Citation: Kavaliauskas, Ž.; Šajev, I.; Blaži ¯ unas, G.; Geceviˇ cius, G.; ˇ Capas, V.; Adomaitis, D. Electronic System for the Remote Monitoring of Solar Power Plant Parameters and Environmental Conditions. Electronics 2022, 11, 1431. https:// doi.org/10.3390/electronics11091431 Academic Editor: Pablo García Triviño Received: 29 March 2022 Accepted: 26 April 2022 Published: 29 April 2022 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil- iations. Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). electronics Article Electronic System for the Remote Monitoring of Solar Power Plant Parameters and Environmental Conditions Žydr ¯ unas Kavaliauskas *, Igor Šajev, Giedrius Blaži¯ unas, Giedrius Geceviˇ cius, Vytautas ˇ Capas and Danielius Adomaitis Department of Industrial Engineering and Robotics, Kaunas University of Applied Sciences, Pramones Ave. 20, LT-50468 Kaunas, Lithuania; igor.sajev@go.kauko.lt (I.Š.); giedrius.blaziunas@go.kauko.lt (G.B.); giedrius.gecevicius@go.kauko.lt (G.G.); vytautas.capas@go.kauko.lt (V. ˇ C.); danielius.adomaitis@go.kauko.lt (D.A.) * Correspondence: zydrunas.kavaliauskaslei@gmail.com Abstract: An electronic monitoring system was developed to monitor and analyze operating and environmental parameters of solar power plants. The electronic monitoring system consisted of two stages: the first stage was designed to receive data from temperature, illumination, voltage, electric current, and power sensors and modules; the second stage is for data collection, analysis, and display. Microcontrollers PIC18F25K22 (for data collection) and PIC24FV32KA302 (for data analysis and display) were used to implement the electronic monitoring system. RF module EBTYE OEM/ODM E32-433T20DC SX1278 433 MHz UART was used to transmit data to the central server. For the microcontrollers of both stages, original control program algorithms were developed, according to which program codes were written using the C programming language. Data were collected using the MySQL database. The virtual interface and application for displaying instant data were created using programming language Delphi. Data monitoring systems in the market have a number of shortcomings due to the difficulty of ensuring a centralized data management process. In addition, sensors used in most systems require a Wi-Fi Internet connection to transmit information, which is difficult to secure in remote solar parks. The aim of this work is to show that information transmission from individually deployed sensors to the central server can be ensured using the principle of RF communication, and data collection and analysis in a centralized way without additional costs for Wi-Fi networks in remote areas. Keywords: monitoring; electronics; programming; microcontroller 1. Introduction The use of traditional fossil fuels in various industries and for energy generation poses major challenges in terms of air pollution, increase in the greenhouse effect, and ozone depletion. In the search for alternative energy sources to conventional fuels, increasing attention is paid to renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power plants, and hydrogen energy. One of the cleanest forms of energy is electricity generated from solar power plants using photovoltaic (PV) modules [1,2]. The largest increases in solar power were observed in Asia, mainly in China and Japan, with 15.2 and 11 GW, respectively, followed by the US. The European market is also emerging, mainly in the United Kingdom, Germany and France, Scandinavian countries, and central European countries such as Poland and Lithuania. PV power plant parks are usually built where there are certain climatic and environmental conditions. Solar power parks require large areas of open land. It is desirable that there are no buildings, trees, and very high hills around the solar power plant park in order to avoid the shadows of various objects as much as possible. During the design and construction of various objects (residential houses, high-rise office complexes, various fences, etc.), certain parts and facades of buildings are covered with photovoltaic Electronics 2022, 11, 1431. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11091431 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/electronics