Browsing by Author "Shuda, Eduan Joseph"

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    Module-level health monitoring of solar PV plants using LoRa wireless sensor networks
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2019-04) Shuda, Eduan Joseph; Rix, Arnold J.; Booysen, M. J.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Engineering. Dept. of Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The monitoring of PV plants is a crucial aspect in ensuring smooth operation and optimum e ciency. Early detection of faults or ine ciencies can greatly reduce downtime and increase overall plant e ciency. Faults include temporary and permanent soiling, shadowing, anomalous ageing and critical electrical or mechanical faults. Many solar installations are located at remote locations; faults often go unnoticed and unattended to for long periods. A remote module-level monitoring system can detect ine ciencies and faults when and where they occur. A wireless module-level monitoring system that measures electrical and environmental quantities related to PV module performance is proposed in this work. Although various wireless module-level sensor approaches exist, the sheer size of a typical solar PV plant presents challenges for the wireless technologies presented in these approaches. Di erent wireless technologies such as Bluetooth, Zigbee, Wi-Fi, GSM, Sigfox and LoRa were evaluated for the proposed monitoring system. LoRa was chosen as the wireless technology due to its long range and low power consumption. A number of sensor nodes and a gateway was designed, built and tested. Each sensor node is capable of measuring voltage, current, irradiance, ambient temperature, module temperature, orientation and tampering detection. Initial eld tests that were carried out indicate that the sensor nodes measure with adequate accuracy to evaluate PV module performance in detail. The developed monitoring system consisting of fteen sensor nodes, a gateway and a remote GUI application was tested on a operational PV plant. Shading and soiling eld scenarios, as well as a shading experiment proved that the module-level monitoring system is capable of detecting faults and ine ciencies within a PV plant. Results that were obtained indicate the following: sensor nodes are modular, self-powered and low maintenance. The wireless technology used to transmit measurement data from the sensor nodes to a central gateway is capable of operating on a small, medium or large PV plant. The monitoring system is also capable of remote detection and reporting via the GUI application.