A New Architecture Based on IoT and Machine Learning Paradigms in Photovoltaic Systems to Nowcast Output Energy

• Main Authors: Guillermo Almonacid-Olleros, Gabino Almonacid, Juan Ignacio Fernandez-Carrasco, Macarena Espinilla Estevez, Javier Medina Quero
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-07-01
• Series: Sensors
• Subjects: photovoltaic systems; nowcasting energy generation; temporal windows
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/20/15/4224

The classic models used to predict the behavior of photovoltaic systems, which are based on the physical process of the solar cell, are limited to defining the analytical equation to obtain its electrical parameter. In this paper, we evaluate several machine learning models to nowcast the behavior and energy production of a photovoltaic (PV) system in conjunction with ambient data provided by IoT environmental devices. We have evaluated the estimation of output power generation by human-crafted features with multiple temporal windows and deep learning approaches to obtain comparative results regarding the analytical models of PV systems in terms of error metrics and learning time. The ambient data and ground truth of energy production have been collected in a photovoltaic system with IoT capabilities developed within the Opera Digital Platform under the UniVer Project, which has been deployed for 20 years in the Campus of the University of Jaén (Spain). Machine learning models offer improved results compared with the state-of-the-art analytical model, with significant differences in learning time and performance. The use of multiple temporal windows is shown as a suitable tool for modeling temporal features to improve performance.