Browsing by Author "Dyamond, Wayne Peter"

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    Fault Detection and performance visualisation for a grid-connected Photovoltaic Power Plant using sensor data
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2019-12) Dyamond, Wayne Peter; Rix, Arnold J.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Engineering. Dept. of Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The rising energy demand and need for alternatives to fossil fuel based power generation have increased the utilisation of photovoltaic (PV) power plants. The reliable operation of PV power plants will maximise energy delivery, boost public opinion on PV technology and lead to financial gains for investors. Accurate fault detection and effective plant performance reporting could significantly reduce system downtime, power loss and safety hazards. The work presented in this document aims to investigate improvements to fault detection and performance visualisation for an utility-scale PV power plant using measured sensor data. 560 GB of operational data from a 75 MWp capacity solar power plant is obtained for the research project. Data pre-processing and cleaning results in a 167 GB dataset containing measured values for 12 595 different signals over the period of three years. A fault detection procedure based on the comparison of modelled and measured string-pair current is proposed. The expected current is modelled using the single diode electrical model. The Euclidean distance between the measured and expected values is calculated for all string-pairs in the power plant. Events are flagged as possible faults when the corresponding Euclidean distance is considered an outlier. The fault detection procedure is tested on the dataset and a sample accuracy of 94:67% is achieved. A visualisation tool based on the performance comparison of all string-pairs is developed. The visualisation is used to verify events detected during the fault detection procedure as well as visualise average performance and degradation differences between string-pairs. An average DC degradation rate of 0:38% per year is observed during string-pair degradation analysis.