Technologies

Discover, Connect & Collaborate at TECHINNOVATION 2021

Performance Monitoring System for Solar Power Plant

Technology Overview

Solar energy is an important part of the renewable energy industry. With the growing use of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, the interest in their operation and maintenance (O&M) is increasing as PV facilities would need to guarantee operational efficiencies for up to 25 years. PV systems inevitably suffer from the constant reduction of power output, not just due to the natural aging of the entire system including the inverter but also owing to the deterioration of the solar modules exposed to UV ray.

Given the above challenges, accurate monitoring and analyses of power generation efficiency and inverter efficiency are critical to ensure maximum performance, while minimising energy loss throughout the entire lifecycle of the PV system. Based in South Korea, the technology owner has developed a cloud-based O&M software solution for real time monitoring of PV systems’ performance. The software is built upon an inverter efficiency analysis algorithm, based on solar power estimation using various environmental sensor data including solar radiation (slope and level radiations), module temperature and environmental temperature. Data from the solar power estimation module is processed with a linear estimation model, and is continuously compared with the solar power information collected from the inverter to generate overall power generation efficiency values.

The technology owner is seeking industry partners to adopt the technology, offering its solution and technology in the form of a license agreement or commercial agreement with technical assistance to the end user or solar power plant operators.

Technology Features, Specifications and Advantages

  • Data analysis based on machine learning. Collects solar energy data from various types of inverters in a standardised format. Utilises various data including energy output, status and failure information of solar power plant equipment, and weather conditions.
  • Solar energy monitoring system (including mobile application). Provides information to users using visualisation components such as dynamic graphs. Real-time monitoring of current energy output, equipment, and power plant operation status.
  • Solar energy generation plant O&M system. Provides plant O&M information including pre-service through power generation performance predictions.
  • Maximises profit of power generation and guarantees stable facility operation. Achieve maximum power generation efficiency by diagnosing power facility status in advance.

Potential Applications

  • Power plant and industrial facilities with solar energy systems.
  • Microgrid and distributed power generation.
  • Energy data may be used for research purposes for research institutes/schools/organisations.

Customer Benefit

  • Maximises the management efficiency of the solar energy facility by promptly notifying the failure of on-site equipment and inspection status so that immediate proper action can be taken.
  • Improvement of worker safety, lower carbon emission and diagnose equipment deterioration through a predictive-analysis algorithm model that can conduct integrated analysis of energy data and worker information.
OVERVIEW
Contact Person

Junho Seo

Organisation

edRESEARCH

Technology Category

  • Energy
  • Performance Monitoring System & Sensor, Smart Metering / Management System, Solar
  • Infocomm
  • Big Data, Data Analytics, Data Mining & Data Visualisation, Green ICT

Technology Readiness Level

Keywords

Solar, Energy, Inverter, Power, Management, AI, Big-Data, Energy ICT