Case Study: Arizona Public Service boosts solar production and reduces downtime with OSIsoft PI System

APS Harnesses Data to Capture the Sun

Arizona Public Service (APS), the largest utility in Arizona and one of the nation’s leading solar operators with more than 170 MW of solar capacity across nine utility-scale plants, dozens of commercial arrays and 1,500+ residential systems, faced the challenge of monitoring and maintaining widely dispersed, largely unmanned solar assets with a very small field staff. APS also needed to understand how high volumes of residential solar generation affect local feeders and substations and to manage the unpredictability of solar output for reliable grid operations.

APS deployed the PI System under an Enterprise Agreement—using PI Server, Asset Framework, Notifications, PI Coresight and PI ProcessBook—to provide real-time monitoring, mobile access for technicians, automated alerts and high-frequency data collection from homes and feeders. The solution improved remote troubleshooting and technician dispatch, reduced downtime and costs while increasing power production, and enabled collaborative analytics with EPRI and the University of Arizona for power-quality studies and up to seven-day solar forecasting to optimize generation and fuel purchasing.

Arizona Public Service

Kurt Pager

PI System Administrator