More Collaboration Needed In a Rapidly Growing Solar Industry

The solar industry in the U.S. is experiencing remarkable growth, with many retail and commercial companies installing solar equipment on their properties. While more solar production is a wonderful thing, it also highlights the need for reliable, thorough and proactive operation and maintenance (O&M) practices.

As one of the leading retailers in on-site solar installation, Walmart has extensive experience in the commercial O&M industry. While we have certainly seen some great work over the years, we have also seen a lot of opportunities for improvement. Perhaps the most important one is the need for more collaboration between developers, O&M providers, and off-takers. The O&M industry as a whole seems to have a reactive mindset versus a proactive approach to maintaining a solar installation. I am pushing hard to change the approach to O&M from ‘only address what’s on your checklist’ to a partnership between the off-taker and the O&M provider, which promotes wholistic, proactive O&M practices such as having technicians check the entire rooftop (rooftop solar) or parking lot (canopies) for any potential issues and anything that could lead to a future issue. For example, while walking the rooftop inspecting a solar installation, a technician may notice an expansion joint is showing excessive wear and tear, which can lead to cracks and water intrusion, or they notice vegetation growth or a water leak from a condensation line, which could lead to major issues if the solar equipment was ever damaged leading to arcing. Those things are not normally listed on a ‘PM checklist’ but are proactive actions that help to keep the system safe.

Walmart’s purpose is to help people save money and live better

 Walmart and other major commercial customers have experienced major issues in the past, which posed significant safety concerns for our customers and associates inside our stores. This simply cannot happen again. Our customer's trust and safety are a priority for Walmart. That’s why we have taken a highly active role in the O&M practices on our sites by creating O&M guidelines, implementing contractual changes, and taking a lead role moving forward in selecting which O&M providers can work on our sites.

Fires, electrocutions, and equipment damage are some of the major risks and issues that result from poorly maintained solar systems. While everyone would agree those are all unacceptable on any scale, I would like to point out how large of an impact those things have on the entire industry. A fire related to on-site solar at a commercial facility affects not just that facility or that particular company. Another major incident would likely cause Walmart (and I have heard this from other commercial customers also) to pause or, even worse, end our on-site solar program. If we stop our on-site solar program, other major commercial customers will take notice and potentially do the same since we all share the same safety risks and concerns. This would snowball into a major change to the growth and implementation of commercial solar projects in the U.S., which would have a major impact on all other aspects of the solar industry, including developers, EPC companies, and O&M providers. The economic and environmental impacts would be significant also.

We are all key players in the solar value chain. Walmart’s purpose is to help people save money and live better. That starts with trust.

Working together with intention, we can significantly scale the use of solar, make it safe and affordable, improve the stability of our electric grid, and build a more sustainable future for generations to come.