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Inverter Analysis Guide

Learn how to analyze solar inverter performance data for specific plants.

Overview​

The inverter analysis tools allow you to drill down into individual inverter performance within a specific plant. All inverter tools require a plant ID to ensure proper authorization and scope.

Prerequisites​

Before analyzing inverters, you need to:

  1. Know the plant ID you want to analyze
  2. Have authorization to access that plant

Get your plant ID:

"List all my available plants"

This will show you the plant IDs you have access to.

Available Tools​

1. List Inverters​

Get a list of all inverters for a specific plant:

"List all inverters for plant [plant_id]"

Example output:

  • Inverter name and label
  • Device ID
  • Daily yield
  • Availability percentage

2. Daily Inverter Overview​

Fetch daily performance data for all inverters in a plant:

"Show me inverter performance for plant [plant_id] yesterday"

Data includes:

  • Daily Yield (kWh)
  • Total Yield (kWh)
  • Daily Derating Loss
  • Operation Time
  • Availability metrics

3. Historical Inverter Analysis​

Analyze a specific inverter's performance over time:

"Analyze inverter [inverter_name] in plant [plant_id] from 2025-01-01 to 2025-01-31"

Features:

  • Fuzzy name matching (e.g., "I06" will match "CMES-PR018-I06")
  • Date range analysis
  • Performance trends
  • Issue identification

Common Analysis Tasks​

Identify Underperforming Inverters​

Step 1: Get overview for a plant

"Show inverter performance for plant [plant_id] yesterday"

Step 2: Analyze suspicious inverters

"Analyze the last 7 days for inverter [name] in plant [plant_id]"

Compare Inverters in a Plant​

"Show all inverters for plant [plant_id] and identify which have availability below 95%"

Track Derating Losses​

"Analyze inverter [name] derating losses over the last month in plant [plant_id]"

Monitor Operation Time​

"Show me inverters with abnormal operation times in plant [plant_id] yesterday"

Best Practices​

  1. Always start with plant context

    • Use list_available_plants to get your plant IDs
    • Note the plant ID for the plant you want to analyze

  2. List inverters first

    • Run list_available_inverters to see all inverters in the plant
    • Note the exact inverter names or device IDs

  3. Use fuzzy matching

    • You don't need exact names (e.g., "I06" vs "CMES-PR018-I06")
    • The system will find matches and prompt if multiple match

  4. Focus on date ranges

    • Use historical analysis for trend identification
    • Compare week-over-week or month-over-month

  5. Look for patterns

    • Consistent low availability
    • Abnormal derating losses
    • Operation time anomalies

Example Workflows​

Morning Inverter Check​

  1. Get plant list:

    "Show my plants"

  2. Check inverter status:

    "Show inverter performance for plant [id] yesterday"

  3. Investigate issues:

    "Which inverters had issues yesterday in plant [id]?"

Deep Dive on Problem Inverter​

  1. List inverters:

    "List inverters in plant [id]"

  2. Get historical data:

    "Analyze inverter [name] in plant [id] for the last 30 days"

  3. Identify patterns:

    "What's the trend for availability and derating losses?"

Compare Inverter Performance​

  1. Get baseline:

    "Show all inverters in plant [id] yesterday"

  2. Identify outliers:

    "Which inverters have yield below the plant average?"

  3. Analyze outliers:

    "Analyze [outlier inverter] over the last week in plant [id]"

Available Metrics​

Performance Metrics​

  • Daily Yield: Energy produced today (kWh)
  • Total Yield: Cumulative energy produced (kWh)
  • Daily Derating Loss: Energy lost due to derating (kWh)

Availability Metrics​

  • Availability: Percentage of time operational (0-1)
  • Daily Operation Time: Total operational hours per day
  • Total Operation Time: Cumulative operational hours

Data Quality Metrics​

  • availability_sum: Sum of availability intervals
  • interval_count: Number of data collection intervals

Tips and Tricks​

Using Partial Names​

You can use short names or partial matches:

  • "I06" instead of "CMES-PR018-I06"
  • "PR018" to match all inverters in that subsection

Date Defaults​

If you don't specify a date:

  • Most commands default to yesterday
  • End dates default to yesterday if not specified

Authorization​

  • All inverter access is scoped to plants you're authorized for
  • If you try to access an unauthorized plant, you'll get a clear error message
  • Use list_available_plants to check your access

Common Issues​

"Access denied" errors​

Cause: You don't have access to the plant ID specified

Solution: Run list_available_plants to see which plants you can access

"No inverter found matching..."​

Cause: The inverter name doesn't match any inverters in the plant

Solution: Run list_available_inverters for the plant to see exact names

"No data found for date range"​

Cause: Data doesn't exist for the specified dates

Solution: Check that:

  • Dates are in the past (not today or future)
  • The plant was operational during that period
  • Use recent dates (yesterday or last week) to verify data availability