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System And Method For Real Time Monitoring And Control Of Solar Power Plant

Abstract: SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REAL-TIME MONITORING AND CONTROL OF SOLAR POWER PLANT Abstract Disclosed are a system (100) and a method for real-time monitoring and control of a solar power plant. The system (100) comprises a control unit (20), a communication network (40) and a centralized web server (60). The system (100) and the method improve performance in terms of reliability and higher output of the solar power plant. The system (100) and the method facilitate real-time monitoring, data acquisition and supervisory control of the solar power plant across the globe. The system (100) and the method facilitate monitoring and data logging of the battery parameters when used in energy storage solutions with the solar power plant. Figure 1

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Patent Information

Application #
Filing Date
17 August 2018
Publication Number
08/2020
Publication Type
INA
Invention Field
ELECTRICAL
Status
Email
ipr@bhateponkshe.com
Parent Application

Applicants

Sunshot Technologies Private Limited
B-312, GO Square, Wakad-Hinjewadi Road, Wakad, Pune - 411057, Maharashtra, India.

Inventors

1. Anshumaan Bhatnagar
B-312, GO Square, Wakad-Hinjewadi Road, Wakad, Pune - 411057, Maharashtra, India.
2. Indrajeet Dudile
B-312, GO Square, Wakad-Hinjewadi Road, Wakad, Pune - 411057, Maharashtra, India.
3. Rahul Dasari
B-312, GO Square, Wakad-Hinjewadi Road, Wakad, Pune - 411057, Maharashtra, India.

Specification

DESC:SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REAL-TIME MONITORING AND CONTROL OF SOLAR POWER PLANT

Field of the invention

The present invention relates generally to monitoring and controlling of a solar power plant and more particularly, to a system and a method for real time monitoring and control of the solar power plants which are installed at on-site locations.

Background of the invention

Solar power plant is associated, maintained and controlled with components which are prone to performance degradation and failure if not monitored. Monitoring of the solar power plant and components thereof in real-time facilitates identification of problems affecting the performance of the solar power plant in terms of reliability and higher efficiency. In case of the energy storage solutions with the solar power plant, continuous monitoring of the battery parameters is very essential to improve the battery performance and its life. Further, monitoring facilitates keeping a track of state of the solar power plant facilitating maintenance, fault detection and accurate troubleshooting. A suitable control action is also required to avoid underlying problems before they have an adverse effect.

Mentioned below are the areas that are not sufficiently addressed by existing solutions:
1. Monitoring of solar power plant: Lack of real-time monitoring of actual and predicted energy generation and comparison analysis, performance visualization remotely, and reminders for maintenance schedule of the solar power plant to customers.
2. Battery monitoring: In case of energy storage solution, monitoring of the battery parameters becomes important when it comes to the overall safety of the plant. An integrated solution which can monitor the battery parameters as well as the solar power plant parameters is not available.

3. Operation and maintenance scheduling: Mapping of operation and maintenance schedule with plant condition.

4. Monitoring of sites with multiple locations: Sites with multiple locations within a short distance face the problem of having a centralized monitoring and control system. At sites with multiple locations it becomes difficult for single controller to establish communication between Inverters, meters and other network components which are far away from the controller. Individual master controller can be setup for each location, but again providing Internet connection for every master controller is not possible.

5. Solar power plant synchronization with diesel generator (DG) and DG protection: In event the DG is utilized along with the solar power plant, a sudden load drop causes back feeding of the power generated by the solar power plant into the DG thereby leading to DG tripping or permanent damage to the DG. Also running DG below its minimum spinning reserve, may also damage or reduce the life of the DG.

6. Electricity board (EB) back-feed protection monitoring: In the event, the solar plant functions with grid supply, excess power generated gets back-fed to the Grid thereby increasing Reactive power, low power factor, and increased no. of units thus causing penalty to the customer. Further, the excess power is fed back to the grid lines in reverse direction causing safety hazards for the maintenance personnel working on the grid lines unaware of this situation. Current monitoring systems fails to provide EB back-feed protection by keeping a continuous watch on consumption from the EB (in cases where back-feed is not allowed) and fails to monitor grid-side electrical parameters for enhanced performance and safety.

7. Fault detection: Real time fault detection of the solar power plant components.

8. Receive data from third party systems: Establishing communication of a newly installed solar plant into already installed solar power plant becomes difficult due to inflexible algorithms.

9. Internet failure: Monitoring personnel is required to manually check each component from multiple components in event of break-down, to analyze the reason behind break-down and troubleshoot the problem. In case of internet failure, the monitoring personnel has to every time go to the Controller box to see the readings.

10. Inverter compatibility: Communication with the inverter to control ON/OFF operation thereof can be done only through MODBUS. Many inverter makes do not allow communication with external components using MODBUS.

11. Local storage of data: Lack of internet connectivity allows only monitoring of real-time data but does not allow storage thereof. If there is a removable SD card available, there is always a risk of data protection as anyone can remove the SD card and take away the data.

The systems currently available in the on-site solar market perform individual function of either monitoring, controlling, diesel generator synchronization or electricity board back-feed protection. Therefore, there exists a need to provide an integrated solution for overcoming the afore-stated shortcomings of the existing systems. Further, there exists a need to provide a monitoring system for efficient remote monitoring of the components and control the solar power plant parameters accordingly. Furthermore, there exists a need to provide a robust, cost effective and integrated monitoring and controlling system and method for facilitating real time remote monitoring activities at facility having solar power plant installations.

Object of the invention

An object of the present invention is to provide a system and a method that are robust and cost effective for facilitating real-time and remote monitoring and control of a solar power plant.

Summary of the invention

Accordingly, the present invention provides a system for real-time monitoring and control of a solar power plant. The system comprises a control unit, a communication network and a centralized web server.

The control unit is adapted to perform continuous remote monitoring and control of the solar power plant and components thereof to detect faults and to provide notifications to an end user. The components of the solar power plant that are controlled and monitored by the control unit includes energy meters, inverters, batteries, sensors, breakers, protocol converters, analog to digital converters, contactors, transformers and an electrical panel such as a circuit breaker and a fuse. The control unit provides notifications via any one of alarms, SMS and an electronic mail to the end users for immediate action.

The control unit includes a data acquisition module, a power reduction module and a cleaning module. The data acquisition module is configured for collecting data generated in real-time by the solar power plant and the components thereof. The power reduction module is configured to avoid feeding excess amount of power generated by a photovoltaic module of the solar power plant back into any one of an electricity board grid and a diesel generator. The cleaning module is adapted to automatically clean an underperforming solar panel/component. The underperforming solar panel/component is cleaned when energy generated by that solar panel/component is out of tolerance of a threshold value.

The control unit further comprises a digital input digital output port to access on /off control of an inverter.

The centralized web server is communicatively coupled to the control unit through the communication network. The communication network is selected from any one of a wired and a wireless communication network.

The centralized web server includes a data analysis module and a database. The data analysis module is operatively coupled to the data acquisition module of the control unit for receiving the collected data therefrom and performing modeling analysis, control and administration thereof to generate a simulated output for each of the component based on the analyzed data. The database is coupled to the data analysis module for storing the analyzed data received therefrom.

The centralized web server further comprises a web application that provides access to the database configured therein to the end user over the communication network using a computing device.

In another aspect, the present invention provides a method for real-time monitoring and control of a solar power plant.

Brief description of the drawings

The objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent when the disclosure is read in conjunction with the following figures, wherein
Figure 1 is a schematic representation of a system for real-time monitoring and control of a solar power plant, in accordance with the present invention; and

Figure 2 shows a flowchart of a method for real-time monitoring and control of a solar power plant, in accordance with the present invention.

Detailed description of the invention

The foregoing objects of the invention are accomplished and the problems and shortcomings associated with prior art techniques and approaches are overcome by the present invention described in the present embodiments.

The present invention provides a system and a method for real-time monitoring and control of a solar power plant. The system and the method improve performance in terms of reliability and higher output of the solar power plant. The system and the method facilitate real-time monitoring, data acquisition and supervisory control of the solar power plant across the globe.

The present invention is illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings, throughout which reference numbers indicate corresponding parts in the various figures. These reference numbers are shown in bracket in the following description.

Referring to figure 1, a system (100) for real-time monitoring and control of a solar power plant in accordance with the present invention is shown. Specifically, the system (100) facilitates real-time remote monitoring and controlling operation of a plurality of components (hereinafter referred to as “the component”) associated with the solar power plant installed for generating power. In an embodiment, the system (100) facilitates real-time remote monitoring of a grid-installed solar photovoltaic station/ solar plant. The solar plant includes at least one photovoltaic (PV) module along with a plurality of components required for functioning thereof, wherein the component includes, but is not limited to, energy meters, inverters, batteries, sensors, breakers, protocol converters, analog to digital converters, contactors, transformers, an electrical panel such as a circuit breaker, a fuse and the like.

The system (100) comprises a control unit (20), a communication network (40) and a centralized web server (60).

The control unit (20) is operatively coupled to the solar power plant and the components thereof through the communication network (40). The control unit (20) includes a data acquisition module (not shown), a power reduction module (not shown) and a cleaning module (not shown) configured therein. The data acquisition module is configured for collecting data generated in real-time by the solar power plant and the components thereof. In an embodiment, the data acquisition module collects environmental data along with the solar power plant output data of each of the component.

The power reduction module is configured to avoid feeding excess amount of power generated by the PV module of the solar power plant back into any one of an electricity board (EB) grid and a diesel generator (DG). As running the DG below a minimum spinning reserve thereof or feeding back power into the DG causes damage to the DG. Further, feeding back power into the EB grid is not allowed from the regulatory prospective unless the project is under net metering. Particularly, reduction of the solar power is required under conditions where solar generation is higher than load or minimum spinning reserve power of the DG.

The power reduction module monitors the load on the EB grid and the DG at rapid predetermined interval. As soon as the load on any one of the EB grid and the DG goes below a set threshold, the power reduction module gets activated causing the control unit (20) to start executing the instructions to reduce output power from the solar inverters. Based on the instantaneous load condition, the power reduction module sends instructions to the solar inverters on regular interval to keep the DG running on the minimum spinning reserve. The power reduction module continuously monitors and tracks the percentage load and thus controls the solar power generation.

The cleaning module is adapted to automatically clean an underperforming solar panel/component. The cleaning module initiates automatic cleaning based on plant condition. In an embodiment, a plurality of solar panels is connected in a series and one solar panel is connected as a reference. The reference solar panel is cleaned daily and the energy generation from this solar panel is kept as reference value. In accordance with the present invention, the energy generation of each solar panel is compared with the energy generation of the reference solar panel. The control unit (20) stores specific threshold values. This threshold values are derived by practical experience at different climatic conditions, azimuth angles and other factors. If the generation level of any particular solar panel is out of tolerance of the threshold value then the cleaning module is activated. Hence, only the solar panel that is underperforming when compared with the reference solar panel is cleaned automatically by the cleaning module thereby saving water and efforts required in cleaning the entire plant.

In another embodiment, the control unit (20) is provided with a digital input digital output (DIDO) port (not shown) to access on /off control of the inverter.

In yet another embodiment, the control unit (20) works in a standalone mode by storing the collected data within an internal memory in event of downtime of the communication network (40) and transfers the data to the centralized web server (60) whenever the communication network (40) is available thereby maintaining data integrity. The collected data is then communicated to the centralized web server (60) over the communication network (40).

The control unit (20) is adapted to perform remote monitoring and control of the solar power plant and the components thereof. Specifically, the control unit (20) performs continuous remote monitoring of the solar power plant and the components thereof to detect faults and provides immediate notifications/alerts via, not limiting to, alarms, SMS, email and the like to end users for immediate action. The control unit (20) consists of, but not limiting to, PCBs, MCBs, RS485 to USB converters, routers, wiring and like components.

In accordance with the present invention, the control unit (20) is adapted to perform the following control functions:
1. Diesel generator (DG) synchronization and protection: The control unit (20) synchronizes the solar power plant and the DG to perform below operations:
• Control the solar power plant output so that no excess power is fed back in the DG.
• Monitor load on the DG and the solar power plant and control the solar power plant output in such a way that the DG runs above a minimum spinning reserve thereof thereby reducing fuel consumption of the DG.
• Communicates with multiple DGs.
• Reports the DG start, stop and loading percentages logs.
2. Electricity board (EB) back-feed protection: In cases where back-feed is not allowed, the control unit (20) keeps a continuous watch on the consumption from the EB and monitors grid-side electrical parameters for performance improvement.
3. Automatic module cleaning initiation based on the plant condition.
4. Manages the solar power plant and the components thereof by monitoring at each stage for example, inverter, electrical grid, DG, direct current distribution board (DCDB), alternating current distribution board (ACDB), electrical load and the like.

In accordance with the present invention, the system (100) remotely monitors and controls generation from the solar power plant and the components thereof in real-time using different protocols. In an embodiment, the control unit (20) communicates with multiple proxy controllers of the solar power plant to collect data over the communication network (40) from the solar power plants installed at different locations within a single site. Particularly, the control unit (20) commands/instructs the proxy controllers of each of the solar power plant in accordance with the commands received from the centralized web server (60) thus simultaneously monitoring multiple solar power plants installed at multiple locations within the single site through a single point. In another embodiment, the control unit (20) is physically located nearby the solar power plant for monitoring thereof.

In yet another embodiment, the control unit (20) is configured with an existing communication network for data transfer. In event of initial installation stage where an internet is yet to setup or in case of the internet breakdown, a person working on any part of the solar power plant is able to use his/her cell phone device to connect to a local controller over a Bluetooth connection thereby simplifying the process of monitoring the readings.

In accordance with the present invention, the control unit (20) monitors and manages the solar power plant and the components thereof to detect an underperforming component such as an inverter that affects an overall performance of the solar power plant. In an embodiment, the control unit (20) includes a Human Machine Interface (HMI) having real-time and historical alarm viewer, wherein a display is projected on a screen for e.g. a television screen. The HMI display provides full access to system-wide data without having to physically be near the components or switches in an electrical network. The HMI improves ability to view alarms and status information from a system perspective, not just one device at a time. The HMI not only gives breaker control, but also provides near real-time feedback on system-wide response to control action. The HMI gathers data from a variety of instruments, hardware platforms and protocols to present one consistent view of the entire system (100).
The communication network (40) allows communication of the control unit (20) to the solar power plant as well as communication of the control unit (20) to the centralized web server (60). The communication network (40) includes, but is not limited to, local area network, wide area networks, Bluetooth network, aggregated networks such as an internet and a cloud-based computer network. In an embodiment, the communication network (40) is selected from any one of a wired and a wireless communication network.

The centralized web server (60) is communicatively coupled to the control unit (20) through the communication network (40). Specifically, the centralized web server (60) communicates to the control unit (20) through the communication network (40) to execute the commands thereby facilitating controlling the output of the solar power plant in terms of performance thereof.

The centralized web server (60) includes a data analysis module (not shown) and a database (not shown) configured therein. The data analysis module is operatively coupled to the data acquisition module of the control unit (20) for receiving the data collected therefrom and performing modeling analysis, control and administration thereof to generate a simulated output for each of the component based on the analyzed data. The database is coupled to the data analysis module for storing the analyzed data received therefrom.

The centralized web server (60) is additionally configured with a web application (50) for providing access to the database configured therein. The web application (50) is adapted to being accessed remotely by operating personnel’s/ end users anytime and anywhere over the communication network (40) using a computing device. For purpose of the present invention, the term ‘computing device’ refers to a device consisting of at least one processor, at least one memory and at least one input-output device operably coupled thereto. The computing device includes, but is not limited to, computer, smartphone, mobile, cell phone, personal digital assistant (PDA), tablet and like devices known in the art.
In an embodiment, the web application (50) is accessed remotely from any location using login credentials thereby ensuring encrypted access to the data stored within the database configured in the centralized web server (60). The web application (50) provides information relating to, but not limiting to, money/amount saved on daily/monthly/yearly basis, energy generation and comparison chart, reminders of the maintenance schedule, real-time performance of the solar power plant at a pre-determined time interval, details regarding underperforming components such as details regarding underperforming inverter from a series of inverters and the like.

In another aspect, the present invention provides a method for real-time monitoring and control of a solar power plant. The method is described herein below in conjunction with the system (100) of figure 1. Specifically, the method and the system (100) are configured to monitor and control a plurality of solar power plants installed at diverse geographic locations.

Figure 2 shows the detailed flow chart from steps (201) to (208). At step (201), the method involves installing the control unit (20) on a site and connecting the control unit (20) to the solar power plant and the components thereof. Specifically, the control unit (20) is connected to the solar power plant and the components thereof through the communication network (40).

At step (202), the method involves configuring the control unit (20). The control unit (20) is synchronized with sources of energy like a grid supply, a diesel generator and battery. Thereafter, the threshold values are set for the solar power plant and components thereof to take a suitable control action. Particularly, the threshold values of all the controllable parameters are based on experiences gathered while handling different types of complex scenarios rigorously. More particularly, the threshold values are derived from the practical onsite experience which was received from multiple installations.

At step (203), the method involves monitoring parameters of the solar power plant and the components thereof in a real time. The control unit (20) continuously monitors status of meters, inverters and sensors. Table 1 provides devices and parameters that are monitored by the control unit (20) at a predetermined interval. Specifically, the control unit (20) monitors following parameters after every 5 minutes.

Table 1:
Device name Parameters monitored
Electricity Board Energy Meter Voltage (V), Current (A), Power (kW), Units (kWh), Power Factor (PF), Frequency (Hz)
Diesel Generator Energy Meter Voltage (V), Current (A), Power (kW), Units (kWh), Power Factor (PF), Frequency (Hz)
Solar Generation Energy Meter Voltage (V), Current (A), Power (kW), Units (kWh), Power Factor (PF), Frequency (Hz)
Pyranometer Irradiance (W/m2)
Temperature Sensor Module Temperature (deg. C), Ambient Temperature ( deg C)
Anemometer Wind Speed (kmph), Direction
Inverter AC Voltage (V), AC Current (A), AC Power (kW), AC Units (kWh), Power Factor (PF), Frequency (Hz), DC Voltage (V), DC Current (A), DC Power (kW)

However, it is understood here that the parameters to be monitored and the interval of monitoring the parameters may vary in other alternative embodiments of the present invention as per intended use.

At step (204), the method involves comparing the performance of different solar plant components by the control unit (20). The data acquisition module collects environmental data along with the solar power plant output data of each of the component such as inverters, meters, sensors and the like. The data analysis module of the centralized web server (60) receives the collected data from the data acquisition module of the control unit (20) and performs modeling analysis, control and administration thereof to generate a simulated output for each of the component based on the analyzed data. The performance of different solar plant components is compared to take suitable control action like solar power reduction, automatic module cleaning, solar plant safety, DG protection and battery safety.

At step (205), the method involves generating reports and alerts. The reports are generated in a graphical and/or a tabular representation format. The end user is able to download the generated reports on daily, monthly or yearly basis. The system (100) allows the end user to download the generated reports in any of a portable document (PDF) format, an excel (xls) format and a comma-separated values file (csv) format. In an embodiment, the control unit (20) sends out error notification and daily report by an electronic mail. However, it is understood here that the control unit (20) may send alerts/notification by alarms, SMS or any other means in other alternative embodiments of the present invention.

The control unit (20) automatically generates notifications in case any errors or abnormalities are detected in any components of the solar power plant. For example, the control unit (20) measures the generation level of the inverter for last few days and if there is consecutive drop in the generation as compared to the reference value then the cleaning module is activated. Further, the control unit (20) allows download of daily, monthly and yearly data of actual generation and actual supply of power to the LT panel in excel or CSV format for analysis.

Another example includes measuring and logging readings from customer’s DISCOM meter. This helps the customer in clear understanding of actual solar generation and DISCOM consumption on a daily-monthly basis. Further, the customer is able to see all the graphical and tabular representation of units generated.

For predictive maintenance, the notification and alert mechanism is incorporated in the system (100). In case the electrical parameters of any of the monitored devices/equipment are beyond the safe working range, then an immediate alert/notification via email/SMS is sent to a concerned person. The concerned person thereafter can isolate the problem and attend thereby rectifying the issue before a breakdown thereby increasing plant uptime and maximizing generation and equipment life.

At step (206), the method involves storing the generated reports and collected data in the database of the centralized web server (60).

At step (207), the method involves accessing the reports and the stored data by the end user. Specifically, the web application (50) is accessed by the end user using login credentials over the communication network (40) such as an internet to access the information related to the solar power plant. The web application (50) provides information relating to, but not limiting thereto, money/amount saved on daily/monthly/yearly basis, energy generation and comparison chart, reminders of the maintenance schedule, real-time performance of the solar power plant at a pre-determined time interval, details regarding underperforming components such as details regarding underperforming inverter from a series of inverters and the like.

At step (208), the method involves viewing performance of the solar power plant and monitoring different parameters thereof. The end user views the performance of the solar power plant at pre-determined time intervals and monitors different parameters thereof using the web application (50) over the communication network (40).

In accordance with the present invention, the system (100) and the method facilitate real-time monitoring and controlling of the components of the solar power plant. For example, the system (100) monitors the battery voltage, battery current, state of charge and battery health parameters to keep record of the battery performance. However, it is understood here that any other component known in the art to be associated with the solar power plant for functioning thereof can be monitored remotely in real-time and suitable action can be taken to control the power generation from the solar power plant using the system (100) and the method of the present invention.

In accordance with the present invention, the system (100) and the method facilitate remote monitoring, analysis, control and fault detection, DG synchronization, EB back-feed protection, battery monitoring, DIDO and Bluetooth features thereby improving the performance of the solar power plant. When used in energy storage solution, the system (100) improvises the battery performance. The system (100) is also adapted of being retrofitted within existing solar power plant for remote monitoring and controlling thereof.

Advantages of the invention

1. The system (100) and the method facilitate real-time monitoring, data acquisition and supervisory control of the solar power plant across the globe.
2. The system (100) and the method facilitate monitoring and data logging of the battery parameters when used in energy storage solutions with the solar power plant.
3. The system (100) and the method facilitate synchronization of the solar power plant with the DG and prevent reverse power flow in the DG and the EB grid.
4. The system (100) and the method allow knowledge and experience based setting up of threshold values for all the controllable parameters.
5. The system (100) is compatible with all the solar inverters available in the market as well as with already installed solar power plants.
6. The system (100) and the method improve performance in terms of reliability and higher output of the solar power plant.
7. The system (100) and the method facilitate fault detection, accurate troubleshooting analysis and maintenance tracking.

The foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the present invention to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the present invention and its practical application, and to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the present invention and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is understood that various omissions and substitutions of equivalents are contemplated as circumstances may suggest or render expedient, but such omissions and substitutions are intended to cover the application or implementation without departing from the scope of the claims of the present invention.
,CLAIMS:We claim:

1. A system (100) for real-time monitoring and control of a solar power plant, the system (100) comprising:
a control unit (20) adapted to perform continuous remote monitoring and control of the solar power plant and components thereof to detect faults and to provide notifications to an end user, the control unit (20) having,
a data acquisition module configured for collecting data generated in real-time by the solar power plant and the components thereof,
a power reduction module configured to avoid feeding excess amount of power generated by a photovoltaic module of the solar power plant back into any one of an electricity board grid and a diesel generator, and
a cleaning module adapted to automatically clean an underperforming solar panel/component, wherein the underperforming solar panel/component is cleaned when an energy generated by that solar panel/component is out of tolerance of a threshold value; and
a centralized web server (60) communicatively coupled to the control unit (20) through a communication network (40), the centralized web server (60) having,
a data analysis module operatively coupled to the data acquisition module of the control unit (20) for receiving the collected data therefrom and performing modeling analysis, control and administration thereof to generate a simulated output for each of the component based on the analyzed data, and
a database coupled to the data analysis module for storing the analyzed data received therefrom.

2. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control unit (20) further comprises a digital input digital output port to access on /off control of an inverter.

3. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the centralized web server (60) further comprises a web application (50) that provides access to the database configured therein to the end user over the communication network (40) using a computing device.

4. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control unit (20) provides notifications via any one of alarms, SMS and an electronic mail to the end users for immediate action.

5. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the communication network (40) is selected from any one of a wired and a wireless communication network.

6. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the components of the solar power plant that are controlled and monitored by the control unit (20) includes energy meters, inverters, batteries, sensors, breakers, protocol converters, analog to digital converters, contactors, transformers and an electrical panel such as a circuit breaker and a fuse.

7. A method for real-time monitoring and control of a solar power plant, the method comprising the steps of:
installing a control unit (20) on a site and connecting the control unit (20) to the solar power plant and components thereof through a communication network (40);
configuring the control unit (20) and setting threshold values for the solar power plant and components thereof to take a suitable control action, wherein the control unit (20) is synchronized with sources of energy like a grid supply, a diesel generator and battery;
monitoring parameters of the solar power plant and the components thereof in a real time by the control unit (20) at a predetermined interval;
comparing performance of different solar power plant components by the control unit (20);
generating reports and alerts by the control unit (20), wherein the control unit automatically generates notifications in case any errors are detected in any components of the solar power plant;
storing the generated reports and collected data in a database of the centralized web server (60);
accessing the reports and the stored data by an end user, wherein a web application (50) of the centralized web server (60) provides access to the database configured therein to the end user over the communication network (40) using a computing device; and
viewing performance of the solar power plant by the end user at pre-determined time intervals and monitoring different parameters thereof.

8. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the control unit (20) provides notifications via any one of alarms, SMS and an electronic mail to end users for immediate action.

9. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the wherein the communication network (40) is selected from any one of a wired and a wireless communication network.

10. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the reports are generated in a graphical and/or a tabular representation format and the end user is able to download the generated reports on daily, monthly and yearly basis.

Dated this 16th day of August 2019 Prafulla Wange
(Agent for Applicant)
(IN/PA/2058)

Documents

Application Documents

# Name Date
1 201821030830-PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION [17-08-2018(online)].pdf 2018-08-17
2 201821030830-POWER OF AUTHORITY [17-08-2018(online)].pdf 2018-08-17
3 201821030830-FORM FOR SMALL ENTITY(FORM-28) [17-08-2018(online)].pdf 2018-08-17
4 201821030830-FORM FOR SMALL ENTITY [17-08-2018(online)].pdf 2018-08-17
5 201821030830-FORM 1 [17-08-2018(online)].pdf 2018-08-17
6 201821030830-EVIDENCE FOR REGISTRATION UNDER SSI(FORM-28) [17-08-2018(online)].pdf 2018-08-17
7 201821030830-EVIDENCE FOR REGISTRATION UNDER SSI [17-08-2018(online)].pdf 2018-08-17
8 201821030830-DRAWINGS [17-08-2018(online)].pdf 2018-08-17
9 201821030830-FORM-26 [20-08-2018(online)].pdf 2018-08-20
10 201821030830-FORM FOR SMALL ENTITY [20-08-2018(online)].pdf 2018-08-20
11 201821030830-EVIDENCE FOR REGISTRATION UNDER SSI [20-08-2018(online)].pdf 2018-08-20
12 201821030830-ORIGINAL UR 6(1A) FORM 1, FORM 26 & FORM 28-280818.pdf 2018-11-30
13 201821030830-FORM 3 [16-08-2019(online)].pdf 2019-08-16
14 201821030830-ENDORSEMENT BY INVENTORS [16-08-2019(online)].pdf 2019-08-16
15 201821030830-DRAWING [16-08-2019(online)].pdf 2019-08-16
16 201821030830-COMPLETE SPECIFICATION [16-08-2019(online)].pdf 2019-08-16
17 Abstract1.jpg 2019-09-19
18 201821030830-FORM-26 [30-10-2019(online)].pdf 2019-10-30
19 201821030830-RELEVANT DOCUMENTS [01-11-2019(online)].pdf 2019-11-01
20 201821030830-FORM 13 [01-11-2019(online)].pdf 2019-11-01
21 201821030830-RELEVANT DOCUMENTS [23-12-2021(online)].pdf 2021-12-23
22 201821030830-PA [23-12-2021(online)].pdf 2021-12-23
23 201821030830-FORM 13 [23-12-2021(online)].pdf 2021-12-23
24 201821030830-ASSIGNMENT DOCUMENTS [23-12-2021(online)].pdf 2021-12-23
25 201821030830-8(i)-Substitution-Change Of Applicant - Form 6 [23-12-2021(online)].pdf 2021-12-23