Design and Implementation of an Off-Grid Industrial Automation System Using Hybrid Solar-Rain (PV-TENG) Panels and an Integrated STM32-PLC Architecture

Ensuring a sustainable energy supply for instrumentation and control systems in remote (off-grid) locations remains a fundamental challenge in electrical engineering and industrial automation. In tropical and high-rainfall regions, conventional photovoltaic (PV) panels experience severe efficiency degradation due to diminished solar irradiance during cloudy days and monsoon rains. This paper introduces and comprehensively analyzes hybrid solar-rain panels that utilize Triboelectric Nanogenerators (TENG) to harvest the kinetic energy of falling raindrops and convert it into electrical energy. Given the unique electrical characteristics of TENG output—specifically, high voltage and high-frequency alternating current (AC) pulses—direct integration with standard industrial controllers is not feasible. Consequently, a novel dual-layer (Master-Slave) hardware architecture is proposed. This architecture employs an STM32 microcontroller for high-speed signal processing and filtering, alongside a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) for executing industrial logic and switching heavy loads. To validate the proposed architecture, a case study featuring a dual-tank water storage system (rainwater and municipal water) driven by AC electric motors was designed. Furthermore, a Python-based software infrastructure utilizing the Modbus TCP protocol was developed for real-time monitoring of system parameters. The analytical results demonstrate that integrating these hardware components can significantly enhance the stability of off-grid control systems under adverse weather conditions.

کلیدواژه ها:

Industrial Automation ، Triboelectric Nanogenerators (TENG) ، STM32 Microcontroller ، Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) ، Off-Grid Networks ، Modbus ، Python