INTEGRATED PERFORMANCE MONITORING FOR A CONCENTRATED PHOTOVOLTAIC (CPV) SYSTEM
First Claim
1. A concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) array management system, comprising:
- a plurality of concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) arrays located at a solar site, each of the CPV arrays is associated with a different system control point (SCP) which is communicatively connected to a central backend management system over a public wide area network, each SCP includes circuitry with test points for performance monitoring of at least
1) an electrical power generating circuitry that generates alternating current (AC) voltage output and
2) a tracker motion control circuit to control a position of the CPV array for that SCP, and
1) configured logic,
2) resident software applications, or
3) any combination of both in the SCP is configured to collect the performance monitoring information and store in a memory of the SCP, where the information from the circuitry with test points for performance monitoring is communicated to the central backend management system over the public wide area network.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A plurality of concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) arrays located at a solar site may be operated and communicate with a central backend management system over a public wide area network. Each of the CPV arrays is associated with a different system control point (SCP). Each SCP includes circuitry with test points for performance monitoring of at least 1) an electrical power generating circuitry that generates alternating current (AC) voltage output and 2) a tracker motion control circuit to control a position of the CPV array for that SCP, and 1) configured logic, 2) resident software applications, or 3) any combination of both in the SCP is configured to collect the performance monitoring information and store in a memory of the SCP. The information from the circuitry with test points for performance monitoring is communicated to the central backend management system over the public wide area network.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) array management system, comprising:
a plurality of concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) arrays located at a solar site, each of the CPV arrays is associated with a different system control point (SCP) which is communicatively connected to a central backend management system over a public wide area network, each SCP includes circuitry with test points for performance monitoring of at least
1) an electrical power generating circuitry that generates alternating current (AC) voltage output and
2) a tracker motion control circuit to control a position of the CPV array for that SCP, and
1) configured logic,
2) resident software applications, or
3) any combination of both in the SCP is configured to collect the performance monitoring information and store in a memory of the SCP, where the information from the circuitry with test points for performance monitoring is communicated to the central backend management system over the public wide area network.- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method for monitoring and controlling operations of a solar site having a plurality of concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) arrays, the method comprising:
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establishing a secured and persistent connection between a first system control point (SCP) and a central backend management system using Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) over an Internet, the first SCP including circuitry and program codes for monitoring and controlling operations of a first CPV array associated with the first SCP; collecting information related to the first CPV array, the information including performance information related to electrical power generating circuitry, streaming video captured by a video camera, position information of the first CPV array at the solar site as generated by global positioning system (GPS) circuitry, direct normal incidence (DNI) information, and weather information; and transmitting the information related to the first CPV array to the central backend management system using the secured and persistent connection, wherein the information related to the first CPV array is stored in a buffer of the first SCP until an acknowledgement message is received from the central backend management system. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A computer-readable media that stores instructions, which when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:
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establishing a secured connection over an Internet using Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) to communicatively connect a first system control point (SCP) with a central backend management system, the first SCP associated with a first concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) array of a plurality of CPV arrays in a solar site; collecting information related to the first CPV array, the information including one or more of performance information of a string of CPV cells supplying DC power in the first CPV array, current to voltage (IV) curves associated with the first CPV array, configuration information of the string in the first CPV array, direct normal irradiation (DNI) information for the first CPV array, streaming video captured by a camera associated with the first CPV array, weather information where the first CPV array is located, tracking information of the angular coordinates of the first CPV array, and position information of the CPV array at the solar site as generated by the GPS circuitry; and transmitting the information related to the first CPV array to the central backend management system using the secured connection. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification