SIMON – System Intelligent MOnitoriNg

9 December 2020
Energy
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Projects

SIMON – System Intelligent MOnitoriNg

GTI Awards 2020 – Renewable energy and Energy efficiency

General information:

Island (Region, Province, Country):

Sicily

Population:
5.000.000

Budget / cost of the project:
€ 500.000

Project objectives:

SIMON – System Intelligent MOnitoriNg, an intelligence system to connect, manage and monitor photovoltaic systems.

Our project consists in an innovative AI system remotely controlling, through a simple app, the solar panels guaranteeing almost constant energy production in time and a reduction of the panels’ damage. Our smart intelligent system guarantees constant maintenance and controlling of solar panels avoiding the damage of panel’s cells which is a frequent problem causing:

the reduction of the panels’ useful life and efficiency;
the cells fire or electric shocks for workers during maintenance operations. The solution to these aspects could encourage users towards solar energy production, in a more efficient, safer and more enduring way.

Project description of activities and specific interventions:

Solar panels installations present many problems determining a reduction of their efficiency and duration.

As literature indicates, generally two types of problems could occur for the solar panels:

accumulation of dirt, leaves, sand or snow which causes partial shading of the panel reducing the panel’s energy production and local damages;
dangerous local phenomena (hot-spots or mismatch) which determine malfunctioning of part of the panel with overheating and even fire. Our smart intelligent system is based on AI algorithm and allows users or system’s managers the monitoring of solar panels’ efficiency and their self-controlled maintenance interventions. In contrast to existing devices which need the installation of complex devices or sensor in solar panels, our system requires only the knowledge of data normally collected by users.

Our smart intelligent system makes possible the efficient check of the performance of the solar installations through a simple app which controls the panel’s performace parameters in real time and alerts when a failure occurs and the maintenance interventions need.

Thus our system allows both users to have their solar installation more efficient, safer and more enduring, and system’s operators or managers to control the installation in smart-working (which is especially important in the context of COVID-19 pandemy).

Public outreach, education and awareness efforts and results:

Our smart intelligent system can be applied to all types of solar installations independently by their dimension (domestic, civil buildings, historical buildings, hospitals,…).

Our idea obtained important awards among which we recall here:

the Sapio Prize for research and innovation in 2018 (promoted by the CNR and ENEA) by the Senate of the Italian Republic;
nomination for the SDG Tech Awards 2020 of Sustainary Denmark;
our idea has been selected among the most important in the “Sustainable FAST TRACK UK” organized by Department for International Trade (UK) (www.sustainairy.org/sustainable-fast-track-uk/);
our idea has been selected for the “2020 Smart Cities Mission to Brazil” organized by Department for International Trade (UK).

Economic value added and how calculated:

Currently, a gap in the market is related to identifying inefficiencies and problems in solar installations. Generally, these installations are left unmonitored thus obtaining a strong reduction both of the energy production in time and of their duration.

The scope of project is to define a smart intelligent system for the monitoring of solar panels’ efficiency and their self-controlled (AI) maintenance. This system makes possible the check of the solar installations through a simple app which controls the panel’s performance parameters in real time and alerts when a failure occurs and maintenance interventions are needed. Our system smart intelligent allows user to optimize, in terms of times-per-year and in terms of costs, the maintenance interventions on the solar installations obtaining installations more efficient, safer and more enduring. The system’s operators or managers could control the installation in smart-working.

Thus, our smart intelligent system: consists of innovative e-learning approach unlike existing controlling/monitoring solutions, it works by an user-friendly smartphone application (app).

Ecological and social project outcomes:

Our project will help the UEU government’s Clean Growth Strategy, creating a more sustainable economy: by stimulating future customers to the use of sustainable (solar) energy, by allowing the energy network operators to optimize the network management especially in view of the SMART GRID.

By allowing user to remotely control the performance of solar energy installation Thus, our project will help to ‘build back better’ from the coronavirus (COVID 19) pandemic.

The main theme for our project from the specific themes list in the ‘Scope’ section of this competition is:

enhancing the benefits and value of solar resource

As secondary themes our project will focus on:

decarbonising energy, business and industry: by reducing the use of fossil
improving the energy efficiency, heating and cooling of our homes and other buildings: by stimulating the increase of the self-produced energy by solar installations
accelerating the shift to low carbon transport: by using sustainable energy
climate change adaptation and mitigation: by allowing the improvement of performance and efficiency of solar energy installations