PV Fleet Performance Data Initiative

The U.S. Department of Energy and NLR created the PV Fleet Performance Data Initiative to collect photovoltaic (PV) plant operation data in a secure, central database and to analyze trends.

Although many studies have examined field degradation rates of PV modules, little is known about degradation rates and performance across the entire U.S. solar fleet. This initiative is pooling data from many large PV installations to create a benchmark of cumulative performance and degradation rates for the U.S. solar fleet. This web page provides the most up-to-date results from the current PV Fleets dataset. Results are updated at least annually.

Performance Loss Rate Distribution
Bar chart with 39 bars.
A histogram graph shows n = 4,915 datapoints that the PV Fleet initiative has collected and that the overall median performance loss is 0.75 percent per year. A P90 value is -1.9 percent per year.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying Inverter-Level Performance Loss Rate [%/year]. Data ranges from -6.6 to 1.
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying Frequency. Data ranges from 0 to 604.
End of interactive chart.
Chart
Map of United States of America with 7 data series.
Systems in US PV Temperature zones 2 and 3 are in the northern half of the country and parts of California and Hawaii. Temperature zone 5 systems are found in the southern US. Temperature zone 6 systems are found in desert areas of Arizona and southern Nevada.
End of interactive chart.
Chart
Boxplot with 3 boxes. Box plot charts are typically used to display groups of statistical data. Each data point in the chart can have up to 5 values: minimum, lower quartile, median, upper quartile, and maximum.
Three boxplots for the PV Temperature Zones 4 through 6. The median PLRs are: -0.6 percent per year, -0.77 percent per year, and -0.81 percent per year, for Zones 4 through 6 respectively.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying PV Temperature Zone.
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying Inverter-level Performance Loss Rate [%/year]. Data ranges from -2.76 to 0.98.
End of interactive chart.

Who Can Participate?

The initiative is interested in receiving data from medium and large (>250 kW) PV installations, collected over at least 3 years, with performance data recorded at least every 15 minutes, together with on-site plane-of-array irradiance, meteorological data, and system specifications.

In the first phase of the project, NLR would like to hear from interested organizations to assess their data and ability to participate. Once participants have been selected and agreements put in place, full data collection and analysis will begin.

In exchange for contributing data to the project, participants receive a confidential, customized performance analysis performed by NLR using RdTools, a software tool for the analysis of photovoltaic time-series data. Data are protected by confidentiality agreements and anonymized for public sharing. This analysis will give the broader community an aggregate benchmark for the performance of the solar fleet in the United States.

Read more about the ongoing success of the PV Fleet Performance Data Initiative on the DOE website.

Data

PV Fleet Data Initiative, DuraMAT Data Hub (2022)

PV Fleet Degradation Insights - Data, DuraMAT Data Hub (2022)

Photovoltaic Data Acquisition Public Datasets, Open Energy Data Initiative (2022)

Photovoltaic Data Acquisition Visualization Map, Open Energy Data Initiative (2024)

Publications

PV Fleet Performance Data Initiative: March 2020 Methodology Report, NLR Technical Report (2020)

PV Fleet Performance Data Initiative: Performance Index-Based Analysis, NLR Technical Report (2021)

Photovoltaic Fleet Degradation Insights, Progress in Photovoltaics (2022)

Extreme Weather and PV Performance, IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics (2023)

Availability and Performance Loss Factors for U.S. PV Fleet Systems, NLR Technical Report (2024)

Cite the Data

D.C. Jordan, K. Anderson, K. Perry, M. Muller, M. Deceglie, R. White, C. Deline. "Photovoltaic Fleet Degradation Data, Version 2022.02.22," National Renewable Energy Laboratory (2022). https://doi.org/10.21948/1842958.

Contact

For more information or to discuss participation in the initiative, contact pvfleetdata@nlr.gov.

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Last Updated Dec. 6, 2025