Automatic Monitoring of PV-systems

Photovoltaic system performance is the ratio of actual solar PV system output compared with expected values, which is essential for proper solar PV facility's operation and maintenance. The performance of a solar PV facility is a function of the climatic conditions, the equipment used and the system configuration. The primary energy input is the global light irradiance in the plane of the solar arrays, and this in turn is a combination of the direct and the diffuse radiation. The performance is measured by PV monitoring systems, which include a data logging device and a weather measurement device (on-site device or an independent weather data source). Irradiance sensing is very important for the PV industry and can be classified to two main categories - on-site pyranometers and satellite remote sensing; recently, Industrial IOT-powered sensor-less weather measurement approach has also evolved as the third option.