By harnessing the expertise of both organisations, this collaboration will leverage the University of Queensland’s (UQ) spin-out SolarisAI. Their Artificial Intelligence’s (AI) predictive power will optimise solar operations and maintenance using Weidmüller’s measurement devices and supporting solutions.
This partnership started in 2020 when the research team at UQ’s School of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science (EECS) required string monitoring boxes to support a large-scale solar farm ARENA-funded project. Weidmüller supplied the Transclinic measurement device and the u-control system automation controller.
Weidmüller is an expert in the transmission and interconnection of power, signals, and data in industrial environments. Weidmüller solutions are widely used in modern production plants, power generation and railroad technology, as well as wind and photovoltaic systems. Weidmüller is a global leader in renewable energy with cumulative products and solutions that account for more than 35GW globally and approaching 4GW in Australia and New Zealand. Weidmüller is an expert in the Photovoltaic industry offering a wide range of solutions and various applications. The solutions include and not limited to combiner boxes, string monitoring solutions, weather stations and communication cabinets.
In addition, Weidmüller has jointly researched alongside UQ to optimise system connectivity, reducing installation and design efforts by using a PV-Next solution at the UQ Long Pocket Test Facility.
The SolarisAI platform has been developed for solar farms and large-scale photovoltaic (PV) installations. The system can be used without the need for additional hardware by monitoring groups of PV panels at the array level, but there is also an option to add in-line current sensors to monitor at the string level. The technology is designed around the relationship of string current levels w/fault types, fault location, number of panels per string and the panel types. It uses advanced algorithms to create base and progression distribution mappings to foresee where maintenance work needs to be prioritised.
Ritesh Anand (National Sales Manager – Projects and Technology Solutions of Weidmüller Pty Ltd), “It is a pleasure to have a collaborative partnership with SolarisAI as we both share a common bond for sustainability and environment conservation and protection. Our joint efforts in a technological approach to problem-solving for renewable energy has been an enjoyable journey”.
Derek Stephens (COO of SolarisAI Pty Ltd), “Weidmüller was our initial industry partner during the development of our advanced data analytics & AI platform for solar farms. Their invaluable support over the years has been a key to our success. We look forward to furthering our cooperation through this collaborative partnership”.