scholarly journals Monitoring of Defects of a Photovoltaic Power Plant Using a Drone

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 795 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Libra ◽  
Milan Daneček ◽  
Jan Lešetický ◽  
Vladislav Poulek ◽  
Jan Sedláček ◽  
...  

Drone infrared camera monitoring of photovoltaic (PV) power plants allows us to quickly see a large area and to find the worst defects in PV panels, namely cracked PV cells with broken contacts. Roofs are suitable for the integration of PV power plants into buildings. The power plant at the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, which was monitored by this method, does not show any significant defects, and the produced electric energy exceeds the expected values. On the contrary, the PV power plant in Ladná has visible defects, and the data monitoring system Solarmon-2.0 also indicates defects. Our newly developed data monitoring system Solarmon-2.0 has been successfully used in 65 PV power plants in the Czech Republic and in many PV power plants throughout the world. Data are archived and interpreted in our dispatch area at the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague. The monitoring system can report possible failure(s) if the measured amount of energy differs from the expected value(s). The relation of the measured values of PV power to the PV panel temperature is justified, which is consistent with the physical theory of semiconductors.

Energies ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 2495 ◽  
Author(s):  
Václav Beránek ◽  
Tomáš Olšan ◽  
Martin Libra ◽  
Vladislav Poulek ◽  
Jan Sedláček ◽  
...  

An innovative solar monitoring system has been developed. The system aimed at measuring the main parameters and characteristics of solar plants; collecting, diagnosing and processing data. The system communicates with the inverters, electrometers, metrological equipment and additional components of the photovoltaic arrays. The developed and constructed long working system is built on special data collecting technologies. At the generating plants, a special data logger BBbox is installed. The new monitoring system has been used to follow 65 solar plants in the Czech Republic and elsewhere for 175 MWp. As an example, we have selected 13 PV plants in this paper that are at least seven years old. The monitoring system contributes to quality management of plants, and it also provides data for scientific purposes. Production of electricity in the built PV plants reflects the expected values according to internationally used software PVGIS (version 5) during the previous seven years of operation. A comparison of important system parameters clearly shows the new solutions and benefits of the new Solarmon-2.0 monitoring system. Secured communications will increase data protection. A higher frequency of data saving allows higher accuracy of the mathematical models.


2010 ◽  
Vol 74 ◽  
pp. 266-271
Author(s):  
Konstantin Geimer ◽  
Markus Sauerborn ◽  
Bernhard Hoffschmidt ◽  
Mark Schmitz ◽  
Joachim Göttsche

The Solar-Institute Jülich (SIJ) has initiated the construction of the first and only German solar tower power plant and is now involved in the accompanying research. The power plant for experimental and demonstration purposes in the town of Jülich started supplying electric energy in the beginning of 2008. The central receiver plant features as central innovation an open volumetric receiver, consisting of porous ceramic elements that simultaneously absorb the concentrated sunlight and transfer the heat to ambient air passing through the pores so that an average temperature of 680°C is reached. The subsequent steam cycle generates up to 1.5 MWe. A main field of research at the SIJ is the optimization of the absorber structures. To analyze the capability of new absorber specimens a special test facility was developed and set up in the laboratory. A high-performance near-infrared radiator offers for single test samples a variable and repeatable beam with a power of up to 320 kW/m² peak. The temperatures achieved on the absorber surface can reach more than 1000°C. To suck ambient air through the open absorber - like on the tower - it is mounted on a special blower system. An overview about the test facility and some recent results will be presented.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 146-154
Author(s):  
Zoltán Korényi

Összefoglaló. A dolgozat témája a különböző erőműfajták életciklusra vonatkozó fajlagos anyagigényének a vizsgálata. Az elemzések a nemzetközi szakirodalmi források felhasználásával történtek. Módszere, a bázisadatok elemzése, majd az anyagigényeknek az erőmű beépített teljesítményére és az életciklus alatt megtermelt villamosenergiára vonatkoztatott fajlagos értékek meghatározása. Az eredmények azt mutatják, hogy a nap- és szélerőművek elterjedésével a hagyományos erőművek által felhasznált fosszilis energiaforrások (pl. a szén) bent maradnak ugyan a földben, de cserébe az új technológia legyártásához a hagyományos anyagokból (beton, acél, alumínium, réz stb.) fajlagosan jóval nagyobb mennyiségekre lesz szükség. Emellett megnő a ritkán előforduló fémek (gallium, indium stb.) felhasználása, ami Európában, a lelőhelyek hiányában, új kockázatokkal jár. Summary. The topic of the study is to determine the material use of different power plant types. This is a part of the known life cycle analysis (LCA). The aim of LCA is to determine the impact of human activity on nature. The procedure is described in the standards (ISO 14040/41/42/42). Under environmental impact we mean changes in our natural environment, air, water, soil pollution, noise and impacts on human health. In the LCA, the environmental impact begins with the opening of the mine, continues with the extraction and processing of raw materials, and then with the production of equipment, construction and installation of the power plant. This is followed by the commissioning and then operation of the power plants for 20-60 years, including maintenance. The cycle ends with demolition, which is followed by recycling of materials. The remaining waste is disposed of. This is the complex content of life cycle analysis. Its purpose is to determine the ecological footprint of man. The method of the present study is to isolate a limited area from the complex LCA process. This means determining the amount of material needed to build different power plants, excluding mining and processing of raw materials. Commercially available basic materials are built into the power plant’s components. The research is based on the literature available in the international area. The author studied these sources, analysed the data, and checked the authenticity. It was not easy because the sources from different times, for different power plants showed a lot of uncertainty. In overcoming the uncertainties, it was a help that the author has decades of experience in the realisation of power plants. It was considered the material consumption related to the installed electricity capacity of the power plant (tons/MW) as basic data. The author then determined the specific material consumptions, allocated to the electric energy generated during the lifetime, in different power plants. The calculation is carried out with the help of the usual annual peak load duration hours and the usual lifetime of the power plants. The results show that with the spread of solar and wind energy, the fossil energy sources previously needed for conventional power plants will remain inside the Earth, but in exchange for the production of new technological equipment from traditional structural materials (concrete, steel, aluminium, copper and plastic), the special need multiplies. If we compare the power plants using renewable energy with the electric energy produced during the life cycle of a nuclear power plant, the specific installed material requirement of a river hydropower plant is 37 times, that of an onshore wind farm it is 9.6 times, and that of an outdoor solar power park is 6.6 times higher. Another important difference is that wind turbines, solar panels and batteries also require rare materials that do not occur in Europe (e.g. gallium, indium, yttrium, neodymium, cobalt, etc.). This can lead to security risks in Europe in the long run.


Author(s):  
Günnur Şen ◽  
Mustafa Nil ◽  
Hayati Mamur ◽  
Halit Doğan ◽  
Mustafa Karamolla ◽  
...  

Natural gas combined cycle power plants (CCPPs) are widely used to meet peak loads in electric energy production. Continuous monitoring of the output electrical power of CCPPs is a requirement for power performance. In this study, the role of ambient temperature change having the greatest effect on electric production is investigated for a natural gas CCPP. The plant has generated electricity for fourteen years and setup at 240 MW in Aliağa, İzmir, Turkey. Depending on the seasonal temperature changes, the study data were obtained from each gas turbine (GT), steam turbine (ST) and combined cycle blocks (CCBs) in the ambient temperature range of 8-23°C. It has been found that decreases of the electric energy in the GTs because of the temperature increase and indirectly diminishes of the electricity production in the STs. As a result, the efficiency of each GT, ST and CCB reduced, although the quantity of fuel consumed by the controllers in the plant was decreased. As a result of this data, it has been recommended and applied that additional precautions have been taken for the power plant to bring the air entering the combustion chamber to ideal conditions and necessary air cooling systems have been installed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dragoljub Mirjanić ◽  
Tomislav Pavlović ◽  
Ivana Radonjić ◽  
Darko Divnić

The paper provides basic information on fixed (stationary), one-axis tracking and dual-axis tracking PV solar power plants. In this regard, a schematic overview of the PV solar power plant and basic information on its components (solar modules, inverters, monitoring system, etc.) are given. The following is a description of the fixed, one-tracking and dual-tracking PV solar power plant and their energy efficiency. Finally, measured results of power and temperature of fixed and dual-axis tracking solar modules of 50 W are presented.


Author(s):  
Ning Wang ◽  
Zhengdong Wang ◽  
Yingqi Chen

An on-line life prediction system is developed for remote monitoring of material aging in a main steam piping system. The stress analysis of piping system is performed by using the finite element method. A sensor network is established in the monitoring system. The creep damage is evaluated from strain gages and a relationship is given based on a database between the damage and residual life. Web technologies are used for remote monitoring to predict the residual life for every part of the piping system. This system is useful for safety assessment procedures in thermal power plant, nuclear power plant and petrochemical industries.


Processes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 2253
Author(s):  
Mahmoud Makkiabadi ◽  
Siamak Hoseinzadeh ◽  
Ali Taghavirashidizadeh ◽  
Mohsen Soleimaninezhad ◽  
Mohammadmahdi Kamyabi ◽  
...  

The world’s electricity generation has increased with renewable energy technologies such as solar (solar power plant), wind energy (wind turbines), heat energy, and even ocean waves. Iran is in the best condition to receive solar radiation due to its proximity to the equator (25.2969° N). In 2020, Iran was able to supply only 900 MW (about 480 solar power plants and 420 MW home solar power plants) of its electricity demand from solar energy, which is very low compared to the global average. Yazd, Fars, and Kerman provinces are in the top ranks of Iran, with the production of approximately 68, 58, and 47 MW using solar energy, respectively. Iran also has a large area of vacant land for the construction of solar power plants. In this article, the amount of electricity generation using solar energy in Iran is studied. In addition, the construction of a 10 MW power plant in the city of Sirjan is economically and technically analyzed. The results show that with US$16.14 million, a solar power plant can be built in the Sirjan region, and the initial capital will be returned in about four years. The results obtained using Homer software show that the highest maximum power generation is in July.


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 195-203
Author(s):  
Y. B. Morozova ◽  
A. A. Kolesnikow ◽  
N. N. Korshunova ◽  
O. E. Dolinina

The paper considers spatial organization of energy facilities with an emphasis on modern practice of the Republic of Belarus. The efficiency of enterprise operation in any industry including power industry is largely due to their architectural and planning organization. Knowledge of mechanisms and specific features of the changes taking place here makes it possible to justify a promising strategy for project activities, and therefore, it allows to manage development processes of the industry and thereby avoid many negative consequences. Energy facilities are a typological unit of industrial architecture, their formation has been started due to transition of industrial production to electric energy. Today the typology shows functional approach in architectural shaping, it includes a fairly large variety of constituent units and demonstrates a tendency towards diversification. In Belarus energy facilities in the architectural aspect of their classification are limited mostly to thermal power plants operating on different types of fuel. Currently the diversification is developing in the following areas: construction of hydropower facilities (small plants on reservoirs, medium power plants, low-pressure plants, run-of-the-river hydraulic power stations), alternative energy (wind power stations, photovoltaic power stations and biogas plants) and conventional energy (thermal power plant, mini-combined heat and power plant operating on renewable fuel). The results of Belarusian practice in construction of all types of facilities (hydropower, alternative and conventional energy), peculiarities of the architectural and planning organization of facilities at the current stage, correlation with global trends in the development of industrial architecture have been characterized in the paper. The paper has determined typological features of alternative energy facility architecture, opportunities and directions for implementation of architectural approaches, problems and prospects to develop scientific support for the project process.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (19) ◽  
pp. 6200
Author(s):  
Tomasz Popławski ◽  
Sebastian Dudzik ◽  
Piotr Szeląg ◽  
Janusz Baran

This article describes problems related to the operation of a virtual micro power plant at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering (FEE), Czestochowa University of Technology (CUT). In the era of dynamic development of renewable energy sources, it is necessary to create alternative electricity management systems for existing power systems, including power transmission and distribution systems. Virtual power plants (VPPs) are such an alternative. So far, there has been no unified standard for a VPP operation. The article presents components that make up the VPP at the FEE and describes their physical and logical structure. The presented solution is a combination of several units operating in the internal power grid of the FEE, i.e., wind turbines, energy storage (ES), photovoltaic panels (PV) and car charging stations. Their operation is coordinated by a common control system. One of the research goals described in the article is to optimize the operation of these components to minimize consumption of the electric energy from the external supply network. An analysis of data from the VPP management system was carried out to create mathematical models for prediction of the consumed power and the power produced by the PVs. These models allowed us to achieve the assumed objective. The article also presents the VPP data processing results in terms of detecting outliers and missing values. In addition to the issues discussed above, the authors also proposed to apply the Prophet model for short-term forecasting of the PV farm electricity production. It is a statistical model that has so far been used for social and business research. The authors implemented it effectively for technical analysis purposes. It was shown that the results of the PV energy production forecasting using the Prophet model are acceptable despite occurrences of missing data in the investigated time series.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (20) ◽  
pp. 6598
Author(s):  
Victor Bolbot ◽  
Gerasimos Theotokatos ◽  
Rainer Hamann ◽  
George Psarros ◽  
Evangelos Boulougouris

Stringent environmental regulations and efforts to improve the shipping operations sustainability have resulted in designing and employing more complex configurations for the ship power plants systems and the implementation of digitalised functionalities. Due to these systems complexity, critical situations arising from the components and subsystem failures, which may lead to accidents, require timely detection and mitigation. This study aims at enhancing the safety of ship complex systems and their operation by developing the concept of an integrated monitoring safety system that employs existing safety models and data fusion from shipboard sensors. Detailed Fault Trees that model the blackout top event, representing the sailing modes of a cruise ship and the operating modes of its plant, are employed. Shipboard sensors’ measurements acquired by the cruise ship alarm and monitoring system are integrated with these Fault Trees to account for the acquired shipboard information on the investigated power plant configuration and its components operating conditions, thus, facilitating the estimation of the blackout probability time variation as well as the dynamic criticality assessment of the power plant components. The proposed concept is verified by using a virtual simulation environment developed in Matlab/Simulink. This study supports the dynamic assessment of the ship power plants and therefore benefits the decision-making for enhancing the plant safety during operations.


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