Abstract
Photovoltaic (PV) systems have attracted increasing attention in last years as well as Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), which have been used in many application fields. In PV plants, especially in ground installations, a lot of thefts and damages occur due to the still high cost of the modules. A new experimental WSN ad-hoc has been designed to be an anti-theft alarm system. Each node of the network is directly installed under each PV string and it is equipped with an accelerometer sensor capable to detect a minimum displacement of the panel from its steady position. The WSN presents a star topology: a master node cyclically interrogates the slave nodes through RF link. It collects all the nodes responses and communicates though a RS-232 interface with a control PC checking the network status. When a slave node detects an alarm, continuous messages are sent to the control PC which turns on all the alarm signaling systems. The control PC is equipped with an open source operative system and software and provides for SMS, e-mail and sound-light signaling in case of alarm. It also communicates with a remote server where all the WSN information is stored. A first low cost experimental WSN has been already installed and it is working properly.
Highlights
Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have attracted an increasing attention in recent years because of the large number of potential applications
Photovoltaic (PV) systems have attracted increasing attention in last years as well as Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), which have been used in many application fields
Each node of the network is directly installed under each PV string and it is equipped with an accelerometer sensor capable to detect a minimum displacement of the panel from its steady position
Summary
Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have attracted an increasing attention in recent years because of the large number of potential applications. They are used for collecting, storing and sharing data, for monitoring application, surveillance purposes and much more. In the solar power plant located in Serre Persano, in the province of Salerno, Italy, 7000 of 60,000 installed panels have been stolen in less than one year [3]; an online newspaper reported that the theft of 140 panels during the New Year’s Eve 2012 caused an economic damage of 150,000 € [4]. Sensor Network (WSN) has been ad-hoc designed and tested to increase the PV protection implementing an adhoc communication protocol. No already existent communication protocol has been used but a new one has been studied and implemented in order to completely design all the aspects of the system. In the paragraphs all aspects of the experimental WSN will be described
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
