DEVELOPMENT OF SOLAR ELECTRICITY GENERATING PERFORMANCE MONITORING SYSTEM

The overall energy demand of the world is growing rapidly year by year. But electricity is still mainly generated by utilizing fossil fuels such as natural gas and coal. The emissions from combustion of fossil fuels have led to serious environmental and climatic problems. Implementation of renewable energy sources could solve these problems. Solar radiation is one of the renewable energy sources which have been utilized to produce electrical energy. However due to the low efficiency and high cost of solar panels and intermittent nature of the solar irradiance, it is not considered as a most reliable way to produce electricity. That is why a reliable monitoring system is required to solve the issues. This project intends to develop a reliable solar energy generating performance monitoring system. This paper highlights the types of solar panels available in the market and compares their efficiency and reliability. Also, it analyzes the components of the solar electricity generating system. The methodology to be used in this project includes identification of the parameters affecting the performance of solar panels. Moreover, meteorological and environmental factors which influence the efficiency of PV panels are investigated. By implementing the findings of experiments, the electrical components needed to build the hardware circuit are identified and programmed. Software part of the system is designed and implemented. Eventually, complete monitoring system is designed and tested. The project is the Final Year Project of a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) Electrical & Electronics Engineering student at Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS.