IOT BASED SOLAR POWER MONITORING SYSTEM

Abstract

Traditional energy infrastructures often suffer from a lack of real-time visibility, leading to inefficient maintenance cycles and unnecessary energy losses. In solar power systems, factors such as partial shading, dust accumulation, temperature variations, and component degradation significantly affect overall efficiency, yet they often go undetected in conventional monitoring approaches. This paper explores an IoT-based solar power monitoring system, designed to digitize and optimize renewable energy harvesting through continuous and intelligent observation. The proposed system integrates high-precision current and voltage sensors with an ESP32 microcontroller, which serves as the core processing unit. Additional environmental sensors, such as temperature and irradiance sensors, can also be incorporated to provide a more comprehensive analysis of panel performance. The collected data is processed locally at the edge level to reduce latency and bandwidth usage. It is then transmitted using the MQTT protocol to a cloud-based platform for storage, visualization, and advanced analytics. The cloud system applies data analysis techniques to identify anomalies such as shading effects, dust accumulation, wiring faults, and gradual panel degradation. Alerts and notifications are generated in real time to inform users of any irregularities. Furthermore, the system provides a user-friendly dashboard accessible via web or mobile applications, enabling users to monitor both real-time and historical data trends. This facilitates predictive maintenance, allowing issues to be addressed before they lead to significant performance drops or system failures.