SmartEmbeddedSystemsforSolarEnergyStations

Copyright2016AxiomtekCo.,Ltd.AllRightsReserved

 SmartEmbeddedSystemforSolarEnergyStations

Abstract
Inordertomitigatetheeffectsofglobalwarming,manycountrieshavemadeambitiousplanstoinvestindifferent
formsofrenewableenergy,includingtheuseofphotovoltaic(PV)solarenergysystems.Accordinganestimatefrom
InternationalEnergyAgency(IEA),PVsolarelectricitywillbecometheleadingsourceofenergyinthenearfuture.

SincemostPVstationsareunmannedanddispersedgeographicallyinsuburbanareas,thecomputersystemthat
monitorstheoperationsequipmentanddevicesareextremelyimportant.Intelligentsystemsplayamissioncritical
roleinsolarpowerutilityapplications.

OneofAxiomtekscustomersselectedtheICO300controller,combinedwiththeAxiomteksremotemanagement
AXView2.0software,tomonitorthestatusoftheirsolarmodulesandinvertersasapredictivemaintenance
solution.TheICO300waspurposelyintegratedasagatewaycontrollerandusedtotransfersolarstations
operationaldatathroughthecloudtothecontrolcenterforanalysis.Themaingoalistousetheanalyticalresults
toimproveoperationalefficiency.Thisreportisthenmadeavailableforfurtheractionsontheirwebsiteportal.

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IndustryTrend
Thegrowingconcernsaboutclimatechange,greenhouseeffectsandenergysecurityaroundtheworldhavefueled
arapidincreaseinthedevelopmentofrenewableenergyoperations.Renewableenergyproduceslittleorno
byproductssuchascarbondioxideorotherchemicalpollutants,sotheyhaveminimalnegativeimpactonthe
environment.Moreover,renewableenergyfacilitiesgenerallyrequirelessmaintenancecomparedtotraditional
ones,andtheabundanceofnaturalresources,suchasavailablesunlight,meansalowercostofoperation.The
energysourceisvirtuallylimitless.Withallofthesefactorscombined,solarpowerisnowthemostimportant
renewableenergysourceintermsofgloballyinstalledcapacitywithmorethan100countriesutilizingPVsolar
energyelectricity.

TheIEAstatedinitsEnergyTechnologyPerspectives2014reportthat,by2050,solarenergywillmostlikelybecome
theworldsmainsourceofelectricitywithover27%oftheworldstotalelectricityproduction.TheIEAreport
statedthatPVsolarenergyiscurrentlyaviablealternativeatthetimesofpeakdemandinmanyareas,especially
thosewhereelectricityisprovidedbyfossilfuels.

InfrastructureFeatures
Inadditiontobeingapowergenerationsystemprovider,Axiomtekscustomeralsomanufacturessolarcellsand
solarmoduleproductswhilealsorenderingrelatedservices.Thiscustomerhasaccumulatedagreatdealofpower
plantimplementationanddevelopmentexperienceincludingflatrooftypeandpitchedrooftypesolarsystems.

Challenges
1. PVsolarpowergenerationstationsaredispersedgeographicallywithnoITpersonnelonsitetomaintainthe
technicalissues.Inordertomaintainreliableoperation,adecentralizedintelligentmonitoringsystemwith
centralizedcontrolisrequired.
2. Networkconnectivity,suchas4G,isrequiredtomakedatacollectionandremotemanagementfeasiblein
ordertohaverealtimedatashowninthestationscontrolroom.
3. Mostoftheseintelligentsystemscollectingdatafromdevicesorsensorsareplacedinharshenvironments,so
theyhavetobespecificallydesignedtooperateinextremetemperaturesandwet/dustyconditions.
4. Builtinintelligentmanagementsoftwareisneededinordertohelpthecustomershortentheirtimetomarket
andreducedevelopmenttime.

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Inthiscase,thecustomerbuiltaPVsolarpowerstationbasedonagridconnectedPVstructure.Manysolarpanels
arecombinedtogethertocreateonesolararrayarethenconnectedtoPVinverterswhichconvertthevariable
directcurrent(DC)outputofaPVsolarpanelintoautilityfrequencyalternatingcurrent(AC),whichcanbefedinto
acommercialelectricalgridorusedbyalocalnetwork.Thesesystemsalsohavethermalsensorsandpyrometers
installedtodetectthesurroundingenvironmentandasmartmetertorecordtheoutputvolumeofthepower
generationstation.

Forthisapplication,thecustomerusedAxiomteksICO300,withtheAXView2.0software,asanintelligentIoT
devicetorecordandcollectsthedataforallofitsconnecteddevicesandsensors.ThecustomeralsoconnectedPV
invertersandsmartmetersviaRS485(usingadaisychainwiringscheme)andusedtheModbusprotocol(whichisa
serialcommunicationprotocolandacommonlyavailablemeansofconnectingindustrialelectronicdevices).Real
timedatawasretrievedbyICO300viaRS485.Asidefromactingasadataacquisitionsystem,theICO300alsoplays
theroleofanIndustrialIoTgateway.Utilizingthecloudagentprogram,theintelligentsystemcanforwardany
collecteddatausingSimpleObjectAccessProtocol(SOAP),aknownprotocolspecificationforexchanging
structuredinformationintheimplementationofwebservicesincomputernetworks.

AxiomteksAXView2.0isasoftwareservicethatcanmonitortheICO300behavior;triggereventalertswhen
abnormalitiesoccur;andsharemachineinformationwithotherremotemanagementsystemsandtheservice
cloud.

Thedataiscollectedandforwardedtothecloudtobeprocessedandanalyzedatacontrolcenter.Thecustomer
alsohasamonitoringportalforitsendusers,allowingthemtoviewrealtimedatasuchasthedailypower
generationvolumeandtheperformanceofthePVinverters.Thisdatacanbeaccessedviaamobilephoneorona
tabletfortheirconvenience.

Sinceonsitepreventivemaintenanceserviceisverycostlyandtakesalotoftime,thismonitoringsystemalso
implementspredictivemaintenanceserviceforsolarpanels.ByanalyzingtheoperationaldatafromPVinverters,
sensorsandsmartmetersinthecloud,themonitoringsystemcanpredictwheneachdeviceisgoingtobreakdown
sothatthesystemcansendaShortMessageService(SMS)toatechniciantoeliminatethedowntimeassociated
withafaultydevice.

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ApplicationSolarSystemStructure

Figure1:SystemDesignStructure

SystemDesignFeatures
AxiomteksICO300offersafanless,ruggeddesignandutilizesthelowpowerconsumptionandmostadvanced
22nmIntelAtomprocessorE3815(1.46GHz)inthemarket.ItsupportsDDR3Lsystemmemoryofupto4GB.
ThisIntelIoTgatewaysolutionisfeaturerich,withexpansivewirelessconnectivityoptionsincludingonefullsize
PCIExpressMiniCard,oneSIMsocket,fourRS232/422/485ports,andtwoisolatedGigabitEthernetports.Other
featuresincludetwohighspeedUSB2.0ports,RTCbatteryfunction,andwidevoltagerange12V24VDCpower
inputwithterminalblock.SincePVsolarstationsareoftenlocatedoutdoors,theICO300supportsanextended
operatingtemperaturerangeof20Cto+70Ctoensurereliableoperationinharshweatherenvironments.The
reliableICO300embeddedsystemisaperfectsolutionforIoT,industrialandembeddedapplicationssuchasPV
solarpowergenerationstations,facilitymonitoringsystemsandotherchallengingoperationsinharsh
environments.

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AXView2.0
AxiomteksAXView2.0softwarecomeswithcloudserviceandM2Mprotocols.Itisahighlyintegratedsoftware
managementsystemthatprovidesremotemanagementarchitectureandaneasytouseapplicationprogramming
interface.

LocalHardwareMonitoringServiceAgent
Theagentisasoftwareservicethatmonitorslocalhardwaredevices,sendsalertsandsharesdevicehealth
informationthroughremotemanagementsystemswhenabnormalitieshappen.

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RemoteManagementSystem
Theremotemanagementsystemisanalertreceiver.UserscanentertheservicecloudbykeyingintheirIPaddress
toconnecttothecloud.Onceconnected,anyeventalertsentbythelocalhardwaremonitoringserviceagentwill
bepushedtoyourphabletautomatically.

ServiceCloud
TheserviceCloudisanewAXView2.0featurecomparedtoversion1.0.Itcanstore,forwardandreviewmachine
healthinformationforbehavioranalysis.AXView2.0alsoprovidessoftwarepackagestoassistusersin
constructingtheirowncloud.

EAPI
AXView2.0supportsEmbeddedApplicationProgrammingInterface(EAPI)compliancewithPICMGEAPIstandards
andextendsitsfeaturestosupportaccesstospecialsysteminformation,hardwarehealthstatus,systembehavior
anduniquesystemdesignssuchasbatterybackupmemoryarea,panelbacklight,DIOanddualhardware
watchdogs.

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To learn more about Axiomteks industrial barebone system, fanless embedded system and rBOX DINrail
embeddedcontrollers,contactusatinfo@axiomtek.com.tw.

AboutAxiomtekCo.,Ltd.

AxiomtekCo.Ltd.isoneoftheworld'sleadingdesigners/manufacturersofPCbasedindustrialcomputerproducts.
Fromourrootsasaturnkeysystemsintegratorspecializingindataacquisitionandcontrolsystems,Axiomtekhas
mirrored the PC evolution in various industries by shifting our focus toward the design and manufacture of
PCbasedindustrialautomationsolutions.

AxiomtekCo.,Ltd.establishedin1990,hasmorethan60distributorpartnersglobally.AxiomtekoffersIndustrial
PCs(IPC),SingleBoardComputersandSystemonModules(slotCPUcard,smallformfactorembeddedboards&
SoM),Fanless&RuggedEmbeddedSystem(eBOXandrBOX),IntelligentTransportationSystem(tBOX),Industrial
Firewall Platform, Industrial IoT Gateway Solution, EtherCAT Master Controller, Touch Panel Computers (TPC),
Medical PCs (MPC), Human Machine Interface (HMI), Digital Signage and Players (DS), Industrial Network and
NetworkAppliances(NA).

AsanassociatememberoftheIntelInternetofThingsSolutionsAlliance,Axiomtekcontinuouslydevelopsand
deliverscuttingedgesolutionsbasedonthelatestIntelplatforms.

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