The paper describes the implementation of the real-time diagnostic monitoring system (RTMS) of Brunnenbach PV plant. The plant comprises a 10.4 kWp PV array and provides power to a remote agricultural site located about 70 km south of Munich. During the plant operation, intensive measurements are taken for operational and scientifical purposes. Another objective is to test the components of the photovoltaic system in regular operation at the site providing more realistic data than under operation in laboratory conditions.
The RTMS consists of a data acquisition system (Schlumberger Isolated Measurement Pod system and RTM 3500 software), data processing, on-line diagnostics, performance reports and user interface.
In order to reduce off-site analysis effort, reports on plant performance are generated on request for user defined time period. User interface provides information on PV plant operation, displayed as digital values, meters, graphs, bargraphs and buttons. The whole interface consists of 45 different screens which the operator can easily navigate through. The interface also enables setting of the parameters that have to be provided to the RTMS by the operator.