1. Design and procurement of a fleet of drones, UAVs, and solar sensors: The fleet consists of three drones and six UGVs equipped with solar sensors.
2. Development of a VTOL prototype with integrated solar irradiance sensor: A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) drone prototype has been developed, incorporating a solar irradiance sensor for enhanced data collection.
3. Development of control algorithms for solar irradiance estimation and short-term forecasting: These algorithms are based on data provided by the fleet of mobile sensors and sky-cameras.
4. Development of MPC coalitional control methods for large-scale solar plants: These methods enable efficient control of large solar power plants with hundreds of manipulated variables and use a market based approach.
5. Application of new algorithms for controlling solar power plants: The algorithms utilize sector and loop valves as manipulated variables to maximize the amount of solar energy collected in the solar fields and also reducing the number and severity of the defocus actions. These algorithms have been successfully tested in commercial solar plants.
6. Development of MPC controllers for defocusing solar collectors: These improved controllers, tested in real solar plants, outperform previous ones by reducing oscillations and minimizing actuator wear.
7. Project dissemination: The project outcomes have been published in 65 journal papers, 31 conference papers, 4 book chapters, and shared in 5 keynote and plenary lectures at conferences. Additionally, 5 PhD theses have been produced, along with press releases and public dissemination talks.
