Digital video watermarking for solar panel indexation and monitoring

The crux for renewable energy is the cost of setting up the solar farm, and the efficiency of monitoring the power output. Usually, solar farms occupy a large land area, which arises a tremendous need for remote monitoring of solar panels state. Panel images can be used to evaluate panels´ state: surface dust, cells state, broken panels, etc. In this paper, we propose a process to ensure a remote monitoring. We start by dividing the solar farm into small areas. One area index corresponds to one panel. Then using a robot equipped by embedded computer system, USB video camera, GPS, and thermometer, we cross all indexed areas in order to film panels using video watermarking techniques. We hide on each video frame the related data: index of the crossing area computed from GPS coordinates, date, time, and temperature. In the monitoring side, by using the watermarked video, an authorized person, for each given position (area index) can extract: panel photos and related data. The proposed method allows a high efficiency in terms of accuracy, data security, and retrieving data quickly.