Remote Data Acquisition System for Measurement of Ambient Climatic Conditions and SPV Battery Status

Abstract

The cost of solar PV (SPV) systems has reduced drastically over the years on account of efficient PV cell manufacturing technologies. Its suitability and economic viability for the installation site have strong correlation to local climatic resources. The access to data on solar insolation, wind speed and other climatic parameters is hence essential for site selection and SPV installation. The remotely accessible data of ambient temperature and solar irradiance at target location was acquired through Arduino-GSM hardware loaded with compatible software. The study showed that temperature and solar irradiance measured through developed system was within 2.23% and 5.83%, respectively, as compared to conventional measurement techniques. The novelty of the device is envisioned in its application to monitor small-scale as well as large-capacity renewable energy systems that have a strong dependence on climatic factors.