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The starting point of the operation and maintenance tasks in photovoltaic plants is the continuous monitoring and supervision of its components. The great amount of registered data requires a major improvement in the ways this information is processed and analyzed to rapidly detect any potential fault, without incurring additional costs. In this paper, a procedure to perform a detailed graphical supported analysis of the operation of photovoltaic installations, based on inverter data, and using a self-developed application, is presented. The program carries out the automated processing of the registered data, providing their access and visualization by means of color maps. These graphs allow a large volume of data set to be simultaneously represented in a readable way, enabling operation and maintenance operators to quickly detect patterns that would require any type of intervention. As a case study, the operation of a grid-connected photovoltaic plant located in southern Spain was studied during a period of three years. The average daily efficiency values of the PV modules and inverters were in the range of 7.6-14.6%, and 73.5-94% respectively. Moreover, the presence of shadings, as well as the hours and days mainly affected by this issue, was easily detected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reduction of CO2 emissions is a main target in the future smart grid. This goal is boosting the installation of renewable energy resources (RES), as well as a major consumer engagement that seeks for a more efficient utilization of these resources toward the figure of 'prosumers'. Nevertheless, these resources present an intermittent nature, which requires the presence of an energy storage system and an energy management system (EMS) to ensure an uninterrupted power supply. Moreover, network-related issues might arise due to the increasing power of renewable resources installed in the grid, the storage systems also being capable of contributing to the network stability. However, to assess these future scenarios and test the control strategies, a simulation system is needed. The aim of this paper is to analyze the interaction between residential consumers with high penetration of PV generation and distributed storage and the grid by means of a high temporal resolution simulation scenario based on a stochastic residential load model and PV production records. Results of the model are presented for different PV power rates and storage capacities, as well as a two-level charging strategy as a mechanism for increasing the hosting capacity (HC) of the network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is, at present, considerable interest in the storage and dispatchability of photovoltaic (PV) energy, together with the need to manage power flows in real-time. This paper presents a new system, PV-on time, which has been developed to supervise the operating mode of a Grid-Connected Utility-Scale PV Power Plant in order to ensure the reliability and continuity of its supply. This system presents an architecture of acquisition devices, including wireless sensors distributed around the plant, which measure the required information. It is also equipped with a high-precision protocol for synchronizing all data acquisition equipment, something that is necessary for correctly establishing relationships among events in the plant. Moreover, a system for monitoring and supervising all of the distributed devices, as well as for the real-time treatment of all the registered information, is presented. Performances were analyzed in a 400 kW transformation center belonging to a 6.1 MW Utility-Scale PV Power Plant. In addition to monitoring the performance of all of the PV plant's components and detecting any failures or deviations in production, this system enables users to control the power quality of the signal injected and the influence of the installation on the distribution grid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]