Now a days observing the performance of a large number of solar PV power plants commissioned is necessity to match the demand of a country. In past decade all over the world has gained information on variation in predicted outputs over different operating conditions. Real operating conditions shows a difference in output from expected values due to the dependence of field variables. A 5 MW Solar PV power plant is studied here and the operational experience during the year 2016 is evaluated. The

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... field data such as solar irradiance, wind, ambient temperature, module temperature, dc and ac power output are recorded at a regular interval using SCADA software. All the performance parameters mentioned in IEC 61724 is calculated using the recorded data. Additionally, various losses, efficiencies and capacity utilization factor are obtained. Final yield of the plant showed a variation from 3.30 h/d to 5.05 h/d with an annual value of 3.72 h/d. Annual Performance ratio for the year 2016 is 73.02 %. Plants variation in output with respect to PV syst simulated results is compared and showed a variation in Performance ratio of 6.95 %. Transformer failure is found to be the reason for the reduction in Performance ratio. Response of plant to different climatic condition is studied by considering daily operation in different seasons. Plant's performance is also compared with different power plants around the world. This study shows that the plant is operating satisfactorily and could be improved further by improving the proper maintenance of its components.