Open Solar Outdoors Test Field

AYA Signal conditioners in OSOTF Solar System at Queen’s University.

Growing at unparalleled rates around the world, the solar photovoltaic industry is creating jobs that both underpin a green economy and a sustainable power grid. Due to this growth, there has been an increased demand for high-quality research in solar system design and optimization in realistic, and often times extreme, outdoor environments.

AYA Instruments Inc. was recently involved in a project at Queens University in Ontario, Canada, along with 18 other organizations, which form the Open Solar Outdoors Test Field (OSOTF). Originally developed with a strong partnership between the Applied Sustainability Research Group and the Sustainable Energy Applied Research Centre (SEARC), the OSOTF collaboration has grown rapidly to include multiple industry partners.

The OSOTF is a fully grid-connected test system that has been redesigned to provide critical data and research on PV systems optimization. There are 95 photovoltaic models that are continuously monitored and their performance is correlated to a long list of highly accurate meteorological readings. As one of the largest systems in the world for this detailed level of analysis, it has provided valuable information on the actual performance of photovoltaic modules in real-world conditions. The OSOTF is organized under open source principles, meaning that all data and analysis is made freely available to the public.

The results yielded have been aimed at determining how different weather conditions impact the effectiveness of solar panels and which type of solar panels will be most efficient in particular environments.

More details:  http://www.appropedia.org/OSOTF
Check out the results here: https://www.academia.edu/1498481/Open_Solar_Photovoltaic_Systems_Optimization