Solar data monitoring, logging, and analysis

Presenter Information

Jacob Olin

Document Type

Oral Presentation

Campus where you would like to present

SURC Ballroom C/D

Start Date

16-5-2013

End Date

16-5-2013

Abstract

The purpose of this project was to monitor and log the output of solar panels mounted at different angles. Two solar panels are mounted on the roof of Hogue hall, one at 20 degrees, and one at 37 degrees. I expect the power output of the panel mounted at 20 degrees to be approximately 5 percent greater than the panel mounted at 37 degrees during April and May. A field programmable gate array (FPGA) from National Instruments was used to collect the data. The module used in the FPGA only accepts voltage levels between -10 and 10 volts. Because of this, a voltage divider was used to decrease the panel's voltage to an acceptable level. The voltage readings are sent through an Ethernet connection to a host computer where the current and power are calculated. The voltage, power, and a time stamp were then logged to a text file for analysis. The initial readings support the hypothesis that a 17 degree shallower panel angle correlates to about 5 percent greater power output during the spring months.

Poster Number

14

Faculty Mentor(s)

Nathan Davis

Additional Mentoring Department

Industrial and Engineering Technology

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS
 
May 16th, 11:30 AM May 16th, 2:00 PM

Solar data monitoring, logging, and analysis

SURC Ballroom C/D

The purpose of this project was to monitor and log the output of solar panels mounted at different angles. Two solar panels are mounted on the roof of Hogue hall, one at 20 degrees, and one at 37 degrees. I expect the power output of the panel mounted at 20 degrees to be approximately 5 percent greater than the panel mounted at 37 degrees during April and May. A field programmable gate array (FPGA) from National Instruments was used to collect the data. The module used in the FPGA only accepts voltage levels between -10 and 10 volts. Because of this, a voltage divider was used to decrease the panel's voltage to an acceptable level. The voltage readings are sent through an Ethernet connection to a host computer where the current and power are calculated. The voltage, power, and a time stamp were then logged to a text file for analysis. The initial readings support the hypothesis that a 17 degree shallower panel angle correlates to about 5 percent greater power output during the spring months.