Disciplines
Electrical and Electronics | Power and Energy
Abstract (300 words maximum)
Solar power has emerged as a promising renewable clean energy source and installations of solar panels are increasing sharply year after year. Monitoring the power output and health of solar panels is critically important to ensure safe and reliable operation of a solar power plant throughout its operational lifetime. In this project, we have designed and built a low-cost electronic device that is capable of measuring the electrical parameters of a solar cell or module. The device consists of a microprocessor with integrated analog-to-digital converter, a supercapacitor bank, current sense amplifier, and electromechanical relays. The microprocessor performs data acquisition through fast sampling of voltage and current, and intelligently controls the charging and discharging of the supercapacitors to trace the current-voltage characteristics of a solar cell in less than 10 seconds. Performance of our device is validated with standard laboratory measurement instruments. Our developed device has integrated Wi-Fi communication capability which allows it to directly connect to the internet and send the data to a remote computer. We developed a python program that runs on the remote computer enabling further data processing, analysis, and continuous remote online health monitoring of solar panels. Device design, fabrication, programming, and experimental data acquired on a polycrystalline silicon solar cell will be presented. Our device will facilitate remote and autonomous detection of anomalous characteristics of a solar panel operating in the field and alert the users or maintenance crews of utility companies to replace a faulty panel on time, thus improving system reliability and safety.
Academic department under which the project should be listed
SPCEET - Electrical and Computer Engineering
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Sandip Das
Design and Development of a Solar Module Health Monitoring Device
Solar power has emerged as a promising renewable clean energy source and installations of solar panels are increasing sharply year after year. Monitoring the power output and health of solar panels is critically important to ensure safe and reliable operation of a solar power plant throughout its operational lifetime. In this project, we have designed and built a low-cost electronic device that is capable of measuring the electrical parameters of a solar cell or module. The device consists of a microprocessor with integrated analog-to-digital converter, a supercapacitor bank, current sense amplifier, and electromechanical relays. The microprocessor performs data acquisition through fast sampling of voltage and current, and intelligently controls the charging and discharging of the supercapacitors to trace the current-voltage characteristics of a solar cell in less than 10 seconds. Performance of our device is validated with standard laboratory measurement instruments. Our developed device has integrated Wi-Fi communication capability which allows it to directly connect to the internet and send the data to a remote computer. We developed a python program that runs on the remote computer enabling further data processing, analysis, and continuous remote online health monitoring of solar panels. Device design, fabrication, programming, and experimental data acquired on a polycrystalline silicon solar cell will be presented. Our device will facilitate remote and autonomous detection of anomalous characteristics of a solar panel operating in the field and alert the users or maintenance crews of utility companies to replace a faulty panel on time, thus improving system reliability and safety.