For a more detailed analyse of the renewable energy sources in a particular area, was developed a meteorological complex operating in automatic mode. A prototype has been installed on the territory of the "Red Lake" ski resort and is operating in a test mode. Data on wind and solar energy with an interval of 10 seconds are recorded in the station's memory, and also transmitted to the Internet in real time. Daily data reports are sent to a special email address for further processing.

As part of this program, a fundamentally new mobile device has been developed for year-round recording of the amount of solar energy entering the inclined surface.

In 1834, the French watchmaker Jean Peltier discovered that when a direct current flows through the contact of two dissimilar conductors, heat is released or absorbed. The amount of heat released and its sign depend on the type of contacting substances, current strength and time of current flow, that is, the amount of heat released is proportional to the amount of charge passed through the contact:

dQ₁₂ = P₁₂Idt = − dQ₂₁

Here, the Peltier effect manifests itself in the interaction of conduction electrons, slowed down or accelerated in the contact potential of the pn junction, with thermal oscillations of atoms in the semiconductor array. As a result, depending on the direction of movement of the electrons and, accordingly, the current, heating or cooling of the section of the semiconductor directly adjacent to the junction ( pn or np junction) occurs .

The Peltier effect underlies the operation of a thermoelectric module (TEM). A single element of TEM is a thermocouple, consisting of one conductor (branch) of p- type and one conductor of n- type. When several such thermocouples are connected in series, the heat ( Qc), absorbed on the contact type n - p , stands out on the contact type p - n ( Qh). A thermoelectric module is a collection of such thermocouples, usually interconnected sequentially in current and in parallel in heat flux. Thermocouples are placed between two ceramic plates. The branches are soldered to copper conductive pads (skins), which are attached to special heat-conducting ceramics, for example, from aluminum oxide. The number of thermocouples can vary widely - from several units to several hundred, which allows you to create TEM with a cooling capacity of from tenths of a watt to hundreds of watts. Among the TEM materials, bismuth telluride has the highest thermoelectric efficiency, in which special additives, for example, selenium and antimony, are added to obtain the required type and conductivity parameters. Traditionally, the side to which the wires are attached is hot, and it is depicted from below.

The essence of the device lies in the controlled selection of heat coming from the sun to the blackened copper plate of the sensor. When the control plate is heated, the Peltier thermal module turns on and cools it to the required temperature, i.e. absorbs heat and discharges through the radiator into the atmosphere. As the amount of heat pumped by the thermal module is proportional to the amount of electricity passed through it, by calculating the amount of this electricity, we get the amount of solar energy falling on the plate.

The actinometer sensor has two thermal sensors: t 1 - for measuring the temperature of a blackened plate and t 2 - for measuring the temperature of the sensor body. In the absence of solar radiation, the plate temperature is equal to the case temperature, i.e. outdoor temperature. The signals from the temperature sensors arrive at the comparator of the control unit ( БУ ) that controls the current regulator ( РТ ). In case of equality of signals from thermal sensors, the current in the power supply circuit of the thermal module ( ТЭМ ) is zero. When solar radiation hits the plate, it is heated, which is detected by the temperature sensor t 1 . And if t 1 > t 2, БУ via РТ supplies a current from the power source ИП at the thermal module, which starts to heat extraction from the sensor plate. When this begins to receive information from a current sensor I d , which through the converter РТ and the interface ИФ is fed to the computer PC , where it is processing and recording. As the plate cools, the current through the thermal module decreases, and when the readings of the temperature sensors equalize ( t 1 = t 2 ), the cooling process stabilizes. By reducing the intensity of solar radiation when t 1 < t 2, the current through the thermal module begins to decrease until the heat balance is restored again ( t 1 = t 2). With an increase in the intensity of solar radiation, the process repeats.

This device allows you to autonomously record the dynamics of electricity consumption in the house. Every fifteen seconds, the current is measured in the network, and the measurement results are recorded in the memory of the recorder. Every two months, the accumulated data through the USB port can be "dumped" to a Flash-card or directly to a hard disk of a computer for further processing of the received information.