Benchmarking DC Health: Protecting Revenue in Expanding Solar Fleets

As global solar capacity continues to expand at record pace, maintaining DC health has become central to protecting project returns. Recent industry analysis shows that equipment-driven underperformance is rising across portfolios, making benchmarking an essential practice for asset owners and operators. According to the Global Solar Report 2025 by Raptor Maps, findings are based on a 193 GWdc dataset, offering one of the most comprehensive looks at real-world PV system performance to date (Raptor Maps, 2025).

Data indicates that power loss linked to DC health and equipment issues has increased steadily over the past five years, regardless of site size. Larger utility-scale assets—particularly those between 100–200 MWdc—have experienced the sharpest rise in underperformance, with losses growing more than fivefold since 2020. Smaller sites under 5 MWdc have also seen rising losses, though at a comparatively slower pace. On average, solar assets in 2024 faced annualized revenue losses of approximately $5,720 per MWdc due to unresolved equipment issues, underscoring the significant financial impact of performance gaps, as highlighted in the Raptor Maps Global Solar Report 2025.

Performance variability is especially pronounced in commercial and industrial (C&I) portfolios. Smaller distributed assets show a much wider gap between top- and bottom-performing systems, with revenue differences exceeding $12,900 per MW annually in some cases. This disparity highlights the importance of consistent monitoring, data transparency, and prioritization strategies—particularly for geographically dispersed fleets where maintenance coordination can be challenging.

Regional benchmarking further reveals how market dynamics and environmental factors influence performance. In U.S. markets such as PJM and ERCOT, assets reported some of the highest average revenue losses per MW. In contrast, ISO-NE demonstrated year-over-year improvement. Across regions, inverter and string faults remain the dominant contributors to DC-related power loss. Meanwhile, storm-prone markets show elevated levels of weather-driven physical damage, adding another layer of operational risk.

The broader takeaway for the industry is clear: as solar fleets grow in size and complexity, rigorous DC health benchmarking is no longer optional. Data-driven diagnostics, targeted remediation, and proactive maintenance strategies will be critical to narrowing the gap between modeled expectations and actual energy yield.