Green Energy Monitor - Live Data

This project is designed to monitor the production of green energy in real time. I always wanted to be independent in terms of energy, but I never knew how much energy I could produce with one, two or ten photovoltaic panels, if I have enough sun in my area, if the wind blows hard enough so I decided to monitor energy systems already installed to make my opinion. I wanted that before investing in an energy system to know exactly how much energycan produce and how long can recoup the investment so I started to watch some systems ready installed and functional. I want to point out that the technical data of photovoltaic panels and wind turbines are not always sufficient to achieve an energy system because there are many factors (geographical area, season, weather, obstacles in the area, etc.) that influence the performance of such energy system.

Step 1: Monitored Power System Consisting of Photovoltaic Panels and Wind Turbine

In my project data taken from arduino via sensors are transmitted to a web server online to be saved and viewed. I used noninvasive current sensors for measuring current from photovoltaic panels and wind turbine, battery voltage sensor and two temperature sensors DS18B20 digital.

Currently two locations are monitored, containing mixed wind and photovoltaic energy systems and data are stored on the web server.

Now I can watch anytime porduce how much energy my photovoltaics and wind turbine both at home and at work from any computer connected to the Internet, even on my smartphone.

online data: http://free-energy-monitor.com/index.php/energy/li...

Step 2: Energy Production Time

In this way data can be recorded for years and shows how such a system is useful and also differences between the photovoltaic system and wind turbine system, I can calculate annual energy produced and can track the behavior of the two energy systems in every season.

Step 3: Components and Costs

1. 2013 Version ATmega32U2 ATmega328P UNO R3 Board & Free USB Cable for Arduino DIY - aprox. 10$ (ebay);
2. Ethernet Shield W5100 Network Expansion Board For Arduino UNO R3 Mega 2560 - aprox. 7$ (ebay);

3. Hall Effect Current Sensor For Hobbyist, Arduino Compatible, AC 75A DC 100A - 9$ (ebay);

4. Octopus Voltage Divider Module Electronic Bricks for Arduino 5$ (ebay);

5. DS18B20 Waterproof Temperature Sensors Thermistor Temperature Control hv2n - 2$ (ebay);

6. 1602 LCD Board Keypad Shield Blue Backlight For Arduino Expansion Board - 4$ (ebay);

Step 4: Description Operating Mode - How It Works.

The module reads the values of the analog inputs which are connected current sensors (one for photovoltaic panels and a wind turbine), the sensor voltage (for bench batteries) and a digital input for temperature sensors (for temperature measurement bench batteries and environment outside), web server transmits (POST method) and call a PHP script that inserts data into a database. The transmitted data are mean values after readings at an interval of 10 ms for 2 seconds (200 samples), resulting in insertion into the database at an interval 2-3s, 1200 samples per hour.

The input data are read analog values of the voltages across the sensors (0-5V), they are converted to digital values (0-1023) by an analog to digital and depending on the type of sensor applies a formula in which results in final value measured V(volts) for voltage or A(amps) for currents.

Ex1: sensorValue = analogRead (A5); // Read analog input

U = (float) ((sensorValue) * 25) / 1023; // Read voltage calculation

Ex2: sensorValue = (analogRead (A4) -507); // Read analog input

if (sensorValue == 1 or sensorValue == - 1) sensorValue = 0; // error correction

If = (float) sensorValue * 0215; // Read the current value calculation

Step 5: Arduino Software

Arduino program is loaded into the attachment "monitorizare_securiceni.ino".

Live data energy monitor with arduino uno: http://free-energy-monitor.com/index.php/energy/li...