Geoves

Description

MAIN FEATURES

Agrivoltaics, or agrovoltaics, is a combined technology of agricultural production and photovoltaics, carried out on the same land.

In the agrivoltaic system, the photovoltaic panels are mounted at a height that allows conventional cultivation practices on the land below.

The main objectives of an agrivoltaic system are:

• the production of electricity from a renewable photovoltaic source to support agricultural production
• the reduction of crop water demand through the shading of the photovoltaic panels,
• the preservation of land for agricultural use,
• better regulation of rainwater,
• partial protection from hail and other precipitation phenomena as well as from extreme weather conditions (e.g. high exposure to the sun)

To assess the achievement of the objectives listed above, Geoves has designed the MicroAGROVOLT weather stations that allow continuous detection of the weather-climatic conditions that can influence the performance of a photovoltaic system and the growth of an agricultural crop.

The monitoring of the photovoltaic plant is carried out in compliance with IEC 61724, CEI 82-25 and IEC 60904 standards using ISO9060 radiometric instrumentation. Typically, the measurements detected are:

• solar radiation
• air and photovoltaic panel temperature
• wind intensity (optionally also the direction if there are mobile solar tracking systems)

The monitoring of the crop is carried out in compliance with WMO (World Meteorological Organization) standards using weather and climate instrumentation aimed primarily at preventing water stress and plant diseases. For the prevention of water stress, the following measurements are usually taken:

• soil temperature and humidity
• calculation of plant evapotranspiration by applying the FAO-WMO formula (implemented in Geoves dataloggers) which uses measurements of solar radiation, air temperature-humidity, wind speed, pressure and atmospheric precipitation

For the prevention of plant diseases, the following measurements are taken:

• air temperature and humidity
• leaf wetness
• atmospheric precipitation

Since the weather station can be customized as desired, you can choose which parameters to provide based on the needs of each plant. In its complete configuration for monitoring both the photovoltaic system and the crop, the MicroAGROVOLT station will detect the following measurements:

1. solar radiation
2. air temperature and humidity
3. photovoltaic panel temperature
4. soil temperature and humidity
5. wind intensity (optionally also the direction for mobile solar tracking systems)
6. atmospheric pressure
7. atmospheric precipitation
8. leaf wetness
9. calculation of plant evapotranspiration by applying the FAO-WMO formula (using the Geoves datalogger and the measurements referred to in points 1-2-5-6-7)

Each station can be equipped with a Geoves datalogger for data acquisition, display, storage and transmission which can occur in the following ways:

1) Via LAN/ethernet cable with free Geodesk software for data download installed on the system's central PC;
2) GPRS wireless with transfer to a protected web area (FTP area) and the possibility of managing data from a web service;
3) manually with data download in CSV format from SD Card memory;

Alternatively, or in addition to the datalogger, the instantaneous data of each meteorological measurement can be available on ModBus RS485 Slave or TCP/IP output for connection to external SCADA.

ADVANTAGES

Compliance

• Dataloggers and measuring station: IEC 61724, CEI 82-25 and IEC 60904
• Pyranometers and radiometers: ISO 9060, ISO 17025 and WMO
• Meteorological sensors: WMO Annex 8

Precision, Reliability and Robustness

• Measurement sampling time of 1 second with data storage every 5 (default), 10-15-30-60’
• Certificability of meteorological-radiometric sensors at recognized external laboratories (Accredia, WMO, Measnet, etc.)
• Instrumentation, cables, supports and datalogger housing boxes made of stainless materials resistant to any operating condition (direct radiation, temperature variations, salinity, sand, gusts of wind, hail, etc.)

Versatility, compatibility and ease of use

• Data storage in standard TXT text format with comma-separated fields (CSV format)
• Automated GPRS antenna pointing by datalogger with on-site reception signal verification
• Display of measurements with easy functional verification

Other features

• Completely Italian technology and minimal maintenance
• After-sales assistance for maintenance and any calibrations