Jeff Tolnar
Shoals Technologies Group Inc., a supplier {of electrical} steadiness of techniques options for solar, storage, and electrical car (EV) charging infrastructure, has launched its patent pending Snapshot I-V solar PV well being monitoring options.
Shoals’ Snapshot I-V is an ecosystem of merchandise created to combine seamlessly right into a solar asset administration system. The answer remotely displays the well being and efficiency of their PV modules over the lifetime of the system. PV modules signify the biggest single funding in a solar system, and correct and well timed efficiency monitoring is important to take motion in case of PV module underperformance.
Traditionally, auditing and troubleshooting of PV modules with presently accessible I-V curve tracing gear requires a labor-intensive, on-site course of. Electrical check gear should be carried to the solar subject and manually arrange at every location whereas disconnecting the inverter and dropping energy manufacturing.
The Snapshot I-V PV well being monitoring answer permits distant efficiency monitoring of the PV modules at a string stage, with out shutting down the inverter. In addition to the PV module monitoring, Shoals’ answer additionally collects historic and peripheral website information, serving to clients perceive their effectivity ranges and module utilization, each in actual time and by way of time comparability studies.
The first commercially accessible options within the Snapshot I-V household can be Snapshot I-V Wireless Meter and Snapshot I-V Wireless Gateway.
The Snapshot I-V Wireless Meter is a module-level performance-monitoring system supposed to gather and supply detailed data concerning effectivity and efficiency vs. producers’ predicted module efficiency over the lifetime of the mission. Sealed in its personal weather-tight enclosure, the system installs on the again of the solar module that powers it. Together with the Snapshot I-V Wireless Gateway, these gadgets make up a versatile system for complete power plant monitoring in installations with or with out combiner bins.
The Snapshot I-V Wireless Gateway is an embedded pc with an area space community (LAN) connection and creates a strong 2.4 GHz wi-fi mesh community for solar PV monitoring. The Gateway acts because the hub for the Snapshot I-V well being monitoring system, accumulating information from the exterior irradiance meter, Snapshot I-V Wireless Meters, and serves as the mixing level for third-party API. The Gateway can talk with as much as 250 Snapshot I-V Wireless Meters.
“With Snapshot I-V, our customers now have the ability to ensure that their system is performing to the specifications of the PV manufacturer and benefit from warranty claims if modules are not performing up to specifications,” says Jeff Tolnar, president of Shoals. “We look forward to partnering with our customers to deploy this innovative ecosystem of PV monitoring and health solutions, enabling highly effective long-term asset management to optimize utility-scale systems.”
