Photovoltaic (PV) Panel Monitoring
Solar energy is growing in popularity and importance worldwide as a clean and renewable source of energy that is also becoming increasingly affordable and accessible. However, solar panels, defective cables, and plugs that overheat or catch fire pose serious risks to industrial sites and buildings.
In 2021 a major tech company began looking for a fire detection and monitoring solution, specifically for continuously monitoring its rooftop solar panels at a new industrial site.
AP Sensing’s local partner TASC provided the customer with one fiber optic Linear Heat Detection (LHD) device with four channels, three monitoring approximately 1 km distances and the fourth approximately 3.6 km, all in a singleended configuration. The fiber optic cable zigzags between each row of solar panels in order to continuously measure the temperature of both the solar panels and the roof in case a fire were to develop below the roof or in a cable tray.