A new and inexpensive temperature-measuring system: Application to photovoltaic solar facilities

This article presents the design, construction and testing of a new and inexpensive digital sensor-based temperature-measuring system, whose principal characteristics are: precision, ease of connection, immunity to noise, remote operation and easy scaling, and all this at a very low cost. This new digital sensor-based measuring system overcomes the traditional problems of digital measuring sensors, offering characteristics similar to Pt100-based measuring systems, and therefore can be used in any installation where reliable temperature measurement is necessary. It is especially suitable for installations where cost is a deciding factor in the choice of measuring system. It presents a practical application of the developed instrumentation system for use in photovoltaic solar facilities. This new temperature- measuring system has been registered in the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office with the number P200803364. 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved