9 Practical Measures to Increase Solar Power Generation｜How to Prevent Revenue Decline

Table of Contents

• Increasing solar power generation begins with identifying the causes of revenue decline

• Practical measure 1: Check generation data by time of day and by equipment unit

• Practical measure 2: Separate weather, solar irradiance conditions, and seasonal variations

• Practical measure 3: Check panel surface for dirt and deposits

• Practical measure 4: Reduce shading from weeds, trees, and structures

• Practical measure 5: Check for abnormalities in strings, connection points, and cables

• Practical measure 6: Review shutdowns, curtailment, and the thermal environment of power conversion equipment

• Practical measure 7: Optimize drainage, terrain, and inspection access routes

• Practical measure 8: Prioritize cleaning, weeding, and repairs

• Practical measure 9: Sustain improvements using inspection records and location information

• Approach to operational improvements for preventing revenue decline

• Summary

Increasing Solar Power Generation Starts with Identifying the Causes of Revenue Decline

When considering boosting solar power output, the first important thing is not to immediately start cleaning or repairs. Even if you feel that generation is low, not growing as expected, or down compared with the same month last year, the cause may not be a single one. Dirt on the panel surface, bird droppings and fallen leaves, shading from weeds or trees, faults at connection points, cable damage, stoppage of power conversion equipment, output curtailment, temperature rise, poor drainage, lack of inspection records, and so on—multiple factors may combine to reduce generation.

When power generation drops, revenue is affected as well. Whether selling electricity or using it for self-consumption, if you lose power that should have been generated, you cannot fully realize the value of the equipment. That is precisely why, for practitioners searching "how to increase power generation", the important thing is to view increasing generation not simply as boosting capacity through large capital investments, but first as efforts to reduce generation losses in existing equipment.

In solar power generation, you cannot increase the incident solar radiation at the site itself. You cannot increase the number of clear-sky days, nor can you change the seasonal solar altitude. However, you can move the system closer to a state where the received solar radiation is converted into electricity with as little waste as possible. In other words, in practical terms, boosting generation means finding the losses occurring on site and reducing missed generation during the times and on the equipment that should be able to produce power.

To prevent revenue decline, it is essential to make judgments by linking data with on-site conditions rather than relying on gut feeling. Check when generation is low, which equipment is underperforming, whether it is low even on sunny days, whether there is a difference compared to equipment under the same conditions, whether it only drops in the morning and evening, or whether the midday peak is not as high as expected. Then, in order, inspect dirt/soiling, shading, connections, power conversion equipment, drainage, and inspection records. The mere fact that generation is low does not tell you whether you should clean, remove weeds, or check the equipment.

A common reason efforts to increase power generation fail is that people tackle visible problems in sequence. Cleaning because the panels are dirty, weeding because the grass has grown, or suspecting the plant side because the conversion equipment looks old—these judgments are necessary in some cases. However, if the primary cause of the drop in power output lies elsewhere, those actions will not lead to sufficient improvement. Even if you clean the panels, if morning and evening shadows remain the output is unlikely to recover, and even if you remove weeds, if the conversion equipment continues to experience short stoppages, daytime generation will not increase.

Practical measures for increasing solar power generation are to narrow down the causes, address them in order of their impact on output, and record the results. From here, we explain nine improvements to implement in practice to prevent revenue decline, following the flow of on-site inspections.

Practical Measure 1: Check power generation data by time of day and by facility

The first step to increasing power generation is to closely examine the generation data. If you only look at monthly or annual generation, you cannot tell when, where, or how generation losses are occurring. Even if nothing looks abnormal on a monthly basis, there may be cases where generation drops only during certain hours of sunny days, or where only specific rows, specific strings, or areas connected to specific power conversion equipment remain low.

Looking at power generation by time of day makes the direction of causes easier to understand. If morning generation is low, shadows from trees on the east or southeast, slopes, weeds, surrounding structures, or adjacent equipment may be involved. If it is low in the evening, check for shadows on the west or southwest, surrounding terrain, and tree growth. If the midday peak does not extend, candidates include panel surface soiling, temperature rise, limitations of power conversion equipment, output curtailment, equipment shutdown, or string-level anomalies.

If the generation curve suddenly drops during a sunny day, it is necessary to cross-check the shutdown log and the alarm history with the timestamps. If it dips only briefly during the daytime, it may not be noticeable in the monthly total, but losses may be occurring during periods of high generation. Especially if you want to prevent revenue decline, it is important not to overlook stoppages or output reductions during times of high generation.

It is also essential to compare on an equipment/unit basis. If you only look at the total generation of the power plant, some abnormalities can be masked by the average. Compare installations with the same orientation, the same tilt, a similar number of panels, and the same shading conditions to check whether any particular installation is performing lower. Simply comparing installations with different conditions risks mistaking normal differences for anomalies. The purpose of the comparison is to identify, among installations that should have similar generation, locations that are consistently underperforming.

Pay attention to how the power output declines. If power output suddenly drops, possible causes include equipment shutdown, broken wiring, poor connections, or the emergence of obstructions. If it is decreasing gradually, accumulation of dirt, growth of weeds or trees, deterioration of site conditions due to poor drainage, and aging of equipment or components may be involved. For sudden drops versus gradual declines, both the places to inspect on site and the priority of countermeasures will differ.

Carefully examining power generation data is the primary basis for decisions to prevent revenue decline. If you know which time periods, which equipment, and to what extent output is falling, you can narrow down targets for cleaning, weeding, repairs, and equipment checks. Rather than conducting aimless inspections across a large plant, the quickest way to increase generation is to use data to pinpoint where generation losses occur and then proceed to on-site verification.

Practical Measure 2: Separate weather, solar radiation conditions, and seasonal variations

When you feel that power generation is low, before suspecting an equipment malfunction you should check the weather, solar irradiation conditions, and seasonal differences. Because solar power generation is greatly affected by the amount of solar irradiation, output falls during periods with many cloudy or rainy days even if there is no equipment problem. If you compare only the monthly generation with the same month last year or the previous month and immediately conclude that the equipment is faulty, the main cause may actually have been differences in the weather.

At the same time, we must avoid overlooking genuine anomalies by attributing them to the weather. If the entire power plant is experiencing similar reductions consistent with regional weather, the influence of solar irradiance conditions is likely significant. However, if only part of the plant is underperforming while other equipment at the same plant is operating normally, or if there is a clear difference compared with equipment under the same conditions, weather alone cannot explain it. In such cases, on-site causes such as soiling, shading, poor connections, equipment shutdowns, or output curtailment need to be checked.

To separate weather-related causes from equipment-related ones, compare sunny days with other sunny days or days with similar weather. Cloudy or rainy days have large fluctuations in power generation, making abnormal features harder to see. By checking the generation curve on sunny days, you can more easily find shadows that cause drops at the same time each day, string abnormalities that are low only for specific equipment, and equipment shutdowns that cause drops only for a certain period. It is important not to isolate only low-generation days, but to compare them with days that have similar conditions.

Seasonal differences are also an important factor in decision-making. In winter the solar altitude is lower, and shadows from surrounding trees and slopes tend to extend longer. In summer, while solar radiation is stronger, panel temperatures and temperatures around equipment rise, which can make it harder for power output to increase. During periods of frequent rain, monthly power generation tends to be lower, and after strong winds or heavy rain attention is needed to fallen leaves, sediment, deposits, poor drainage, and the condition around cables.

To prevent revenue decline, you need to separate natural fluctuations in power generation from generation losses that can be remedied on site. If weather is the main cause, cleaning or repairs will not significantly improve generation. Conversely, if a specific area remains low even on sunny days, it is highly likely that there is room for on-site improvement. Making this distinction reduces unnecessary work and allows you to focus on measures that effectively increase power generation.

It can also be linked to seasonal inspection plans. In spring, be mindful of pollen and yellow sand; in summer, weeds and high temperatures; after typhoons, soil and falling debris; in autumn, fallen leaves; and in winter, shadows and frost due to the sun’s lower angle. To sustain increased power generation, it is effective to anticipate seasonal generation losses and conduct on-site checks before generation drops significantly.

Practical Measure 3: Inspect the Panel Surface for Dirt and Deposits

Dirt and deposits on panel surfaces are a typical cause of reduced solar power generation. Because solar panels generate electricity by receiving sunlight on their surface, when dirt adheres the light reaching the cells decreases. The way panels become soiled varies with the site environment, including soil dust, pollen, yellow sand, bird droppings, fallen leaves, sap, dust from nearby construction, road-borne dust, and salt-containing dirt that tends to adhere in coastal areas. Even light soiling, if spread over a wide area, can affect power generation, and localized deposits can act as a strong shadow even over a small area.

Particular attention should be paid to banded dirt that remains along the lower edge of panels and around the frame. It is often assumed that rain will wash it away naturally, but in reality the flow of rainwater can collect dirt at the lower edge and leave it there. Panels with a shallow tilt do not shed water easily, making them more prone to dirt accumulation. Even dirt that is not noticeable from a distance can affect power generation if it covers part of a cell.

Localized deposits such as bird droppings and fallen leaves should not be overlooked. Unlike dirt that spreads thinly across an entire surface, these cover specific spots more heavily and hinder power generation by causing partial shading. Dirt and deposits are more likely to occur in rows near trees, around structures where birds are likely to perch, in rows that tend to be downwind, and near unpaved walkways. If only some installations show reduced power output, focus inspections on the panel surfaces around those installations.

When deciding on cleaning, check whether the soiled areas coincide with the areas of reduced power generation. If the equipment with low power output overlaps with the visibly soiled areas, the priority for cleaning should be high. Conversely, if dirt is visible but does not match the areas of reduced power output, you need to check other causes such as shading, connections, conversion equipment, and temperature conditions. To prevent revenue decline, correctly selecting the cleaning areas that will lead to improved power generation is more important than the act of cleaning itself.

When carrying out cleaning, the premise is that equipment must not be damaged. Avoid vigorously scrubbing with hard tools, performing sudden work during periods when panels are at high temperature, and skipping safety checks required for electrical equipment. If you record before-and-after photos, the work area, weather conditions, and changes in power generation, it will be easier to determine how much the dirt affected power output. If improvements are apparent, you can use them to inform future cleaning plans; if the effect is small, it provides an opportunity to investigate other causes.

Practical Measure 4: Reduce Shadows Caused by Weeds, Trees, and Structures

When aiming to increase power generation, measures against shading are indispensable. Because solar panels generate electricity from sunlight, even a shadow that falls on part of a panel can reduce its output. Causes of shading include weeds, trees, fences, support posts, nearby buildings, mounting racks, adjacent rows of panels, monitoring equipment, and other factors. Shadows move with the time of day and seasons, so the fact that no shadow is visible at the time of inspection does not necessarily mean there is no problem.

Weeds are a common cause of shading on-site. Even if there is no problem in winter or immediately after installation, they can grow rapidly from spring to summer and cast shadows on the lower edges of panels and on the front rows. Even if the plants do not touch the panels, shadows can extend far when the sun is low in the morning and evening. Furthermore, if weeds become dense they reduce airflow, block inspection aisles, and make it difficult to check around equipment. Because this affects not only power generation but also maintenance, weed management is important.

Shading from trees is also a factor that tends to become problematic during long-term operation. Trees that had little impact at the time of installation can grow over several years and reduce power generation. Trees located on the south, east, or west sides in particular cast shadows on panels depending on the time of day. At power plants near forests or slopes, the height of the terrain and the height of the trees can combine to create long shadows in winter. If generation is low only in winter, or if there are large drops in the morning and evening, it is necessary to check both the trees and the terrain together.

When checking shadows, it is important to inspect the site at the times indicated by power generation data when output is reduced. If generation is low in the morning, check the site in the morning; if it is low in the evening, observe the shadows in the evening. Even if there are no problems at noon, significant shadows can appear in the morning or evening. Also, even if there are no issues in summer, the sun’s altitude is lower in winter, causing shadows from the same structures to extend farther. Recording the times when shadows occur, their sources, and the equipment they affect makes it easier to decide on countermeasures.

Pay attention to shadows from nearby structures and additional equipment. Newly installed posts, signs, fences, monitoring equipment, and the like can cast shadows depending on the time of day. If you aim to increase power generation, you need not only to reduce existing shading but also to manage operations so as not to create new shadows. After weeding or pruning, check whether the generation curves in the morning and evening have improved. Recording the effects of shading countermeasures makes it easier to set priorities for future inspections and work.

Practical Measure 5: Check for Abnormalities in Strings, Connection Points, and Cables

When considering increasing power output, you need to check not only the panel surface and shading but also the electrical paths that extract the electricity. Even if solar panels are generating normally, faults in the strings, connection points, or cables can prevent the generated power from being fully extracted. Loosened terminals, poor contacts, damage to cable sheathing, moisture ingress, animal damage, damage during mowing, and deterioration due to aging can all lead to reduced power output.

When checking for abnormalities at the string level, compare strings under the same conditions. If you simply compare strings that differ in panel count, orientation, tilt, shading conditions, or connection configuration, you may mistake normal differences for abnormalities. Check whether any string is consistently lower compared to adjacent rows or strings with the same orientation. If only a particular string is lower, possible causes include soiling, partial shading, poor connections, cable damage, panel defects, or issues on the inverter / power-conversion equipment side.

Also pay attention to how the differences in power output appear. If output is consistently lower than the surroundings even on sunny days, dirt, degradation, or poor connections may be suspected. If it is only lower in the mornings and evenings, check for the effects of shading. If abnormalities tend to appear after rain, moisture ingress or the condition around connection points may be involved. If it becomes unstable during periods of high temperature, poor contact or the thermal environment are also possible causes. Combining the power output waveform with on-site conditions makes it easier to narrow down the cause.

When a problem with connection points or cables is suspected, prioritize safety above all. Even if you want to increase power output, on-site personnel should avoid physically touching connection points or internal components of equipment to make assessments. First, organize information about the equipment suspected of being faulty, the time of occurrence, changes in power generation, on-site photographs, and the surrounding environment. If necessary, arranging for a specialized inspection will make it easier to identify the cause while maintaining safety.

Cable and connection failures are also related to the surrounding environment. When weeds are overgrown, cables become hard to see, and damage or deterioration can be overlooked. In areas with poor drainage, moisture and standing water may affect connections. In locations that are easily accessed by animals, cable damage can also occur. Rather than stopping at repairs, confirming site conditions that could lead to recurrence is essential for increasing power output and preventing loss of revenue.

Practical Measure 6: Review Shutdown, Suppression, and Thermal Environment of Conversion Equipment

The causes of low solar power generation are not limited to the panels and wiring. If the power conversion equipment that converts the generated electricity is stopped or its output is being limited, generation will not increase even when there is sufficient sunlight. To prevent revenue decline, it is essential to check the operating status of the conversion equipment, shutdown history, alarm history, and whether output curtailment is in effect.

When reviewing downtime history, confirm which equipment stopped, when, and for how long. Even a short stoppage can result in large losses if it occurs during the daytime when generation is high. If equipment repeatedly stops and resumes during the day, it may not be noticeable in the monthly total, but you could actually be losing generated energy. Whether only a particular piece of equipment has stopped or multiple pieces have stopped simultaneously will affect the suspected causes.

If output curtailment is occurring, power generation can plateau even on clear days. If the upper part of the generation curve appears flat, check operational data and historical records. However, a flat curve does not necessarily indicate output curtailment. Similar patterns can result from equipment capacity limits, temperature rise, insufficient input, panel soiling, shading, or measurement anomalies. Do not judge based on the generation curve alone; it is important to verify it against historical data and on-site conditions.

Don't overlook the thermal environment. Although solar power generation tends to perform better with stronger sunlight, rising panel temperatures or higher temperatures around equipment can make it harder for output to increase. If, on a clear summer day, power generation doesn't rise as much as expected, the midday peak is muted, or the system becomes unstable during periods when equipment tends to run hot, check the temperature conditions. Situations such as overgrown weeds under panels or around equipment, accumulated debris, or poor ventilation can affect power output and the detection of abnormalities.

Around converter equipment, check for grass, fallen leaves, sediment, obstacles, puddles, mud, and the condition of access routes. If visibility around the equipment is poor, it becomes difficult to notice abnormal indications or changes in appearance. Poor access routes delay inspections and also delay the detection of abnormalities. To prevent revenue decline, it is important to maintain an environment where equipment can operate stably and to keep conditions that allow immediate checks when an abnormality occurs.

Practical Measure 7: Organize drainage, terrain, and inspection access routes

To sustain increases in power generation, it is necessary to check not only the panels and equipment but also the plant's overall drainage, topography, and inspection routes. These may appear unrelated to power output, but in fact they are important factors that lead to dirt, weeds, faults at connection points, and reduced inspectability. Areas where water tends to pool, places where sediment flows in, paths prone to becoming muddy, slope failures, scour around mounting structures, and locations where cables are likely to be exposed can repeatedly cause declines in power output.

In locations where puddles remain after rain, weeds tend to grow more easily. When weeds grow, they create shading, reduce ventilation, and make inspections more difficult. In areas where sediment washes in, dirt tends to accumulate at the lower edges of panels and around cables. If the same problems recur in the same locations even after cleaning or weeding, it is necessary to check for drainage and terrain issues.

When checking topography and drainage, on-site inspections after rain are as useful as those in fine weather. Determine where water flows in, where it pools, and where it drains out. Recording puddles, sediment deposits, vegetation growth, pathway settlement, and slope changes helps identify locations prone to recurrence. If poor drainage is left unaddressed, the same power generation losses will be repeated many times.

Maintaining clear inspection routes is also important. If grass is overgrown and impassable, the ground is too muddy to approach, equipment numbers are hard to read, or a photo alone doesn’t convey the location, discovery and sharing of anomalies will be delayed. Even if you identify low-performing equipment from data, corrective action will be delayed if it is difficult to reach the actual site. If you aim to increase power generation, keeping the power plant in a condition that is easy to inspect is also an important practical measure.

Improvements to drainage and inspection access routes may not immediately be visible as increased power generation. However, in the long term they help reduce the recurrence of soiling, overgrowth of weeds, poor ventilation, overlooked cable faults, and delayed inspections. To prevent revenue decline, it is essential not only to carry out immediate cleaning and repairs, but also to create a site environment that makes the same causes less likely to occur.

Practical Measure 8: Set Priorities for Cleaning, Weeding, and Repairs

When implementing measures to increase power generation, it is important to set priorities rather than carry out all measures at once. Cleaning, weeding, checking connections, equipment inspections, and drainage countermeasures may all be necessary, but if you start with measures that have little impact on power output, the improvement can be hard to see compared to the workload. To prevent revenue decline, it is practical to address measures in order from the locations with the largest generation losses.

When setting priorities, use power generation data as the basis. If dirt is concentrated on equipment with clearly lower power generation, prioritize cleaning. If power generation is low only in the mornings and evenings and grass or tree shadows can be confirmed, prioritize weeding and pruning. If only specific strings are low and no dirt or shadows are apparent, inspection of connection points and cables is necessary. If the time of the drop in power generation matches the shutdown history of the power conversion equipment, prioritize inspection of the equipment.

Cleaning and weeding should not be carried out solely for aesthetic purposes. Verify that the area of reduced power generation corresponds to the area being worked on. Even if you first tidy areas that are unlikely to affect power output, it will be difficult to prevent revenue decline if the locations actually causing generation losses remain. In large power plants, it is effective to use power generation data and location information to narrow down the locations to prioritize.

Even when repairs or specialized inspections are required, priorities should be made clear. Anomalies that could immediately lead to safety issues, those that cause large drops in power generation, those that are likely to recur, and those that repeat at the same location should be checked first. On the other hand, issues that have little impact on power generation or that are likely due to weather factors may be judged after reviewing additional data.

After implementing measures, check how the electricity output changed. After performing cleaning, weeding, repairs, equipment checks, and drainage checks, record the electricity output before and after the work, on-site photos, the scope of work, and weather conditions. Continue to prioritize measures that showed large effects, and if effects are difficult to see, suspect other causes. To sustain increases in electricity output, it is important not only to implement measures but also to use the verification of their effects to inform subsequent decisions.

Practical Measure 9: Sustain Improvement Effects Using Inspection Records and Location Information

To sustain increases in power output, keeping inspection records is essential. Even when dirt, shading, anomalies, or poor drainage are found on-site, if the exact location is not accurately shared, implementing countermeasures or rechecking will take time. Especially at large power plants, similar rows and equipment are lined up, so it can be difficult to identify the location from photos alone. By linking inspection results with location information and managing them, the operational work to improve power output becomes easier.

What you should record are the locations of equipment with low power output, rows that are prone to soiling, places where shadows occur, areas where water accumulates, locations suspected of poor connections, sites where inverters have stopped, places that were repaired, and the areas where cleaning or weeding was performed. Leaving photos, date and time, equipment numbers, the work performed, details of abnormalities, the status of responses, and whether reinspection is necessary will be helpful for the next inspection. If you add too many items to record, the process won’t be sustained on site, so first make sure that, when you look back later, you can understand where and what happened.

Linking power generation data with on-site photographs makes it easier to identify causes. If the locations of low-output equipment coincide with areas where shadows occur or drainage is poor, the rationale for countermeasures becomes clear. If output at a cleaned location improves, you can conclude that soiling had a significant impact there. If morning and evening generation improves after weed removal, it is likely that shadowing from weeds was the cause. Keeping records speeds up decision-making in the future.

If insufficient record-keeping is left unaddressed, the same problems will recur. Even if there are patterns—grass growing in the same spot every year, dirt accumulating in the same row, the same pathway becoming muddy after rain, or the same equipment causing stoppages—without records the next response will be ad hoc. To prevent loss of revenue, it is important not to search for causes from scratch each time but to narrow down where to check using past records.

To sustain the effects of power generation improvements, also record the power generation after the measures. If you keep records of power generation before and after the work, weather conditions, scope of work, and photos, you can determine which measures were effective. Prioritize measures that proved effective next time, and use measures with small effects to prompt a recheck of their causes. Repeating this cycle builds the foundation for turning power generation increases from a one‑off task into an operational practice that prevents revenue decline.

Approach to Operational Improvements to Prevent Revenue Decline

To prevent a decline in revenue, it is important to operate in a way that detects signs before generation losses become large, rather than responding after output has already dropped. Declines in power generation can appear suddenly and significantly, or accumulate gradually as small losses. Partial string degradation, short-term equipment stoppages, morning and evening shading, soiling on the lower edge, and poor ventilation can be difficult to detect in daily generation data. However, if they persist over a long period, they will affect revenue.

When improving operations, it is important to establish inspection frequencies and criteria. Deciding how often to review power generation data, what level of deviation should trigger an on-site inspection, and down to which equipment unit comparisons should be made will speed up the detection of anomalies. Relying solely on the intuition of personnel can lead to oversights and inconsistent judgments. Standardizing the power generation curve for clear-sky days, comparisons with equipment under the same conditions, checks of shutdown histories, and the recording of site photographs will stabilize the accuracy of improvements.

Also, it is important to anticipate seasonal power generation losses. In spring, be aware of pollen and yellow dust; in summer, weeds and high temperatures; after typhoons, sediment and falling debris; in autumn, falling leaves; and in winter, shading and frost caused by the lower solar altitude. If power output decreases at the same location at the same time every year, there may be seasonal causes. Keeping seasonal inspection records will allow you to take measures before power output drops significantly in subsequent years.

When multiple people are responsible for management, a system for sharing information is also necessary. If abnormalities found on site remain only in the memory of the person who discovered them, it becomes difficult to use them for the next inspection or repair. By linking equipment numbers, location information, photos, work history, and power generation data, relevant parties can more easily verify the same location. Improving power generation is also about creating a system that leverages on-site observations for the next round of improvements.

The ultimate goal of improving power generation is not merely to temporarily restore output. It is to prevent the same causes from repeatedly reducing generation and to keep generation losses to a minimum. Rather than treating cleaning, weeding, repairs, equipment inspections, and drainage checks as separate tasks, linking them together as continuous operational improvements starting from power generation data makes it easier to prevent revenue declines.

Summary

An effective approach to increasing solar power generation is to sequentially isolate where and why generation losses occur and to make improvements starting with the locations that have the greatest impact on output. In solar power generation, you cannot increase the incident solar irradiance at the site itself. However, you can improve generation by bringing the system closer to a state that converts the incident irradiance into electricity without waste. To do this, you need to check, in order: power generation data, weather and irradiance conditions, panel surface soiling, shadows from weeds and trees, strings and connections, power conversion equipment, drainage, and inspection records.

When you notice low power generation, rather than immediately performing cleaning or repairs, it is important to first separate and examine the data. Identify when the output is low, which equipment is underperforming, and whether there are differences compared with equipment under the same conditions. With that information, an on-site inspection will clarify where cleaning is needed, which areas require weeding, which connection points should be inspected, which devices should be checked, and which drainage or access routes should be reconsidered. To prevent revenue decline, it is important to make decisions by linking data with on-site conditions, not by intuition.

Also, measures to increase power generation are not completed with a single operation. Even if you clean, dirt will return; even if you remove weeds, grass will grow back; trees will continue to grow; and equipment and wiring will change condition with age. By comparing power generation before and after measures, keeping on-site photos and work records, and applying them to the next inspection, the accuracy of improvements increases. To raise power generation consistently, it is essential not only to eliminate causes but also to create a site environment and management system that make the same causes less likely to occur.

In particularly large power plants, a system for accurately sharing problem locations is important. If inspection photos, along with location information, are recorded for dirt-prone rows, areas where shadows occur, spots where water accumulates, abnormal strings, locations suspected of connection abnormalities, places where power conversion equipment has stopped, cleaning areas, and repair positions, stakeholders can more easily confirm the same location. By combining power generation data with on-site location information, it becomes easier to explain the prioritization of cleaning, weeding, repairs, and specialized inspections, and it also streamlines follow-up checks for recurrence in subsequent visits.

If you want to continue implementing practical measures to increase solar power generation as an operation to prevent revenue decline, using LRTK is also effective. LRTK, an iPhone-mounted GNSS high-precision positioning device, is useful for recording inspection locations within a solar power plant, areas prone to dirt, places where shadows occur, locations with poor drainage, abnormal equipment, connection points and areas around equipment, cleaning ranges, repair locations, and on-site photos together with high-precision location information. By keeping the results of checking the nine practical measures with location information, it becomes easier to proceed with power generation improvements based on field data rather than on intuition.