Development of SCADA IoT Embedded Windows System for Residential Photovoltaic Monitoring System

Sasitharan, Shawn Daren (2020) Development of SCADA IoT Embedded Windows System for Residential Photovoltaic Monitoring System. Final Year Project (Bachelor), Tunku Abdul Rahman University College.

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Abstract

As there is an exponential increase in demand of renewable energy, solar or photovoltaic becomes one of the most popular choices in the field of clean energy. Venturing into installing photovoltaic system is relatively costly at the current technology. A fully functioning photovoltaic system may cost in between RM10,000 up to several millions depending whether the system is built for residential or solar farm. Due to this factor, the information such as efficiency, daily yield, yearly yield, operation time, current and other information is highly important for users. These information are able to determine whether the photovoltaic system is performing at optimum level. To tackle this, the project is to develop a software based monitoring system to tap into the inverter of a particular photovoltaic system to collect the data. The usage of hardware will be kept at a minimum value to save cost. To further enhance the effectiveness of the upcoming project, the problem statement is outlined in detail in the introduction. Any advancement in planning of the project is targeted to tackle the problem statement. After the problem statement has been identified, literature review of other people’s work has been done to further understand and gain insights. The beneficial features are extracted. The concept designs is formulated in the methodology. The concept designs are formulated from the literature review and the product design specification to cater to the requirements of a monitoring system. The best concept design is then chosen by using Pugh Matrix. This ensures that the choice picked is done based on analytical standards. To complete this project, TCP/IP is used. The working principle is outlined in the methodology as well. In The results are obtained and analyzed. Adding on to that, the results of the developed monitoring system is compared with the existing monitoring system. At the conclusion, the project is summarized chapter by chapter. At the end of the project, future works are suggested to improve further on developing a more powerful monitoring system such as implementing a light sensor and DHT sensor. By having the light intensity data, power output of the entire panel can be predicted. The data transmitted out from the light intensity sensor can be use for tracking sunlight. This can help improving the efficiency of the overall photovoltaic system. A DHT sensor can measure the temperature and humidity. By having these values, the output can be predicted and further verify whether the panels are performing at optimum level. For instance, if the solar panel temperature is at operating range, the panels should be able to output a higher value comparing to if the temperature exceeds the operating range of a panel.