On Internet of Things-Based Solar Energy Management Systems

The global renewable energy industry is progressing at a rapid pace because of innovation in solar energy resources worldwide. However, with this rapid growth, challenges of scaling solar energy harvesting operations and sustaining profits are paramount to various stakeholders. To manage this key issue of scaling, we strongly believe that advances in Internet of Things (IoT) and related technology can drive the next revolution in the global solar energy industry. Managing solar energy systems using IoT is necessary to provide reliable power supplies to the consumer, and makes it possible to data acquisition and control the action that allows various stakeholders to maintain, operate and control these systems, reducing installations costs and avoiding unwanted electric power disruptions.

This paper discusses the role of IoTin managing solar energy systems, and benefits of solar energy to power the Internet of Things devices. We address the current solar energy market and trends and discuss the most recent solar energy applications. Our preliminary work includes a detailed review of some software platforms and tools for managing solar energy systems. Finally, we provide an overview of some challenges and future research directions for solar energy technology.