Software-hardware complex for diagnosing the technical condition of photovoltaic station equipment
Authors: Komar Viacheslav , Lezhniuk Petro , Lesko Vladyslav , Hunko Iryna , Smaglo Ivan 
Published: December 2023

In the article, a software-hardware complex for diagnosing the equipment of photovoltaic stations was developed. First of all, the article deals with the assessment of the technical condition of photovoltaic modules as an element that has the greatest influence on the generation of solar power plants. Since photovoltaic stations occupy a prominent place in the balance of power and electricity of electric power systems, it is important to know the amount of electricity and according to what possible time schedule photovoltaic stations can generate it. In addition to the insolation of the sun, another reason for the unstable generation of photovoltaic stations is their technical condition, in particular, the gradual degradation of photovoltaic modules. For the participation of photovoltaic stations in the process of balancing power and electricity in the electric power systems, it is necessary to know their current technical condition and prospects regarding the possibility of generating electricity in a given volume. The investor is also interested in the evaluation of the technical condition of the photovoltaic stations. For the planning of electricity generation and the feasibility of the costs for the repair of the photovoltaic stations, the investor is also interested. In particular, it is about the residual resource of the photovoltaic stations in relation to the estimated resource at the start of operation. This puts forward appropriate conditions for the methods and means of assessing the technical condition of the photovoltaic stations. As for the photovoltaic modules, it is necessary to monitor the indicator coefficients that indicate the abnormal operation of the photovoltaic modules in the string and actually signal the presence of a problem in its operation. Software-hardware complex allows checking the contact connections of the photovoltaic stations and determine whether the resistances of the contact connections are within the permissible limits. If necessary, a database is formed using a quadcopter. With the help of a thermal imager and a pyrometer, the photovoltaic modules is examined for defects manifested by areas with a temperature higher than the temperature of an exploitation photovoltaic modules. Defects of elements are detected on photovoltaic modules, which are examined in more detail. To determine the degree of efficiency of the photovoltaic modules, a database is formed for the construction and comparison of separates current-voltage characteristic. The information is transferred to a laptop, where it is processed by a developed program for detecting and diagnosing the appearance of defects or damages, as well as determining the coefficients of the remaining resource and the coefficients indicating the abnormal operation of the photovoltaic modules. Based on these results, a decision is made regarding the expediency of further photovoltaic modules operation. The possibility of their recovery or complete replacement is determined.