The problems of solar energy systems monitoring in Russia

The paper presents an overview of monitoring systems for grid connected and stand-alone solar photovoltaic power plants and installations on the territory of the Russian Federation. The monitoring relevance is determined by design objectives and by quite complex and heterogeneous from the standpoint of solar energy development climatic conditions of Russia. The methods and tools used for monitoring are reviewed. Elements of regulation and the list of monitoring tasks are proposed. The results of calculations on the proposed method of engineering prediction performance for PV installations are described. Verification of the monthly average incident solar radiation data from NASA SSE which are used as the initial parameters in the calculation methodology is carried. On the basis of experimental data the adequacy of using engineering technique for performance prediction of photovoltaic installations is confirmed. The main factors that make the most significant contribution to the calculation error are revealed. The main aspects that had been identified during the photovoltaic system monitoring and essential to operation of the monitoring system and the whole installation are presented. We propose to create a network of PV systems in Russia equipped with monitoring systems for processing and exchange of information, formation of unified measurement rules and to develop the recommendations for setting of PV systems in various geographical conditions of the country.