Specialized sensors and sensor networks are studied to enable wireless communication and remotely track the operation and health of photovoltaic (PV) parks. smartPV focuses on sensing temperature and humidity attributes as well as the output current and voltage. A new type of sensors will be also designed and fabricated that will better be adapted in PVs. The collected information will be analyzed with machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms that will be able to predict future problems. One of these problems is the Potential Induced Degradation that deteriorates the performance of PVs. We will also study the possibility of incorporating the sensor networks with the future design of PV parks that may include microinverters. The participating organizations include two companies (ECOVAR and HABITATIO) and the University of Patras with three groups: SensLab (coordinator), the Laboratory of Electric Power Systems and the Department of Materials Science.
