Marine Monitoring System Powered by Flexible Solar Panel

Abstract

Renewable energy sources are more commonly used in photovoltaic panel devices due to their high-power conversion efficiency, mechanical robustness, and multiple power levels capable of adapting to different applications. We present the design and implementation of a marine life monitoring system powered by a flexible photovoltaic panel. This monitoring system is implemented with a Raspberry Pi Zero W board to control (turn on/off) a night camera. It has a field of view of 2 m and a bank of light-emitting diodes placed in a submersible polyvinyl chloride casing. The monitoring system can continuously acquire 1440 images over 24 h, with an energy consumption of 28.2 W/h. The system was tested by acquiring images of sea urchins Diadema antillarum in shallow waters of the Mexican Caribbean in the coral reef located in Xahuaxol.