Grant: Engage Grants Program

Canadian Solar is one of the world's largest solar companies, and is a vertically integrated provider of ingot,wafer, solar cell, solar module and other solar applications. Solar power generation has the intermittent nature.Reliability is a key performance measure when designing a solar system, which is generally defined as theprobability of the system in meeting the electricity demand. A key problem that Canadian Solar is facing is howto accurately evaluate the reliability of their Kilowatt (KW) rooftop solar systems, considering the intermittentnature of solar power, and they have been systematically collecting data from the rooftop solar systems for 1-2years. The objective of this NSERC Engage project is to perform accurate reliability analysis for rooftop solarpower systems at Canadian Solar, and subsequently analyze the system availability, maintainability, durabilityand bankability.This project will produce innovative methods for dependability analysis of rooftop solar power systemsconsidering the intermittent nature of solar power and component failures. It will help to improve thereliability, maintainability and availability of solar power systems developed by Canadian Solar, and improveits competitive advantage. The research results will potentially improve the competitiveness of solar powersolutions in general comparing to other power sources, and promote a clean and sustainable energy future forCanada.