Grid-connected PV monitoring system (GCPV-MS)

This paper presents the concept and operating principles of a flexible real-time long-term monitoring system for photovoltaic (PV) plants. Compared to traditional solutions which require dedicated hardware and/or specific data logging systems, the monitoring system we propose allows the user to monitor the grid-connected PV system using commercial of the shelf hardware devices and software programs such as LabVIEW and Weather Link software. The proposed system is built around wired/wireless devices and internet of things (IoT) concept. It provides customizable fast, reliable and secure monitoring tool suitable for deployment in PV systems management. The grid-connected PV monitoring system (GCPV-MS) is developed and installed at the University of Huddersfield, United Kingdom. The results obtained from this project indicate how IoT concept can be utilized in remote PV monitoring systems.