An Intelligent Condition Monitoring Scheme For Photovoltaic Systems using Programmable Logic Controller

Environmental and other stresses are constantly affecting photovoltaic (PV) components which can end in various faults. The anomalous condition can reduce the PV output power or even result in a calamitous fire hazard. Hence, PV systems must be monitored constantly in order to ensure their proper performance. This paper proposes an intelligent PV condition monitoring scheme based on Programmable Logic Controller (PLC). This scheme monitors the PV performance and detects different faults and failures on the DC-side of the array. It also takes advantage of Human-Machine Interface (HMI) which provides the operators with useful real-time data from the array.