Non-communication and artificial neural network based photovoltaic monitoring using the existing impedance relay

Abstract This paper deals with developing a new technique based on artificial neural networks (ANN) for monitoring of the remote grid connected photovoltaic (PV) plant. An ANN utilizes the existing impedance relays’ measurements located at switchgear panel to monitor the PV power generated. Also, the proposed technique is able to monitor the power consumed by the load at the distribution side. The simple proposed technique can monitor and decide the reverse power flow in the distribution feeder. Furthermore, the proposed method identifies an index which diagnosis the PV plant performance. The estimated power from the ANN is compared with the PV generation from real time recorded weather data at the distribution site, and the performance index is obtained accordingly. This technique does not employ any communication infrastructure as usually used in the classical monitoring techniques available in the literature. This advantage makes the proposed scheme very highly attractive from the economical point of view.