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Enabling efficient management for Angolan solar initiative

Published in: Solar, Digital Blog

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Smart Monitoring for Utility-Scale Solar in Africa’s Largest PV Project

Gantner has equipped Angola’s largest solar initiative—spanning seven solar power plants and 370 MWp capacity—with its advanced monitoring technology, significantly enhancing performance, efficiency, and sustainability. This landmark project supports over 1.2 million families and marks a major stride in Angola’s renewable energy transition.

Why Monitoring Technology Matters In large-scale solar projects, real-time, high-resolution data is essential for:

  • Proactive maintenance and reduced downtime.
  • Optimized energy output through detailed performance analytics.
  • Stakeholder transparency from investors to grid operators.

Strategic Implementation & Technological Leadership Gantner delivered nearly 1,400 string combiner boxes and 100 DAQ cabinets, supported by local Swedish manufacturing. Core innovations include:

  • The Q.reader datalogger: Captures data from 100,000+ channels, including trackers, inverters, and weather stations.
  • String.bloxx monitoring: Allows fault detection down to individual strings for efficient service dispatch.
  • High-accuracy shunt-based string current monitoring (±0.5%) for superior DC performance tracking.

Data-Driven Optimization and Predictive Maintenance Gantner’s system ensures:

  • Real-time detection of anomalies and faster response times.
  • Predictive maintenance with AI-enhanced diagnostics and energy forecasting.
  • Long-term reliability and yield through detailed DC/AC analysis and inverter efficiency monitoring.

Enabling Future-Ready Solar Operations The monitoring platform supports:

  • A cloud-based web portal for comprehensive O&M and asset performance optimization.
  • Integration of a digital twin for benchmarking and machine learning applications.
  • Scalable infrastructure certified across global grid codes, including VDE and NTS standards.

The Path Ahead Following this deployment, Gantner will support Angola’s next solar phase: four off-grid PV plants with 122 MW capacity. The project’s success highlights how smart monitoring can drive energy independence and improve performance across diverse terrains and climates.

Read the full article here: https://pes.eu.com/exclusive-article/enabling-efficient-management-for-angolan-solar-initiative/

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