Virtual Booth

Solar photovoltaic (PV) systems require accurate solar irradiance monitoring to evaluate energy performance and distinguish between weather-related power variations and actual system faults. This project presents SolarIQ, a portable industrial-grade IoT solar irradiance and performance monitoring system designed around an ESP32 edge-computing platform. The system integrates an industrial RS485 irradiance sensor for reliable data acquisition, real-time edge processing, local SD-card data logging, and dual-layer monitoring through a local TFT display and remote MQTT/Node-RED dashboard. SolarIQ processes irradiance measurements locally to calculate incident solar power based on configurable PV panel area. It also provides moving-average and daily peak tracking together with simple operating-condition classifications, allowing users to interpret solar conditions without analysing raw irradiance measurements. The system maintains local data logging during network interruptions and supports both on-site and remote monitoring. The proposed system provides a practical and accessible monitoring solution for residential PV systems, SMEs and off-grid farms, technicians, and educational or research applications. Overall, SolarIQ combines solar measurement, IoT connectivity, edge computing, data logging, and visualisation in a single platform to support more effective PV performance monitoring and fault diagnosis.