Application of artificial intelligence in fault detection and classification of solar power plants and prediction of power generation of combined cycled power plants

Abstract

Solar energy is one of the most dependable renewable energy technologies, as it is feasible almost everywhere globally and is environmentally friendly. Photovoltaic-based renewable energy systems are highly susceptible to power grid transients. Their operation may suffer drastically during faults in the solar arrays, power electronics, and the inverter. Thus, it is vital to develop an intelligent mechanism to detect any type of fault or abnormalities within the shortest possible time that will increase reliability and decrease the maintenance cost of the solar system. To accomplish that, in this research, different artificial intelligence (AI) techniques are utilized to develop classification, fault detection, and optimization algorithms for solar photovoltaic (PV) panels. Initially, a convolutional neural network (CNN) model was designed to detect and classify PV modules based on the images taken from the solar panels. It is found that the proposed CNN model can identify the fault with an accuracy of 91.1% for binary (i.e., healthy and faulty) and 88.6% for multi-classification (i.e. cracked, shadowy, dusty and normal). However, sometimes the fault in the solar panel may not be detectable from the images of the solar panels. That is why an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) model is developed to detect and classify the defects of PV systems based on the signals collected from the solar panels. The performance of the developed defect detection and classification algorithms was tested using real-life solar farm datasets. The performance of the proposed ANFIS-based fault detection scheme has been compared with different machine learning algorithms. It is found from the comparative results that the proposed ANFIS-based fault detection technique is robust and straightforward. Thus, the developed ANFISbased intelligent technique will enhance the reliability of the PV system by minimizing the maintenance cost and saving energy. Finally, another ANFIS model is developed to predict the power generation in a combined cycle power plant. The codes were written in MATLAB, and their validity is confirmed with the available ANFIS toolboxes in MATLAB. The proposed ANFIS is found capable of successfully predicting power generation with extremely high accuracy and being much faster than the built-in ANFIS of MATLAB Toolbox. Thus, the developed ANFIS model could be utilized as a promising tool for energy generation applications.