Floating Mega Solar Early Warning System “Guard for the Floating Mega Solar System” adopted SoftBank’s ichimill, which made it possible to monitor the movement of island for power generation equipment in real time.
Analyzing movement data for the year enables more effective maintenance. The system instantaneously detects and automatically reports abnormal movement.
There are two major installation patterns for solar power generation: the ground-mounted type and the floating type. The floating type is installed on a floating island in dams, reservoirs and other relatively calm water.
Because it is floating on water, the temperature does not increase as much as it does with the ground-mounted type, which is said to provide greater power generation efficiency.
There are approximately 150,000 reservoirs throughout Japan, and, the use of floating type solar generation equipment is expected to increase in the future.
Due to abnormal weather in recent years, we have been hit with unexpectedly powerful typhoons beyond design limits. These stronger weather events are causing damage on equipment and power stoppages with increased frequency.
Several units of ichimill are set up on islands. These units monitor for deformation, abnormal movement, float lifting, etc. in real time. The system instantaneously detects movement beyond the prescribed design limits due to recent abnormal weather. The administrator and other related staff are notified via SMS when an abnormality occurs to ensure an early response.
Analysis of accumulated observation data enables estimation of locations where a larger load is applied from the level and amount of movement of the water. It also makes it possible to analyze causes in the event of accident. These data are useful in formulating effective maintenance plans
The equipment measures water level in real time. During typhoons and heavy rains, it is possible to provide information such as the status of water level to the reservoir administrator and local residents. It is a system that contributes to regional disaster prevention.
Floats lined with solar panels are firmly anchored to the lakebed with anchor chains and mooring lines. As the islands float on the water, they move more when the water level is low and less when it is high.
The Floating Mega Solar Early Detection System employs 4 GNSS receivers, or location information terminals, to visualize the movement of the island. With RTK positioning (ichimill), these GNSS receivers perceive the horizontal position of the floating solar generator, and the water level of lake or other body of water with high accuracy.
Position information from ichimill units is uploaded onto the server and the position of the island can be seen through a web application specifically designed for the island early detection system.
The position information has a maximum error of 1~2cm in the horizontal direction and 4cm in the vertical direction. The installed system (ichimill) uploads data to the cloud server every second. This system is powered by its own independent solar panel, enabling it to continue sending data 365 days per year.
This system was developed with the strong determination to “continue contributing to the preservation of the global environment,” by using power generators with natural energy that are not affected by recent abnormal weather.
