IoT BASED SMART SYSTEM FOR SOLAR PANEL FAULT DETECTION

Photovoltaic (PV) power generation systems work chronically in various climatic outdoor conditions, therefore, faults may occur within the PV arrays in PV systems. Online fault detection for the PV arrays is important to improve the system?s reliability, safety, and eff

Project Title

IoT BASED SMART SYSTEM FOR SOLAR PANEL FAULT DETECTION

Project Area of Specialization

Electrical/Electronic Engineering

Project Summary

Photovoltaic (PV) power generation systems work chronically in various climatic outdoor conditions, therefore, faults may occur within the PV arrays in PV systems. Online fault
detection for the PV arrays is important to improve the system’s reliability, safety, and
efficiency. In view of this, a fault-detection method based on voltage observation and evaluation is presented to detect common PV array faults, such as open-
circuit, efficiency, and shading faults. So here is proposed an automated IoT-based smart system for solar panel fault detection that allows for automated PV array monitoring from
anywhere over the internet. In this work, an Arduino-based system is integrated with a voltage sensor for measuring parameters to monitor solar panels. Our system
constantly monitors the solar panel and transmits the output to the IoT system over the
internet Simulation experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Project Objectives

1. IoT-based solar panel monitoring system to detect faulty solar panels, connections, and dust accumulated.
2. To detect a particular fault in a particular panel and sends the message to the owner.
3. To increase the efficiency of the solar panels by sending a message to the owner if its efficiency is decreased to a certain level.

Project Implementation Method

By using multiple sensors and hardware, we are going to make our project IoT based smart system for panel fault detection.

All the voltages produced by the solar panels will be continuously monitored. Each voltage sensor connected to every panel will give instant alerts upon any fault. Arduino analyses the data received from the sensors about these parameters. It has a Wi-Fi module which helps in connecting the mobile.

All these Parameters are uploaded to the cloud and the user can have access to these real-time parameters anytime.

A project can be divided into four major phases as follows:

a) Design phase: We will have 4 solar panels, each of which would be connected in parallel. The output of each panel is connected to a voltage sensor which is then connected to Arduino UNO

b) Implementation phase: We will use different sensors to measure the values of the panels and show the output on the LCD screen and the data will also be shown on the IoT-based mobile application.

c) Testing phase: After designing and implementing we will test our project in real-time to collect the data for authentication of the smart system.

d) Evaluation phase: We will evaluate our project by getting the result from the solar panels in the form of voltages, faults, and efficiency in real-time monitoring.

Benefits of the Project

The benefits of Solar system fault detection for optimal utilization of the system are;

• Residential
• Industrial
• Commercial

One can have a complete look at solar panels, by just sitting in a room without checking all the panels individually. Everything will be shown on the LCD connected to Arduino UNO and IoT-based application.

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

We will provide a smart system that will monitor our panels continuously. Our project mainly focuses on the efficiency of solar panels. Through our proposed system, the efficiency of solar panels could reach at its best. If any type of fault occurs (described below), we will receive an instant message on our mobile application.

Our project could help a lot in a situation where we have hundreds of solar panels, and the required output is not fulfilled. We don't know which panel had a problem and we could not check each panel individually.

So we proposed a system in which a voltage sensor will help us in measuring the output voltage from each panel and send the signal to Arduino UNO.

Now if there is any problem in any panel voltage sensor will sense it and the user will get an instant alert on the LCD screen and IoT-based mobile application. 

In addition, if the efficiency of yhe panels is reduced to 70%, we will get an instant message of low efficiency.

No hustle for the owner to check each panel individually, he can simply check the particular panel for which he had received a message or an alert.

Final Deliverable of the Project

HW/SW integrated system

Core Industry

Energy

Other Industries

Others

Core Technology

Internet of Things (IoT)

Other Technologies

Sustainable Development Goals

Affordable and Clean Energy

Required Resources

If you need this project, please contact me on contact@adikhanofficial.com