Smart Monitoring Solutions for Solar Panels: A Case Study

In 2018, the Japanese government approved the Fifth Energy Basic Plan, prioritizing renewable energy and setting it on a course to become the primary power source in Japan. This led to the re-introduction of solar panels as a renewable energy source. However, renewable energy sources such as solar power have weaker 'bearing capacity' than other power generation methods due to their characteristics. Solar power can be challenging to control because the output fluctuates based on weather conditions. If a large amount of electricity is supplied from the photovoltaic power generation sources to the grid when the power demand is low, the voltage and frequency can be disturbed, and the entire grid can become unstable. In some cases, it can lead to a large-scale power outage. This risk necessitated developments to solve problems like monitoring and controlling the amount of electricity produced by solar panels. NWC partnered with a client that generates and sells electricity serving residential, commercial, and industrial customers. The client needed to monitor the amount of electricity produced by 88,000 solar panels with a power generation capacity of 28 MW/h in a field size of 700 x 700 meters. The initial idea was a 13 kilometer wired optical network; however, the cost of over 1 billion yen made this approach expensive and impractical.

The customer in this case study is a company that generates and sells electricity to residential, commercial, and industrial customers. They were faced with the challenge of monitoring the amount of electricity produced by 88,000 solar panels with a power generation capacity of 28 MW/h in a field size of 700 x 700 meters. The initial idea was a 13 kilometer wired optical network; however, the cost of over 1 billion yen made this approach expensive and impractical. Therefore, they needed a wireless gateway solution to communicate between the site and the monitoring center.