A simple and inexpensive irradiance monitoring system using photovoltaic panel

Abstract

The sun has an important role in the lives of all beings on earth. Monitoring of solar irradiance is important because the data correlates with many disciplines. This research aimed to develop an irradiance monitoring instrument that has the ability to monitor the using a photovoltaic panel as the sensor. The principle of this instrument is that the photovoltaic panel produces electricity if it is exposed to direct sunlight and its output is proportional to the irradiance. The output is read by a microcontroller and it is calculated using an algorithm to estimate the irradiance value. This study is started by designing the hardware both the electronic parts including a microcontroller, radio transceiver, data logger, and the mechanical parts including the pole and the active solar tracker. The software is designed and developed using the Arduino IDE. Generally, the result shows that the photovoltaic panels can be used as a sensor to measure the irradiance. The maximum irradiance in Bengkulu during the test is 988.41 W/m2. The root mean square errors (RMSE) of the measurement compared to the standard instrument is about 14.06 which is acceptable. However, from this study, it is suggested to use good quality materials as it is an outdoor instrument that needs to be tough and durable.