Solar plant repowering:
We return your assets
to maximum performance.
Asset owners come to Borrego for help repowering their aging solar plants, whether it involves out-of-warranty inverters, replacement of older modules, or redesigning complete PV systems. Known for our technical expertise, we help advise our customers in their repowering decisions and provide full design and installation services to return their assets to high performance.
Recent Plant Repowering Projects
Fresno, CA
1.8 MW single-axis tracker
Three 200 volt central inverters needed replacement and were discontinued. String inverters were chosen as the most cost-effective replacement solution because of their reliability and because no changes would be needed to the existing interconnection agreement. This was the case even with the need to replace the 200 volt transformers with 480 volts.
Irvine, CA
1 MW ground mount system
Current panel return materials authorization of more than 4,000 solar panels could result in repowering if restringing is required because of different module wattages.
Fresno, Greater Denver Area, CO
8 site, 800 kW rooftop portfolio with one ground mount
The modules installed have a material defect from the back sheeting chemicals used. This project involves a panel return materials authorization and will likely result in repowering because of the restringing needed.
CA & OR portfolio
3 site, 1.5 MW single-axis tracker & carport portfolio
Repowering costs outweighed the benefits of better performance, so the owner decided to rebuild an inverter at one site, retrofit a tracker at one site, build a new solar system at another, and repaired wind damage at another.
“We’ve worked with Borrego’s O&M team both in special projects and normal day-to-day operations. We have found Borrego to be responsive and competitive when measured against their peers.”
EJ Martin
VP Operations & Maintenance
Longroad Energy
Common Causes of Solar Asset Repowering
- Needing to replace discontinued aging modules or inverters
- Needing to replace damaged central inverters, and string inverters are now a better solution
- Needing to replace degraded or broken modules, and replacement parts are unavailable
- Long-lead times or unavailability of replacement parts because of supply chain issues
- Module return materials authorization (RMA) provides different wattage modules that require restringing
- Addition of energy storage
- Expansion of PV capacity (both AC and DC)
Borrego’s Repowering Approach
Drawing on Borrego’s decades of experience designing and installing solar systems, our O&M Special Projects team provides system owners quality engineered designs that meet AHJ code and permit requirements and utility interconnection restrictions. Each repowering project is unique, and we aim to utilize as much of the existing infrastructure on-site as possible. Our field technicians perform the installation work, or we work with one of our preferred subcontractor partners to meet project budget and schedule needs. Learn more about our full suite of upgrade and replacement services.