Development and Data Visualization of a Weather Station for Real-Time Simulation of Solar PV Panels

Tesis Energía y Ambiente (maestría) - Instituto Tecnológico de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires - Karlsruher Institut für Technologie, Karlsruhe, 2024
"This thesis focuses on the optimisation of photovoltaic (PV) systems through a comprehensive analysis of commercially available PV modules, coupled with real-time weather data collection. A large dataset of over 9,000 PV modules was collected using automated web scraping techniques, primarily from the ENF Solar database, followed by detailed data analysis that included efficiency, temperature coefficient, and categorisation of different module technologies such as bifacial, heterojunction (HJT), crystalline silicon, and thin-film modules.

In parallel, a weather station was designed and deployed to collect real-time environmental data, including solar irradiance, temperature, and humidity. This data was stored in a File Transfer Protocol Server (FTP), added to an InfluxDB database and visualised through Grafana, enabling continuous monitoring and detailed historical analysis of local weather conditions relevant to solar power generation and future projects.

The collected weather data, in combination with the performance data of the PV modules, was then used to simulate the energy output of different types of PV modules for a one-megawatt solar park. These simulations provided insights into the potential performance of the various technologies under real-world conditions, factoring in efficiency, temperature sensitivity, and environmental factors.

The results highlight that HJT modules exhibited the highest efficiency and superior temperature performance. Crystalline silicon modules offered a balanced approach with competitive efficiency and temperature coefficients. These findings offer valuable guidance for selecting PV technologies suited to specific climatic and operational conditions, contributing to the advancement of renewable energy deployment".