SolarOS, the intelligent operation & maintenance system(Part II)

Author: Yuyao Chen

2022-11-22 14:58

SolarOS special function:

There are several special function of SolarOS:

1. Digital operation and maintenance

The SolarOS has a digital monitoring system, which can monitor the running and evaluate the status of the power plant. In addition, the system can also predict the operation of the PV power plant to a certain extent. For example, according to the condition of external environment, the SolarOS can evaluate the condition of power plant in following time. The evaluation process uses big data analysis and cloud calculation technology, which provide strong support for the decisions at all levels of a power plant. Power plant data is in the process of operation and maintenance, to achieve intelligent operation and maintenance. The OS can also monitor the inverter, combiner box, weather station and energy meter. Take inverters as an example, the system will monitor the input power, output power, transfer efficiency and daily power generation output etc. and it can draw curves of inverter level or string level output power. Power curves and daily power generation output of different inverters can be shown in one figure, and you can choose the inverters that you wish to compare, the display of the comparison is simple and visualized.

Picture 4 power curve of inverter

In the interface of equipment management, you can upgrade the inverter, collector and other equipment. During the upgrading process, you only need to upload the upgrade file to the system to implement the one-click upgrade function, the system displays the upgrade status, such as upload success, download success, offline wait, online wait, and upgrade success. The SolarOS can control every single inverter, but also can realize batch control of multiple inverters. It can control the safety protocol, output mode, active power setting, reactive power setting, power factor setting, and uplink power setting etc. In utility-scale PV plant, in the case of inverter changing, it will be more convenient to change the inverter in SolarOS, you only have to input the serial number of the new inverter. In the meanwhile, all operation data including the information of inverter changing, will be recorded in system log for later reference and tracking in future.

2. Secure information process

The data processing includes 4 parts, which are data collecting, transmission, storage and analysis. The data is collected from the interface, and send data in real time by using proprietary protocol (or 104 protocol) via field remote drive. As for the data transmission process, the communication between SolarOS and equipment is Modbus or 104 protocol. The communication between SolarOS and step-up substation is 104 protocol. Data is stored by using distributed storage. The analysis of data includes the process of data screening, data analysis and calculation, checking the validity of remote data and processing false remote data. The whole process of data information processing should be safe, accurate and rapid.

3. View visualization

The SolarOS includes power plant interface, subarray interface and transformer interface, which makes the SolarOS more intuitive and usable. The configuration of the interface can be customized, buttons and other components can be dragged and dropped, and it also supports custom graphic elements. Users can upload graphic elements by themselves to customize and edit all levels of views in the system. Picture 5 shows the overall view of one station in SolarOS. The irregular shapes in the figure represent different subarrays of the power plant, the generation power, running status and other information will be displayed in every subarray unit. In the meanwhile, it can also display other station level information, such as real-time power, irradiance, and generated energy etc. In addition to the current alarms and the total alarms of the day, the alarm floating window is set for quick and convenient alarm management.

Picture 5 SolarOS station overview

The operator can switch to the subarray view by clicking any subarray in the plant view, can also switch to inverter view by clicking any inverter, the characteristics of inverter and power curve can be seen clearly, which realize simple and direct interaction between interfaces. As shown in picture 6, the interface of subarray includes all inverter working status and data information in each string. You can see all the information of the whole subarray. In addition, overview of each string, generated energy, power information etc. are also in the same view, which is convenient to check the data and graph.

Picture 6 SolarOS subarray overview

4. Intelligent data analysis

The intelligent analysis function of SolarOS generates analysis reports of power plant level, sub-array level and inverter level by analyzing power plant indicators, health degree analysis and equipment operation analysis. The system uses big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and other technologies to provide functions such as discrete rate analysis, equivalent hour calculation and IV diagnosis, realize data visualization, and support the generation of pie chart, bar chart, line chart and other intuitive analysis results.

Dispersion rate analysis is able to analyze different level and show the results in pie chart, it can be seen intuitively that the group string with large dispersion rate in the system. It can support up to 20 string groups in the line chart dispersion rate comparison, depends on which the system can suggest the cause and solution to the string with abnormal dispersion rate.

Equivalent operating hours is an important indicator to evaluate the performance of the station. It not only can evaluate the health condition, but also can be an indicator of power plant potential resource, which is very important for investor to evaluate the operation situation. In addition, it also include search function of different levels and EOH calculation in this interface.

The picture 7 shows the IV diagnosis in SolarOS. The IV diagnosis can diagnose fault in string group, it can identify more than 20 fault, and it is able to give suggestions on those faulty and generate report, which has a significant meaning of guiding to PV station. The report is generated quickly. Take 100MW power plant as an example, the IV diagnostics report can be completed within 30 minutes. In addition, the system supports the historical data search user-defined reports.

Picture 7 IV diagnosis interface 

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