Monitoring of large size solar thermal systems: design and data analysis

This paper describes how to achieve an efficient design and management of a tele-monitoring system of several solar thermal plants. The system will be able to make an analysis that assures a more efficient management of each plant and of the whole system. In the first part of this study, the features of the monitoring system that allows to monitor the operating parameters and to discover the issues before they actually become dangerous for the plant have been identified. The data collected in the different solar thermal systems realized in Italian jails have been analyzed. The results of these elaborations allowed us both to find out some anomalies of functioning of the plants, and to optimize the management of the whole plant in a more efficient way.