves, the main components of operational costs show different potentials for cost reduction.