A Low-Cost, Stand-Alone Sensory Platform for Monitoring Extreme Solar Overirradiance Events

摘要

In this paper, we present a low-cost, stand-alone sensory platform developed for in situ monitoring of environmental parameters, for use in the Amazon region in the north of Brazil. The mission of the platform is to perform monitoring and identification of overirradiance (solar irradiance 1000 W/m(2)) and extreme overirradiance events (solar irradiance 1300 W/m(2)) using a photovoltaic based irradiance sensor. The sensory platform was built using the ESP8266 microcontroller, an open embedded computer capable of Wi-Fi communication using the IEEE 802.11 standard, and small photovoltaic modules, air temperature, atmospheric pressure, voltage, and current sensors, enabling the development of a low-cost system ((sic)70/R$350.00 BRL). Calibration and tests were conducted at the Federal University of Para (UFPA), Belem campus, Para, where the platform measured an extreme overirradiance of 1321 W/m(2) at a low-latitude (1 degrees S) and low altitude (7 m above sea level).