Prototipo con interfaz de monitoreo para la evaluación de paneles solares en una instalación fotovoltaica de pequeña escala, permitiendo la medición de parámetros eléctricos y ambientales, a través de Raspberry Pi

Abstract

The need for clean and sustainable energy sources is driving the implementation of PV systems, even in small-scale applications. However, the lack of user-friendly data acquisition and processing tools that include an attractive and adapted graphical interface for smaller scale installations has hindered the process. In this sense, the project aims to evaluate solar panels by designing a measurement and visualization system that provides relevant data in real time to facilitate the analysis of the behavior of the PV system. Most of the available systems are designed for large-scale industrial applications, which represents a financial and technical barrier to their use in homes, schools or remote environments. As a first step towards a solution, a prototype was designed and built. It is based on Raspberry Pi and incorporates sensors to measure electrical (voltage, current, power) and environmental (temperature, solar irradiance) parameters. The system includes a graphical interface developed with Node-RED, which allows to visualize the collected data in real time, store them in an InfluxDB database and access them locally or remotely. The electronic design, signal conditioning, data interpretation and development of processing algorithms were carried out to ensure the full functionality of the system. Among the results obtained is the correct acquisition and visualization of the solar panel parameters, which allowed evaluating its performance under different environmental conditions. The prototype proved to be a useful and functional tool for educational, experimental or basic monitoring purposes, with the possibility of being scaled or adapted to other similar applications.