The Real-Time System for Perform Monitoring the Parameters of Photovoltaic Module

The development of solar energy has led to the construction of multiple many MW photovoltaic systems around the world. Wherever photovoltaic systems are built, it is first necessary to study the terrain, geographical location, weather conditions and various influencing factors on solar modules. To solve the above problems and study the influencing factors, the performance of photovoltaic modules in certain areas, specialized measuring devices are needed. The article describes a system for monitoring the parameters of the solar module, which measures air temperature, module temperature, solar radiation, wind speed, current-voltage characteristic, maximum power point (MPP), efficiency and fill factor (FF) with data stored in a computer. The system is based on a programmable microcontroller with a built-in analog-to-digital converter. The program code of the proposed system also has an algorithm for finding the maximum power point of the solar module. The system performs all measurements in real time and is convenient to use, since all parameters are measured automatically and are written to the computer in the form of tables. The paper examined the characteristics of alternative commercial measuring instruments for comparison with the proposed monitoring system. An electrical circuit for measuring currentvoltage characteristics and a circuit diagram of a monitoring system are proposed. Also shown are the measurement results in the form of graphs obtained with the device in real climatic conditions. In general, the developed monitoring system based on microcontrollers and additional digital sensors has a predominantly low cost of $ 72 and is easy to manufacture.