Microwave Photonic Sensing for Temperature Monitoring of On-Board Photovoltaic Panels

The development and use of on-board photovoltaic panels (PVP) makes it possible to improve the energy supply of unmanned or manned aerial vehicles, which are respectively positioned, for example, as flying base stations or vehicles with on-board batteries with a large energy reserve, capable of carrying more payload during long flights. The efficiency of a photovoltaic element (PVE) is seriously affected by clouds, blocking solar radiation, possible contamination or precipitation accumulated on its protective coating, aging of the PVE material, and the most important parameter - temperature. The aging effects and to a greater extent their temperature, affect the current-voltage characteristics of the PVE, so an on-board measurement system for its performance parameters can provide valuable information for optimizing the power generation process. The article proposes a methodology for monitoring the temperature of PVE and PVP in whole, which provides determination of their temperature over an area based on networks of fiber-optic sensors (FOS) and their addressed interrogation using a microwave-photonic approach.