Photovoltaic plant automation

Given the increase in energy consumption and environmental concerns the use of renewable sources such as photovoltaic panels (PVs) has been growing in Brazil. This paper presents the development of a modular remote control and monitoring system aimed at maximizing the efficiency of experimental photovoltaic plants. The system includes two-axis solar tracking water circulation cooling with geothermal energy and meteorological data collection. Five microcontrollers work in a network: generation cooling two-axis tracking and weather acquisition all coordinated by a master microcontroller. The tests showed high measurement accuracy (error < 0.5%) and thermal stability (35-40 °C). The panels with two-axis tracking performed 32% better than the fixed ones demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposal for increasing the energy efficiency of photovoltaic systems.