Solar Photovoltaic Remote Monitoring System Using IOT: Ankit Kekre Suresh K. Gawre
Solar Photovoltaic Remote Monitoring System Using IOT: Ankit Kekre Suresh K. Gawre
Solar Photovoltaic Remote Monitoring System Using IOT: Ankit Kekre Suresh K. Gawre
Abstract—As technology is advancing, cost of renewable Monitoring of such installations is hence essential [4]. IOT
energy equipments is decreasing which has resulted in a based wireless system is chosen in order to avoid hazards
massive increase in solar photovoltaic installations. Most of [5] associated with wired systems, while keeping in mind
these installations act as auxiliary power source. A majority of the needs of near future, where every device will be smart,
these are installed in inaccessible locations – as close as a
rooftop to as far away as a dessert. Hence they require
automated and connected via internet.
sophisticated systems for remote monitoring of these
installations using wide area networks. In this paper we will The experimental setup of proposed conceptual system
discuss a low cost IOT based embedded Solar PV Monitoring consists of solar panels, voltage transducer, Hall Effect
system which will make use of GPRS module and a low cost current sensor, temperature sensor LM35, SIM900A GPRS
microcontroller to send the data measured at the production module and Arduino Uno microcontroller. Programming
end on the internet, which can then be accessed anywhere on codes are developed on MATLAB and visualization of data
the globe. This will provide us real time information of the is done on a website designed.
installation which will help us in its maintenance, fault
detection and will give us a record of all the data at fixed
intervals.
This system is capable of measuring voltage and current
output, ambient temperature, comparing the data with
Keywords —Microcontroller, GPRS module, remote monitoring, previous databases and reference values and raising an
solar photovoltaic, IOT alarm via a message in case of an anomaly, and sending the
data over to a website which can be accessed via internet
anywhere.
I. INTRODUCTION
Internet of things or IOT [1-2] is a revolution in the
world of electronics. The idea is to connect all sensors and II. OVERALL SYSTEM DESIGN
devices on a common network i.e. internet through wired or
wireless means so that the user can access the data and The system described in this paper is capable of
control the devices from anywhere around the globe with an measuring the values of Solar PV voltage and current and
internet connection. Along with this, the aim is to automate temperature and sending them over on mobile networks to
the process using pre-defined logic to reduce human the internet for data logging and review by the user. In case
intervention as much as possible. It has gained a lot of of a deviation from normal specified values of current,
attention in recent years due to its diversified usage in the voltage or temperature, the system is also capable of alerting
fields of consumer electronics, home automation, health the user via an SMS.
care, smart car, smart city and security purposes [3]. The Solar PV voltage is sensed by voltage divider
circuit. Current is sensed using Hall Effect Current Sensor.
Solar energy is clean, abundant and an easily harnessed The temperature is sensed using LM35 temperature sensor.
form of energy. Solar energy, although unreliable, is The data obtained is processed using Arduino Uno
becoming more and more popular with advancement in microcontroller and sent as serial input to the SIM 900 GSM
technology and decreasing cost. With modern monitoring module. The GSM module sends the data over to the
and control systems, these are becoming increasingly internet. A dedicated computer system is set up to store the
reliable sources of energy and in some years, might even data obtained for future reference and review. This data now
replace conventional sources completely. can be viewed anywhere on the globe using an internet
connection on an IP set up by the GSM module. Schematic
Power generated from Solar PV installations is diagram of the system is shown in figure 1 below.
susceptible to changes due to changes in solar irradiance,
temperature, weather conditions and many other factors.
ISBN 978-1-5090-4760-4/17/$31.00©2017 IEEE
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Figure 1: Schematic Diagram of Solar Photovoltaic Remote
Monitoring System Using IOT Figure 3: Hall Effect Current Sensor
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It processes the incoming data from various sensors and Figure 6: SIM 900A GSM Module
sends them to the GSM module via serial communication
protocol along with various AT commands [11] necessary
for the operation of GSM module.
IV. WORKING OF SOLAR PV REMOTE
MONITORING SYSTEM USING IOT
E. GSM Module
SIM 900A GSM GPRS Module is used in this proposed
conceptual system. It is a very reliable wireless module [10].
Its attributes are its small size, low cost and low power
consumption. It delivers GSM/GPRS 900/1800 MHz
performance for voice, SMS, Data and Fax.
In this system, it acquires the data to be sent to the user
from Arduino board via serial communication along with
the necessary AT commands and sends the data on the
internet on a self created IP address. The user can enter this
IP address on his system and get real time state condition of
the Solar PV installation.
GSM module is chosen over Zigbee module because
Zigbee technology [11] is proven inefficient in large scale
because it can’t face up huge distances.
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V. CONCLUSION
As the conventional sources of electricity generation are
depleting, mankind is in need of renewable sources such as
solar and wind energy to sustain itself. The clean and
abundant solar energy is a good alternative as a source of
energy with the only problems of cost of harnessing solar
energy, and its variable nature. With technological
advancements, cost of devices is decreasing with a rapid
rate. Hence all we need is a good, up-to-date monitoring
system which can perform major tasks automatically
without human intervention and can provide data to the user
whenever and wherever needed.
To cope up with rapidly changing technology, IOT
is the best solution for monitoring of solar installations. IOT
based remote monitoring of the Solar PV installation will
also save energy [14] and man-labour. Because of the use of
IOT in this proposed system, there is a large scope for future
work. can add modern devices and sensors without the fear
of compatibility. Flexibility of this system is its uniqueness.
Adding more sensors, it can measure AC voltage and
current output, power consumption of load, solar irradiance
and corresponding output of the solar panels and a lot more.
Further extremely useful for wireless IOT based
monitoring and control to improve conventional solar based
electrical vehicle system [15] for converter design and the
adoption of suitable Maximum Power Point Tracking
(MPPT) techniques [16].
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The research project was supported by Maulana Azad
National Institute of Technology, Bhopal and the
experiments were performed in the Renewable Energy Lab
of Electrical Department.
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