NSF IRES Track I: Sensors and Machine Learning for Solar Power Monitoring and Control
Funded by NSF Award 185427
Team at ASU:
A. Spanias (PI), SenSIP Center, School of ECEE, Arizona State University,
Wendy Barnard, ASU CREST
Collaborative with the University of Cyprus (UCy) KIOS Center
Faculty Team at UCy:
Elias Kyriakides, Marios Polycarpou, Maria Michael
IRES Participants Summer 2019:
Jayden Booth , ASU ECEE Graduate Student , Topic Machine Learning in Communications and Energy Systems
Emma Pedersen , ASU SEMTE Undergraduate , Fault Detection using Radial Basis Networks
Jovita Chauvin , ASU CIDSE , Machine Learning for Energy Analytics
Michael Oberdorf , ASU ECEE , Fault Detection using Machine Learning for Rooftop Systems
Summary:
This program promotes international multidisciplinary research at the overlap of sustainability, power systems and signal processing with the aim of improving efficiency in PV power generation. Algorithms for shading prediction and fault optimization will advance the state of the art in remote solar array management. Training students in machine learning, vision and data processing for energy systems is unique and requires an integrative approach. IRES participants will be immersed in producing and understanding solar analytics and creating algorithms and software to control solar arrays. The IRES program will engage faculty researchers from the Arizona State University SenSIP center and from the University of Cyprus KIOS Center in solar energy research. Programs and workshops will be established so that IRES participants are trained in machine learning for energy systems and present their research results in international settings. Weekly presentations at the international site and guidance by international mentors will enrich the cohort research experience. Embedding students in the KIOS center research labs funded by large European Union (EU) grants will provide knowledge on EU and international research practices, energy standards and policies. Students will spend six summer weeks at the University of Cyprus KIOS center to improve their research skills and elevate their cultural competencies. This international research endeavor will energize students to innovate and disseminate results globally.
General Vision for Solar Monitoring and Control
Technical Description:
Solar energy or photovoltaic (PV) arrays encounter loss of efficiency under conditions of shading, panel faults and temperature variations. In fact, shading, weather patterns, soiling, and temperature reduce power output considerably. For example, a malfunction of one panel will cause an entire PV string to fail. To minimize inefficiencies, individual panel current-voltage (I-V) measurements, weather information, and imaging data are essential. Controlling the power output is possible through solar panel matrix switching and optimization (i.e., changing certain array connections from series to parallel using actuators). Matrix switching (Fig. 1) using programmable relays allows for different interconnection options. The research goal is to optimize PV array systems by: a) exploiting the measured I-V patterns to detect faults using machine learning, b) employing advanced imaging and vision techniques to predict shading, c) using temperature, irradiance and weather data to elevate PV efficiency, and d) include smart grid interfaces. This collaborative IRES project between Arizona State University and University of Cyprus will engage students in the following research problems: a) how do we use imaging to detect cloud movement, predict shading and elevate efficiency; b) how can the array connections be reconfigured based on imaging, weather, and I-V data to elevate efficiency; c) how can we detect and classify panel faults real time using machine learning and other algorithms; d how do we extend these solar monitoring and control concepts from utility-scale solar farms to house rooftop systems?
Prior Publications in Solar Monitoring and Control:
[1] H. Braun, S. T. Buddha, V. Krishnan, A. Spanias, C. Tepedelenlioglu, T. Takehara, S. Takada, T. Yeider, and M. Banavar, Signal Processing for Solar Array Monitoring, Fault Detection, and Optimization, Synthesis Lectures on Power Electronics, J. Hudgins, Ed. Morgan & Claypool, vol. 3, no. 1, Sep. 2012.
[2] Buddha, S.; Braun, H.; Krishnan, V.; Tepedelenlioglu, C.; Spanias, A.; Yeider, T.;; , “Signal processing for photovoltaic applications,” IEEE International Conference on Emerging Signal Processing Applications (ESPA), 2012, vol., no., pp.115-118, Jan. 2012.
[3] Braun, H.; Buddha, S.T.; Krishnan, V.; Spanias, A.; Tepedelenlioglu, C.; Yeider, T.; Takehara; , “Signal processing for fault detection in photovoltaic arrays,”, 2012 IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech & Signal Processing (ICASSP) , pp.1681-1684, March 2012.
[4] V. Krishnan, H.C. Braun, C. Tepedelenlioglu, A. Spanias, “A comprehensive monitoring system for photovoltaic arrays”, Conference on Signal Processing, Pattern Recognition and Applications, Feb. 2012.
[5] S. Peshin, D. Ramirez, J. Lee, H. Braun, C. Tepedelenlioglu, A. Spanias, M. Banavar, and D. Srinivasan, “A photovoltaic (PV) array monitoring simulator,” Proc. Modelling, Identification and Control, 34th IASTED international conference on, Feb. 2015.
[6] H. Braun, S. T. Buddha, V. Krishnan, C. Tepedelenlioglu, A. Spanias, M. Banavar, and D. Srinivansan, “Topology reconfiguration for optimization of photovoltaic array output,” Sustainable Energy, Grids and Networks, 2015, submitted.
[7] H. Braun, S. Peshin, A. Spanias, C. Tepedelenlioglu, M. Banavar, G. Kalyanasundaram, and D. Srinivansan, “Irradiance estimation for a smart PV array,” in IEEE Energy Conversion Conference and Expo, 2015.
[8] H. Braun, S. T. Buddha, V. Krishnan, C. Tepedelenlioglu, A. Spanias, M. Banavar, and D. Srinivansan, “Topology reconfiguration for optimization of photovoltaic array output,” Elsevier Sustainable Energy, Grids and Networks(SEGAN), pp. 58-69, Vol. 6, June 2016.
[9] A. Spanias, C. Tepedelenlioglu, E.Kyriakides, D. Ramirez, S. Rao, H. Braun, J. Lee, D. Srinivasan, J. Frye, S. Koizumi, Y. Morimoto, “An 18 kW Solar Array Research Facility for Fault Detection Experiments,” Proc. 18th MELECON, Technical Co-sponsor IEEE Region 8, T1.SP1.12, Limassol, Cyprus, April 2016.
[10] G. Muniraju, S. Rao, S. Katoch, A. Spanias, C. Tepedelenlioglu, P. Turaga, M. K Banavar, D. Srinivasan, “A Cyber-Physical Photovoltaic Array Monitoring and Control System,” 24 pages, International Journal of Monitoring and Surveillance Technologies Research (IJMSTR), Volume 5, Issue 3, 2018.
[11] S. Rao, S. Katoch, P. Turaga, A. Spanias, C. Tepedelenlioglu, R. Ayyanar, H.Braun, J. Lee, U.Shanthamallu, M. Banavar, D. Srinivasan, “A Cyber-Physical System Approach for Photovoltaic Array Monitoring and Control,” Proceedings 8th International Conference on Information, Intelligence, Systems and Applications (IEEE IISA 2017), Larnaca, August 2017.
[12] A. Spanias, “Solar Energy Management as an Internet of Things (IoT) Application,” Proceedings 8th International Conference on Information, Intelligence, Systems and Applications (IEEE IISA 2017), Larnaca, August 2017.
[13] Farib Khondoker, S. Rao, A. Spanias, C. Tepedelenlioglu, “Photovoltaic Array Simulation and Fault Prediction Via Multilayer Perceptron Models, IEEE IISA 2018, Session TE-1, IEEE Explore 10.1109/IISA.2018.8633699, Zakynthos, July 2018. (5 pages) (Farib REU student)
[14] Sunil Rao, Andreas Spanias, Cihan Tepedelenlioglu, “Solar Array Fault Detection using Neural Networks,” IEEE International Conference on Industrial Cyber-Physical Systems (ICPS), Taipei, May 2019.
[15] Sunil Rao, Andreas Spanias, Cihan Tepedelenlioglu, “Connection Topology Optimization in PV Arrays using Neural Networks’,” IEEE International Conference on Industrial Cyber-Physical Systems (ICPS), Taipei, May 2019.