IoT-Internet of Things in Floating Solar Photovoltaic Systems

Abstract

New technical solutions are beginning to emerge, of which the Floating Solar Photovoltaic (FSPV) systems, is a promising new technology growing rapidly in the recent years. Portugal is a good example in Europe with several facilities of this type. For a correct management of these systems, and to have significant data, it is necessary to have a reliable communication system, based on a Global System for Mobile Communications, adequate protocols to communicate and save the data for later analyses. This study aims to develop a climate data acquisition system to be placed next to an FSPV system installed on a farm next to the Douro River. This system is installed in a box over the water surface. To allow comparison of temperature variations over the water surface with the temperature (offshore) another box with similar sensors is placed on land (onshore). With the data collected by these two systems is possible to compare the temperature data in two boxes, installed in these different locations, to analyse the influence of the water mirror on the photovoltaic cell efficiency.