Photovoltaic Power System Monitor Josh Stone Ryan Mann Art Barnes Austin Fisher

Overview Introduction PV Measurements Features System at a Glance Design Aspects Sensors System Reconfiguration Data Presentation Power Consumption Environmental Issues List of Parts Market and Costs Schedule Intellectual Property Conclusion

Introduction What does it do? –Monitors a Photovoltaic system Educational benefits Diagnostic Readings

PV Measurements, Inc. Halden Field – Founder Produces instrumentation for the photovoltaics industry and research

Features Sensors for both system and environmental data Dynamic Reconfiguration Local and Remote Data Presentation Modular Sensor Connectivity Measurement accuracy to +/- 1% Low Power Consumption

System at a Glance

Design Aspects Modularization –Each sensor is its own module –Each module is equipped with Dip-switch for identification

Design Aspects Microcontroller –Onboard A/D conversion –Watch Dog timer –Sleep Mode –Built-in RS232 capabilities –16bit Processing

System Sensors Current : –Zero Power loss –0 – 72 Amp detection range –Requires temperature reading to scale data Voltage: –Voltage divider to allow desired range –Small Power Loss –Voltage Buffer

Environment Sensors Wind Sensor: –Provides wind chill data –Cooling makes solar cells more efficient Insolation Sensor: –Provides data on amount of sunlight (Watts/m 2 ) Thermal Sensor: –General Environment information –Scales Current and Insolation sensor Readings

System Reconfiguration Onboard dip-switches for static settings Downloadable operating system (RS232) Change polling times through serial interface Auto-detection of attached sensor modules

Data Presentation Output calculated from other data –Power consumption –Wind Chill Remote Display –Uploads all data to a server via serial, modem or Ethernet connection –Server formats and presents data on web page for global access

Data Presentation LCD Display –Will allow user to force an instant update –Onboard display to accommodate installation and maintenance

Power Consumption Why does power use need to be low? –Avoid draining the system that it monitors (system runs off batteries much of the time, so effective power usage is at least doubled) –Allow portability How will this be done? –Use of system sleep mode between readings –Use of energy efficient processor and components –Adjustable Data reading intervals

Environmental Issues Product aides the use of Solar Energy and limiting power consumption System provides no emissions and consumes low energy Disposal of battery Direct connection to high voltages

Parts List Microcontroller (68HC12 16 bit) ROM/RAM Flash A/D converters Sensors LCD display FPGA Computer (to be used as web server)

Target Market Educational: –Schools –Museums –Demonstrations Commercial: –PV system users –Power Plants

Cost Estimates Similar products sell for $8,000 Our product will sell for between $2,000-$5000 Rough production estimate: –Parts =$500 –24 man hours of Labor –Marketing –Workspace/Tools

Schedule

Intellectual Property CU lays claims to work done under grants to the university This project is being done as class work, so it does not fall under CU IP Policy Downside is that receiving class credit for work makes it illegal to also receive payment for it :( Patent Rights Potential Royalties

Conclusion Above the Line –Voltage Sensing –Current Sensing –Temperature Sensing and compensation –Insolation Sensing –Uploadable OS –Modular Sensor design –Low Power Consumption –Local LCD Display –Remote data display Below the Line –Wind Sensor –Power calculations (AC) –Modem communication –Ethernet communication –TCP/IP (Internet) integration –Offsite OS Updates –Event logging –Hot-swappable modules