JP2018085600A - String monitoring device of photovoltaic power plant, mobile terminal application, and photovoltaic power plant monitoring system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a string monitoring device of a photovoltaic power plant which device can be simply installed even in an existing photovoltaic power plant, keeps operation costs down, and allows a person having no expertise to be a worker and check.SOLUTION: A string monitoring device 2 includes: a detection unit 2b for detecting a power generation state of a string 11 connected with a connection box 12; a communication unit 2a for wirelessly communicating with a smart phone 3 that has come close to within a prescribed range and recognizes it; and a control unit 2h for authenticating the smart phone 3 recognized by the communication unit 2a on the basis of registered smart phone identification information and permitting it to read out detection information in the detection unit 2b.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a string monitoring technique for monitoring a power generation state of a string constituting a photovoltaic power plant such as a mega solar.

Solar power plants require regular inspections of each facility by engineers, but not only such regular inspections, but also staff members visit each facility as appropriate. The situation is constantly monitored.
As an example of the prior art related to monitoring of a solar power plant, the following patent document describes a measured value transmitted from a remote monitoring device that measures a power generation facility of a solar power plant and a state in a site. It is described that it is received to determine whether it is abnormal, and if it is determined to be abnormal there, the alarm information is sent as e-mail to the power plant manager, the operator's mobile phone, etc. .

JP 2016-177800 A

However, in the technique described in the above-mentioned patent document, the remote monitoring device has a complicated configuration, and all the sensors arranged in each place in the power plant are connected to the remote monitoring device. There is a problem of being bulky.
In addition, among the components of the power plant, the output of the solar module, especially when it is shaded by weeds, will be reduced. If it is attached to, maintenance cost will increase.
The present invention has been developed in view of such a current situation, and can be easily installed even in an existing solar power plant. The purpose is to provide a string monitoring device for a power plant, a portable terminal application, and a solar power plant monitoring system.

A string monitoring device for a solar power plant according to the present invention is attached to each of the string connection boxes disposed in the solar power plant, and a detection unit that detects the power generation state of the strings connected to the connection box, A communication unit that wirelessly communicates with a mobile terminal that has come close within a predetermined range, and a mobile terminal recognized by the communication unit is authenticated based on identification information of a registered mobile terminal, and the detection information of the detection unit And a control unit that generates string monitoring information and transmits it through the communication unit. Here, as the mobile communication terminal, a smartphone capable of wireless communication using a general carrier communication network is preferably used.
In such a monitoring device, the detection unit is normally inactive, and when it receives a wake-up signal from the mobile terminal, it is activated to detect the power generation state of the string and returns to the inactive state after detection. You may comprise.

  An application for a mobile terminal according to the present invention includes a step of establishing wireless communication between a mobile terminal and a communication unit of a string monitoring device, a step of reading detection information from a detection unit based on the established wireless communication, and a read detection A step of discriminating an abnormality based on the information and informing the discrimination result.

  Furthermore, the solar power plant monitoring system according to the present invention includes the string monitoring device, a monitoring center provided on the Internet, and a portable terminal that reads the detection information from the string monitoring device and uploads the detection information to the monitoring center. In addition, the monitoring center is configured to aggregate the detection information uploaded from the mobile terminal and generate monitoring information for each power plant.

The string monitoring device according to the present invention has a simple configuration and does not need to be connected to a higher-level central device or the like. Therefore, even existing power plants can be installed easily and inexpensively.
In addition, since the inspection staff can cope with those who do not have specialized knowledge, the cost required for the inspection can be suppressed.
In addition, if a smartphone is used as a mobile terminal, a general carrier communication network is used, so terminal costs and communication costs can be reduced, and even those without specialized knowledge can detect abnormalities in solar modules during patrols of power plants. It is easy to know, and the abnormalities of solar modules can be easily uploaded to a monitoring center on the Internet.
Furthermore, in a configuration in which the detection unit is normally inactive and is activated when a wake-up signal is received from the mobile terminal, the power consumption is significantly suppressed.

It is a block diagram which shows the system configuration | structure of the solar power plant which concerns on this invention. It is a front view which shows a specific example of the connection box which incorporated the string monitoring apparatus. It is a block diagram which shows the basic composition of an example of a string monitoring apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the basic operation | movement of a string monitoring apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the basic operation | movement of the application for portable terminals. (A), (b) is an example of the display screen of a portable terminal. (A), (b) is another example of the display screen of a portable terminal. It is a screen which shows an example of the power plant monitoring information which the monitoring center produced | generated.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of a photovoltaic power plant according to the present invention.
The power plant 1 assumes a 1000 kWh-class mega solar, but this scale is an example for explanation. The solar array (panel) 10 is 200 Wh, and the total number is 480. Usually, these solar arrays 10 are arranged in a state of being aligned over the entire site of the power plant 1.
The string 11 has a certain number of adjacent, for example, 16 solar arrays 10 connected in series, and the total number of the strings 11 is 30.
One string connection box 12 is used for 10 parallel strings 11, and the total number of connection boxes 12 is three. In order to optimize the electric wire connection between the string 11 and the junction box 12, the junction boxes 12 are distributed in the site.
All the junction boxes 12 are integrated into a single DC current collection box 13, and the current collection box 13 outputs a DC current obtained by bundling the power generation of the entire power plant 1.
A power conditioner 14 is a device that converts a direct current into an alternating current.
The cubicle 15 boosts the alternating current output from the power conditioner 14 to supply it to the electric power company's transmission network. For example, the electric power company's electric power transmission network has an AC current of 6600 V, and the cubicle 15 corresponds to the voltage. doing.

  In the present embodiment, each of the connection boxes 12 is provided with a string monitoring device 2 that monitors the power generation state of each of the strings 11 connected to the connection box. The monitoring device 2 may be installed in the vicinity of the connection box 12 or may be built in the connection box 12.

  The monitoring device 2 detects the power generation state of the string 11 connected to the connection box 12, for example, the output current of each of the strings 11, and the communication unit detects that the staff member holding the smartphone 3 is within a predetermined range. When it approaches, it recognizes by wirelessly communicating with the smartphone 3 and authenticates based on the registered smartphone identification information, the detection unit detects the power generation state of the string 11, and the control unit allows reading of the detection information It is configured to do. Since the detection information detected by the detection unit is automatically transmitted to the smartphone 3, even if there is no special expertise, the clerk only goes around the connection box 12 arranged in the power plant 1, and the power plant The power generation state of all 1 strings 11 can be checked. In addition, if a traveling robot in which a smartphone 3 is combined with a drone or the like is prepared, a staff member does not need to travel and only needs to remotely operate the traveling robot.

The monitoring device 2 does not always need to monitor the power generation state of the string 11, and activates a detection unit that detects the power generation state of the string 11 when the smartphone is authenticated by the approach of a staff member who has the smartphone 3. May be.
For example, the monitoring device 2 keeps the detection unit in the non-operating state at normal time, and when the wake-up signal is received from the smartphone 3, the monitoring unit 2 temporarily activates the detection unit (current sensor or the like). The state is detected, the detection information is transmitted to the smartphone 3, and thereafter, the detection unit is returned to the non-operation state.
By doing so, since the power consumption of the monitoring device 2 can be suppressed, when the monitoring device 2 is driven by a battery power source, the battery life can be greatly extended.
Note that using a non-contact current sensor to measure the output current of the string 11 is excellent in that it does not adversely affect the output current of the string 11, but the non-contact current sensor consumes a large amount of power. It is very effective to turn it off normally.

  The monitoring device 2 may detect the power generation state of the string 11 and determine whether the string 11 is normal or abnormal, and then transmit only the presence / absence of the abnormality to the smartphone 3. Specifically, the monitoring device 2 measures the output current of each string 11 to calculate the average value of all the strings 11, and determines the average value for each string 11 based on the difference between the average value and each output current. Normality or abnormality may be determined, and only the determination result may be transmitted to the smartphone 3. Then, the communication time between the monitoring device 2 and the smartphone 3 can be shortened.

As the smartphone 3, a general one that is widely available on the market can be used, and an application for wirelessly communicating with the monitoring device 2 is installed in advance.
By the application, the smartphone 3 establishes wireless communication with the monitoring device 2, reads detection information from the monitoring device 2 based on the established wireless communication, and executes processing for immediately informing the read detection information. This process may be automatically executed without any particular operation if the application is activated.
In addition, the application may register each position information of the connection box 12 in advance, and automatically determine the monitoring device 2 to be communicated by acquiring the position information by the GPS function during the patrol of the attendant. May be configured to sequentially instruct the patrol staff the patrol route. The smartphone 3 may be configured to display the detection information on the screen or display normality or abnormality on the screen. The notification may be performed by an electronic sound or a voice message.

The smartphone 3 is configured to display the detection information read from the monitoring device 2 on the screen and then upload it to the monitoring center 5 on the Internet via the carrier communication network 4 by performing a predetermined operation. However, this upload may be done automatically.
In particular, since the smartphone 3 can use the carrier communication network 4 as it is, the detection information can be uploaded to the monitoring center 5 at a low cost.

The monitoring center 5 is configured to aggregate the detection information uploaded by the smartphone 3 and generate monitoring information for each power plant 1. In this case, the monitoring center 5 can be shared by a plurality of power plants 1, and the content of the monitoring information of the power plant 1 is not particularly limited.
Examples of monitoring information include power generation state history and failure history of the entire power plant 1, but the monitoring center 5 collects and analyzes the detection information uploaded from the smartphone 3 in advance. An attendant may operate the program, but artificial intelligence or the like may be used.

As described above, the monitoring device 2 according to the present embodiment has a simple configuration, does not need to be connected to a higher-level central device or the like, and can be installed easily and inexpensively even in the existing power plant 1.
In addition, anyone who has knowledge of operating a mobile terminal such as a smartphone can work as a traveling staff. In addition, since three smartphones are used as staff terminals, terminal costs can be reduced.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing a specific example of a junction box having a built-in monitoring device.
The connection box 12 has a basic structure in which a circuit board 12b is accommodated in a box-shaped casing 12a made of sheet metal or resin. Although the housing 12a has a door that can be opened and closed on the front, the door is not shown. In addition, a punch-out hole is provided on the bottom surface of the housing 12a for drawing an electric wire connected to the string 11 and an electric wire leading to the DC current collection box 13 inward.
An input side switch 12c, a backflow prevention diode 12d, an output side switch 12e, a surge protection device 12f, and the like are fixed to the circuit board 12b. The circuit board 12b uses a metal plate 12g such as a copper plate as a part of the wiring. The input side switch 12 c is provided for each electric wire connected to the string 11.

The monitoring device 2 has a configuration in which a communication unit 2a and a detection unit 2b are connected via a connector 2g.
The communication unit 2a includes an operation unit 2c including a numeric keypad, a liquid crystal display unit 2d, and an antenna 2e. The communication method with the smartphone 3 is not particularly limited, but may be a Bluetooth (registered trademark) method, for example. In the Bluetooth (registered trademark) system, it is necessary to perform pairing in advance between devices that perform communication. That is, the smartphone 3 and the monitoring device 2 are paired in advance. By such pairing, the identification information of the smartphone 3 is registered in the monitoring device 2, and the identification information of the string monitoring device 2 is registered in the smartphone 3. In the Bluetooth (registered trademark) system, a profile that defines a communication procedure for each device type is prepared. In the case of this embodiment, for example, a serial port profile (SSP) may be used for communication between the smartphone 3 and the string monitoring device 2. If pairing is performed in advance, an operation in which the monitoring device 2 is in a standby state in a connection waiting state can be performed at normal times.

The detection unit 2b includes a plurality of current sensors 2f and voltage sensors. The current sensor 2f is a non-contact type using a Hall element or the like, and has a donut shape with a hole through which the wiring to be monitored is formed. Each of the wirings connected to the string 11 passes through the current sensor 2f. The voltage sensor is built in the detection unit 2 b, and a lead wire connected to the sensor is connected to a wiring connecting to the current collection box 13.
If a plurality of types with different numbers of current sensors 2f are prepared as the detection unit 2b and one of them can be freely combined with the common communication unit 2a, the scale (number of strings) is set. The optimum monitoring device 2 can be obtained for a plurality of types of connection boxes 12 having different).

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a basic configuration of an example of a monitoring device.
The monitoring device 2 includes an operation unit 2c including a numeric keypad, a liquid crystal display unit 2d, a control unit 2h including a CPU, a communication circuit 2i that communicates wirelessly with the smartphone 3, a current sensor 2f, and a voltage sensor. A detection circuit 2j, a memory 2k that stores smartphone identification information and the power generation state of the string 11, and a power supply battery 2m. The communication circuit 2i includes an antenna 2e.
Among these, the operation unit 2c, the liquid crystal display unit 2d, the control unit 2h, the communication circuit 2i, the memory 2k, and the battery 2m constitute the communication unit 2a, and the current sensor 2f, the voltage sensor, and the detection circuit 2j The detection part 2b is comprised.
The communication unit 2a performs wireless communication by recognizing the smartphone 3 that has approached within a predetermined range. The detection unit 2b detects the power generation state of each of the strings 11 connected to the connection box 12, and records the detection information in the memory 2k. The control unit 2h authenticates the smartphone 3 recognized by the communication unit 2a based on the registered smartphone identification information and allows reading of the detection information. As a result, the smartphone can read the detection information from the monitoring device 2.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the basic operation of the monitoring apparatus. It is assumed that the smartphone identification information is registered in the monitoring device 2 in advance.
Steps 10 and 11 are processes for waiting for a wake-up signal from the smartphone 3. This process may be executed intermittently, for example, so as to check for the presence of a wake-up signal every 0.5 seconds.
Step 12 is a process which makes the detection part 2b into an operation state (energization state).
Step 13 is a process of detecting the power generation state of the string 11.
Step 14 is processing for determining whether or not there is an abnormality in the detection information in step 13.
Step 15 is a process of transmitting an abnormality to the smartphone 3 when it is determined that there is an abnormality in Step 13. On the other hand, step 16 is a process of transmitting no abnormality to the smartphone 3 when it is determined in step 13 that there is no abnormality.
Step 17 is a process for releasing the operating state of the detection unit 2b (non-energized state). After this processing, the process returns to Step 10.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the basic operation of the smartphone.
This basic operation is based on the application. In the application, it is necessary to register the identification information of the monitoring device 2 and the address of the monitoring center 5 in advance.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the basic operation of the application.
Step 30 is a process of establishing wireless communication with the string monitoring device 2.
Step 31 is a process of reading detection information from the monitoring device 2 based on the established wireless communication.
Step 32 is a process of notifying the read detection information.
Step 33 is a process of uploading the detection information read from the monitoring device 2 to the monitoring center 5.

  FIGS. 6A and 6B are examples of the display screen of the smartphone 3 that is executing the application. Here, it is assumed that the monitoring device 2 transmits the presence or absence of abnormality such as the output current of the string 11 to the smartphone 3 as detection information.

FIG. 6A is an example of a notification screen, which is displayed when there is no abnormality in the detection information read from the monitoring device 2.
In the notification screen W1, the monitoring device list A1 in which the monitoring devices 2 registered in advance are displayed as a list, the detection information display field A2 in which the detection information read from the monitoring device 2 is displayed, and the monitoring device 2 are automatically displayed. An automatic connection key A3 for turning on / off the connection mode, an upload key A4 for uploading detection information read from the monitoring device 2 to the monitoring center 5, and the like are arranged.
“ST0-3 monitoring” or the like displayed in the monitoring device list A1 is the name of the monitoring device 2. In the monitoring device list A1, the currently connected monitoring device 2 is highlighted. In the detection information display field A2, “no abnormality” indicating that there is no abnormality in all the strings 11 is displayed. The automatic connection key A3 displays “automatic connection mode” while the automatic connection mode is on, and displays “automatic connection mode off” while the automatic connection mode is off.

  FIG. 6B is an example of a notification screen, which is displayed when there is no abnormality in the detection information read from the monitoring device 2. In the detection information display field A2, "String 3 Abnormal" indicating that the string 11 (third string) is abnormal is displayed, and the display color is also switched to red.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are other examples of the display screen of the smartphone, and correspond to a configuration in which the detection information is read from the monitoring device 2 by a screen operation on the smartphone 3. The monitoring device 2 is assumed to transmit a measurement value such as the output current of the string 11 to the smartphone 3 as monitoring information.
FIG. 7A shows an example of the operation screen. On the operation screen W3, the monitoring device list A1, the automatic connection key A3, the download key A5 for reading detection information from the connected monitoring device 2, and the detection information read from the monitoring device 2 are monitored. An upload key A6 for uploading to the center 5 and a photo upload key A7 for uploading the photograph data of the troubled part photographed by the smartphone 3 to the monitoring center 5 are arranged.
FIG. 7B shows a detection information screen. On the detection information screen W4, the detection information read from the monitoring device 2, that is, the graph A7 of the output current of each string 11 and the output voltage of the connection box 12 is displayed. In addition, a display switching key A8 for switching between the one-week graph and the one-day graph is arranged at the bottom of the screen.
If there is an abnormality in the monitoring data in each graph, the abnormality is notified by changing the display color. In this example, one of the strings 11 (D) has an abnormality, so the display color of the title part on the left side of the graph is blinking red.

FIG. 8 is a report screen W showing an example of power plant monitoring information generated by the monitoring center. The report screen W5 in this example is generated by uploading detection information as shown in FIG. 7B from the smartphone 3 to the monitoring center 5. If the monitoring center 5 is configured as a web server, an administrator or the like can easily browse the report screen W3 as a home page.
On the report screen W3, a graph A9 in which the detection information of all the strings 11 of the power plant 1 is collected for one month is displayed. The string 11 (ST3) is indicated by a “１２” mark that an abnormality has occurred on July 12-14. The month to be displayed is switched by operating the movement key A10 arranged at the bottom of the screen. When the number of strings of the power plant 1 is large, the display month may be switched by scrolling or page turning. Note that the display content and format of the report screen W5 are not limited to the above, and may be anything.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Photovoltaic power station 11 String 12 String connection box 2 String monitoring apparatus 2a Communication part 2b Detection part 2f Current sensor 2h Control part 2k Memory 3 Smartphone 5 Monitoring center

Claims (7)

A detection unit that is attached to each of the string connection boxes disposed in the solar power plant and detects the power generation state of the string connected to the connection box as detection information;
A communication unit that establishes communication by transmitting and receiving radio with a mobile terminal that has come close to within a predetermined range;
A control unit that authenticates the mobile terminal recognized by the communication unit based on registered identification information, reads detection information of the detection unit, generates string monitoring information, and transmits the string monitoring information through the communication unit; A string monitoring device for a solar power plant characterized by The detection unit is normally in an inactive state, and when receiving a wake-up signal from the mobile terminal, the detection unit is in an active state to detect the detection information, and then returns to the inactive state. Item 2. The solar power plant string monitoring device according to Item 1. The said string is provided with the non-contact-type current sensor which measures each output current as said detection part, The string monitoring apparatus of the solar power plant of Claim 1 or 2 characterized by the above-mentioned. 4. The string monitoring device for a solar power plant according to claim 1, wherein the communication unit performs Bluetooth (registered trademark) wireless communication with the mobile terminal. 5. A step of establishing wireless communication with the string monitoring device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, a step of reading the detection information from the string monitoring device based on the established wireless communication, and the read detection information And a step of displaying a mobile phone application. The mobile terminal application according to claim 5, further comprising a step of uploading the read detection information to a monitoring center on the Internet. The string monitoring device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
A monitoring center on the Internet;
Including a smartphone that reads the detection information from the string monitoring device and uploads it to the monitoring center;
The monitoring center collects the detection information uploaded from the smartphone and generates monitoring information for each power plant.

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