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Description
The project aims to increase the competitiveness of the company Ethersys SRL through the development of a complete IT solution for operating, monitoring and maintenance of Solar Farms located in different geographical regions of Romania. The company will develop a solution which is based on a real time remote monitoring web app for solar farms and the custom frame, sensors and modules that will boost the solar energy generation of the solar panels. The application will allow the manipulation and maneuvering, remotely, of equipment based on information obtained from several sources: public data and data collected from the implementation site of the photovoltaic panel system in order to increase the production of energy.
The main outcome of this project is surrounded around the increase in Ethersys SRL''s profitability and competitiveness in the market. The ability to remotely monitor data about the power output of solar panels and the state of battery banks is of critical importance to the proper long-term maintenance of solar energy systems. Existing remote monitoring technologies are few, expensive, limited in their application. Ethersys SRL is through the help of the EEA and Norway Grants by Innovation Norway addressing these challenges by developing an IT solution for the monitoring and operating of solar farms. Key activities in this project include:
- Project Management
- Development of the IT solution
- External Financial Audit
- Publicity activities
The main output includes the development of an innovative IT solution. This solution will not only result in increased turnover and net operation profit, but also have a positive effect on the environment. Through the project, Ethersys SRL is expected to install its new system on at least 6 MWh installed per year, which generates an extra 1968 MWh/year from RES, which means almost 1200 tone CO2 less emission for each year.
Summary of project results
SC Ethersys SRL is a Romanian company producing solar panels with smart technology. The company’s “Sunseeker” solar panels promises up to 30% more yield than traditional solar panels. By creating a more effective way to harness solar power, they wish to set a new cold standard in solar monitoring. Parts of the project includes an app to monitor solar power yield, making it possible for solar farms to connect their existing inverters to Ethersys’ website to monitor their production easily. By incorporating AI into their forecasting, they are able to utilize this to more accurately predict forecasting. The platform collects an overview that includes generation, consumption and potential production of solar power. Potential production curves plot data based on irradiation sensors on site that measure maximum solar energy, and derive how much the plant should produce. The project aims to effectively harness the power of the sun and forecast potential yield.
The company applied for funding through the call "Small grant scheme 2 Relaunch - Support to start-ups". The project focuses on sustainable energy through solar farms.
The grants made it possible for the company to acquire outstanding equipment and launch their implementational website, reaching the wider public. They also contracted a consultant for the development of their AI model, adding this technology to enhance their forecasting using historical and real-time data. The company’s goal is to effectivise solar monitoring remotely. Their solar tracker mount can be added to existing static mounts as well.
The project ran from 01.01.2024 to 30.04.2024. During this time, they have finalized the acquisition of outstanding equipment, and launched a website as well as a monitoring app. The monitoring platform became available to the wider public in March after running a closed beta version, and the app was released after initial customer feedback.
They followed up on the implementation plan for R&D activities, contracting a company to collaborate on developing machine learning and AI models to forecast weather and solar yield. A Support Vector Machine was implemented to predict energy production using historical and real-time data. These were integrated into an existing system to increase accuracy of forecasting. In addition, a SQL database was added to manage and store the data for analytics purposes, ensuring efficient data management and optimization of the AI systems. During this time they also further enhance security of communication between the communication module and server, preventing unauthorized access. This was successfully done in line with the industry standard. The activities optimized AI model development, enhancing their ability to predict energy production.
Their solar tracking mount was finalized, and in March 2024 they were first installed at a customer’s site. Five solar tracking mounts were installed, added to existing static mount, yielding an ideal site for comparison. Analyses after one month showed that Ethersys’ solution yielded 28.5% solar power on the site in comparison to stationary solar mounts in the same location. Monitoring continues and the plant will release a yearly report in March 2025 to confirm annual improvements.
One new job on the sales team was created during this time.