The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 10, 2015
Filed:
Dec. 20, 2011
Bryan Fisher, Huntington Beach, CA (US);
Catlin Mattheis, San Luis Obispo, CA (US);
Scott Lewis, Mountain View, CA (US);
Bryan Fisher, Huntington Beach, CA (US);
Catlin Mattheis, San Luis Obispo, CA (US);
Scott Lewis, Mountain View, CA (US);
Other;
Abstract
Photovoltaic array performance monitoring is disclosed herein. A photovoltaic array performance monitoring system may include a data acquisition unit coupled with reference and ambient photovoltaic panels. The reference photovoltaic panel is equipped with a soiling removal unit which periodically removes deposited soiling materials from an active photovoltaic collection area of the reference photovoltaic panel. The ambient photovoltaic panel accumulates light obscuring soiling materials at a rate approximately equal to those of a proximate photovoltaic array. The data acquisition unit periodically sends electrical energy measurements of the reference and ambient photovoltaic panels to a computing system. Over time, the electrical energy output differential between the reference and ambient photovoltaic panels exceeds a predetermined threshold. The computing system evaluates the electrical energy measurements and determines when it would be cost-effective to clean the photovoltaic array. The result is output in a human cognizable format and/or a machine readable format.