Environmental Monitoring System for Photovoltaic Power Plant

Author: Haijun

2022-05-19 14:44

The main factor affecting photovoltaic power generation is the weather conditions where the project is located, which is directly related to the investment and income of the project. Therefore, the performance evaluation of photovoltaic power plants is inseparable from accurate meteorological data and solar irradiance data.

The environmental monitoring system meteorology plays a very important role in the photovoltaic power station monitoring system. The accurate environmental weather measurement data is the key parameter of the photovoltaic power station tracking system, power generation forecasting and power control performance, so it is necessary in each photovoltaic power station monitoring system equipped with an environmental monitoring system. 

1. The composition of the environmental monitoring system

The environmental monitoring system of photovoltaic power station is mainly composed of a variety of weather monitoring sensors and different types of solar radiation sensors. According to the International Meteorological Organization's Meteorological Observation Standards and IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) and other norms and standards, photovoltaic power plants need to monitor nine types of standard weather data including the total radiation, scattered radiation, sunshine hours, direct radiation, wind speed, wind direction, pressure, ambient temperature, humidity and the backplane temperature of the module.

1.1 Irradiator:

The irradiator is used to measure a series of radiation intensity of the power station, and the response band of the irradiator should cover the band of the absorption spectrum of the PV module. Usually, multiple irradiators are used at the same time to monitor the irradiation at different installation angles. Photovoltaic power station irradiator mainly monitors total radiation, horizontal radiation, scattered radiation and sunshine time.

1.2 PV module temperature sensor:

The module temperature sensor is installed on the back of the photovoltaic module to monitor the temperature of the cells in the module. The measurement principle is to use a heat exchange model to convert the temperature of the back plate of the module to the temperature of the cell inside the module. The conversion process also needs to input the ambient temperature, wind speed, and wind direction for correction.

1.3 Ambient temperature and humidity sensor:

Environmental temperature and humidity sensors are used to monitor the air temperature and humidity around the actual operating site.

1.4 Air pressure sensor, wind speed, wind direction sensor and rain gauge:

Air pressure sensor, wind speed, wind direction sensor and rain gauge are used to monitor the parameters of atmospheric pressure, wind speed, wind direction and rainfall at the site. These parameters are related to power generation, but these elements are generally not used in power station performance evaluation.

1.5 Special bracket:

Special brackets are used to install various monitoring sensors. The support structure design needs to pay attention to the mutual influence of sensors, and cannot affect the accuracy of sensor data collection.

1.6 Sun tracker:

The sun tracker tracks the change parameters of the sun's illumination angle and provides parameters for the photovoltaic power station tracking bracket algorithm.

1.7 Data collector:

The data collector is to provide sensor measurement, time setting, data compression, data and program storage and control functions. Composed of a measurement control module and a distribution panel, it has powerful network communication capabilities. (Please refer to the attachment for more details.)

 

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