Not just another monitoring tool

raicoon AOC is not a monitoring tool. raicoon doesn’t just present data for human engineers to base their decisions on. It actually makes those decisions for them. It processes data from a multitude of sources and makes decisions informed by that data.

The AOC detects faults and then makes correct and timely decisions as to what comes next. If there’s a fix to make, the system creates a ticket and the task is automatically assigned to the correct person to do the job.

The result? Every relevant, measurable anomaly is detected – even the minor ones. Service quality is improved and fixes happen faster, which means less downtime. And the system is able to operate at peak performance, so your plants produce more energy and solar asset management becomes more profitable.

Autonomous operations – how does that work?

Data aggregation and sanitization

Modern renewable energy systems capture a vast amount of data. Data generated by installation sensors includes data about the environment, such as solar irradiance and temperature, and also about the installation itself, including orientation and energy output. All of these measurements are necessary to ensure energy systems run optimally. The problem is – the data compiled at renewable energy systems is often of poor quality and can’t be used directly. This is where raicoon comes in.

The AOC aggregates the raw data from renewable energy systems, creates a copy, and then uses machine learning technologies to analyze, standardize, and – if necessary – correct the data so it can be used quickly and efficiently. There are many steps involved in this process, including interpolation, plausibility checks, offset error correction, outlier removal, timestamp correction, cross-validation over different sensors, and more.

The quality of this data is the key to ensuring systems run optimally. By sanitizing it, the foundation is set for fault detection and diagnostics, and thus – autonomous operations.

An automatic fault detection engine

The fault detection engine is at the heart of raicoon AOC. We got to see firsthand how much energy was going to waste due to inefficiencies while working in the field as operations and maintenance professionals. Figuring out a way to rescue that energy became our first priority – so we set our minds to determining how we could capture it. In doing so, we soon realized that sifting through and analyzing the flood of data produced by a PV system is not a job fit for a human.

What’s the point of an engineer sitting and staring at monitors, when a computer can do the job with more efficiency? If we can free up engineers to do more value-add tasks, like planning projects and handling improvements, why wouldn’t we?

So we got to work. The goal was to invent an automatic fault detection engine so we could finally detect even minor anomalies. The ones that don’t seem to have a huge impact, but over time really add up to be a lot of energy and end up having a sizable financial impact.

We’re quite proud of the fact that we were the first to create an error detection software that can claim to detect 100% of faults, while creating zero false alarms. This is a game-changer for operations! Our success in building this software made us see what is possible, and we got even more ambitious. Now the fault detection engine is at the heart of a system that is the first in its category: autonomous operations for renewable energy systems.

How it works

Because the engine is able to detect 100% of faults without creating false alarms, there’s no longer a need for someone to monitor and confirm the data. The time this saves, and the accuracy it brings – the effect is huge. It takes an entire step out of the equation. Operations is now autonomous.