Stochastic Computation Model for Solar Panel Size and Cost of Sustainable IoT Networks

Abstract

The Internet of Things (IoT) applications require uninterrupted network operation which is often hindered by battery energy constraints. Literature suggests that solar energy harvesting is a promising approach to powering IoT devices in a sustainable manner. However, the available literature overlooks key factors of determining effective solar panel size and cost while considering the IoT consumption for sustainable operation. This article tackles these pivotal aspects by investigating viability of commercially available solar panels as a sustainable energy source for IoT applications. A novel stochastic computation model is introduced to characterize the unpredictability of solar irradiance across three different time regions of the day. By employing distribution fitting models, the proposed computation model accurately determines the required solar panel size in cm$^{2}$ and panel cost in Indian Rupees for the sustainable operation of the IoT application. Further, the proposed model incorporates the assessment of outage and sustainability probabilities for user-specified solar panel size and cost. These insights are significant in settings where energy efficiency and sustainability are crucial. Numerical results are presented to validate the derived distribution models and performance metrics for sustainable IoT applications. The effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed model are validated by comparing results with baseline model.