By Karthik Yenduru, TGS
The U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 sparked strong momentum for clean energy by offering significant incentives to accelerate adoption, strengthen energy independence, and fuel economic growth. However, proposed legislation like the “One Big Beautiful Bill” risks introducing uncertainty and slowing progress. In this evolving landscape, many solar and storage asset owners are expected to double down on optimizing the performance and profitability of their existing portfolios. Here, success depends on leveraging high-quality, real-time data to drive smarter decisions, streamline operations, and unlock greater value from every asset.
Impact of Good Quality Data on Solar and BESS Asset Management
High-quality, reliable data is the backbone of successful renewable energy operations. With accurate, real-time monitoring and continuous analysis, operators can quickly detect issues, predict maintenance needs, and allocate resources more effectively, reducing unexpected downtime by up to 50%, as noted by the IEA [2]. NREL reinforces this by highlighting how dependable data improves day-to-day decision-making, system oversight, and revenue tracking. Asset performance management (APM) platforms bring everything together, combining historical and real-time insights into one unified view. This empowers teams to forecast more accurately, stay compliant, and make smarter investment choices. For independent power producers (IPPs), data-driven operations aren’t just helpful, they’re essential to staying competitive and achieving long-term success.
Risks & Limitations of Poor-Quality Data
Poor data quality can quietly erode the performance and profitability of renewable energy assets. When readings are inaccurate, missing, or inconsistent, they often trigger false alarms, mislead diagnostics, and lead to inefficient maintenance, resulting in unnecessary downtime and lost revenue. These issues don’t just stay isolated; they ripple through performance models, skew reports, and compromise decision-making. Industry experts and NREL’s O&M guidelines consistently stress the importance of catching data anomalies early to avoid these costly setbacks [3]. That’s why modern APM platforms are built with robust validation tools, like outlier detection and gap filling, to ensure the data you rely on is clean, consistent, and actionable. In high-stakes operations, trustworthy data isn’t a “nice-to-have”; it’s a must.
Latency, Standardization and Reliability
High-quality data isn't just about accuracy; speed, consistency, and compatibility are also required. When data from solar or BESS assets is delayed or unstable, it can disrupt real-time decisions like curtailment, market dispatch, or emergency shutdowns. As the U.S. Department of Energy highlights, low latency is critical to keeping grid operations responsive and stable. At the same time, inconsistent data formats make it harder to merge and analyze information across different systems. That’s why industry leaders, including NREL, recommend using open standards like IEC 61724, IEC 61850, OPC UA or other equivalent protocols to streamline integration and ensure all data speaks the same language [3]. Tools like Sandia’s PECoS framework and platforms like Prediktor PowerView™ take it a step further by automating quality checks, detecting outliers, and layering in validation to ensure operators always work from a clean, reliable data foundation [6]. This kind of data infrastructure doesn’t just support better performance; it builds trust in every decision.
Case Studies & Examples
In today’s uncertain policy landscape, the ability to operate efficiently and profitably has never been more important for renewable asset owners. Across all examples, from Scatec’s centralized monitoring to predictive maintenance trials and real-time market participation, one truth remains constant: the quality of your data defines the quality of your decisions. Clean, timely, and standardized data unlocks powerful insights, enables proactive operations, and drives revenue growth. In contrast, poor data breeds inefficiency, reactive maintenance, and lost opportunity. As renewable portfolios grow in scale and complexity, building a strong foundation of trustworthy, real-time data isn’t just good practice; it’s a strategic imperative for resilience, performance, and long-term success.
APA References