A Microservices-based Framework for Smart Design and Optimization of PV Installations

The design of photovoltaic (PV) installations mostly relies on rule-of-thumb criteria and on gross estimates of the shading patterns, and the few optimized approaches are generally focused on the problem of identifying the most suitable surfaces (e.g., roofs) in a larger geographic area (e.g., city or district). This work proposes a framework to address the design and the optimization of PV installations through a set of microservices focusing on the different variables of the design: identification of the target surfaces, elaboration of weather data, modeling of the PV panel, and floorplanning of the panel on the surface. The microservices architecture ensures extensibility and generality, as the user may execute only a subset of the proposed services or provide novel algorithms to extend the existing ones. Additionally, the framework provides a set of built-in models that allow sensitivity to the distribution of shades and accurate modeling of the power production over time. We show the many benefits of the proposed framework on two different use cases

Optimal Configuration and Placement of PV Systems in Building Roofs with Cost Analysis

Following the Smart Grid view, current energy generation systems based on fossil fuels will be replaced with renewable energy sources. Photovoltaic (PV) is currently consid- ered the most promising technology, due to decreasing costs of the devices and to the limited invasiveness in existing infrastructures, that make PV installations quite common urban buildings’ roofs. To maximise both power production and Return Of Investment (ROI) of PV installations, new techniques and methodologies should be applied to limit sources of inefficiencies, like shading and power losses due to an incorrect installation. In this paper, we propose a novel solution for an optimal configuration and placement of PV systems in buildings’ roofs. Given a number of alternative configurations and a roof of interest, it combines detailed geographic and irradiance information to determine the optimal PV installation, by maximizing both power production and ROI. Our simulation results on two real-world roofs demonstrate an improvement on power generation up to 23% w.r.t. standard compact installations. These results also highlight that a cost analysis, often ignored by standard installation strategies, is nonetheless necessary to guarantee optimal results in terms of PV production and revenue

A Semi-Empirical Model of PV Modules Including Manufacturing I-V Mismatch

This paper presents an analysis of the impact of manufacturing variability in PV modules when interconnected into a large PV panel. The key enabling technology is a compact semiempirical model, that is built solely from information derived from datasheets, without requiring extraction of electrical parameters or measurements. The model explicits the dependency of output power on those quantities that are heavily affected by variability, like short circuit current and open circuit voltage. In this way, variability can be included with Monte Carlo techniques and tuned to the desired distributions and tolerance. In the experimental results, we prove the effectiveness of the model in the analysis of the optimal interconnection of PV modules, with the goal of reducing the impact of variability

Optimal Topology-Aware PV Panel Floorplanning with Hybrid Orientation

Despite of being one of the most widespread green energy sources, the efficiency of PV rooftop installations is still repressed by shading and by the absence of a rigorous irradiance-aware placement approach. In fact, residential installations simply rely on rule-of-thumb criteria and on estimates of shading patterns, based on observation, while more advanced approaches focus solely on the identification of suitable surfaces (e.g., roofs) in a larger area, like a city or a district. This work aims at identifying an optimal placement of PV modules on a roof (with respect to the optimal energy production). The novelty of the proposed solution is that of allowing an irregular placement of PV modules, by considering two degrees of freedom: orientation of each PV module and topology. The goal is to maximize the irradiance exploited by each PV module, and to avoid that the presence of a ‘‘weak’’ module in a series string might have a bottleneck effect on the overall energy production. Experimental results will prove the effectiveness of the proposed solution onto two real world case studies, and that the generated placements allow to increase power production by up to 40% with respect to traditional solutions

The 1991 3rd NASA Symposium on VLSI Design

Papers from the symposium are presented from the following sessions: (1) featured presentations 1; (2) very large scale integration (VLSI) circuit design; (3) VLSI architecture 1; (4) featured presentations 2; (5) neural networks; (6) VLSI architectures 2; (7) featured presentations 3; (8) verification 1; (9) analog design; (10) verification 2; (11) design innovations 1; (12) asynchronous design; and (13) design innovations 2