Does your existing solar plant have a discontinued inverter installed like SatCon or SolarMax? Or, did your inverter company discontinue the solar monitoring, like Kaco, leaving you without visibility into the solar plant performance? Undetected solar plant issues could cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars in lost revenue.
Many solar inverter manufacturers have come and gone over the past ten plus years. Inverter companies often offer a simplified and limited monitoring solution to track the production of their inverters. If that company is no longer around, who is providing the solar plant information? We understand that this can be a headache. Fortunately, simple and cost-effective solutions are available to retrofit older solar PV plants with monitoring.
Solar Monitoring for Obsolete Inverters
The Solar-Log Base and Solar-Log 50 Gateway are compatible with over 2,000 different components including over 100 inverter brands. Solar-Log® has been in the market for over 12 years. Compatibility expands to reach inverter brands that are no longer available. Depending on the communication protocol, this compatibility can provide insight into plant performance information like generated power or inverter alarms, and error codes and much more.
Solar Monitoring that is Easy to Install
Solar-Log® hardware devices include multiple communication ports, covering a variety of connections. Newer inverters often communicate over Local Area Network (LAN). Connect the device to the Solar-Log Base or Solar-Log 50 via the network by using the ethernet port. Other inverters, especially those of older generations, will communicate through RS485. Using the RS485 port on the Solar-Log®, you can connect the device directly to the inverter.
Monitoring Options for Non-compatible Inverters
Solar-Log® products can provide solar plant production insight through one of the several universal meter options, even if the existing inverters are not compatible. Display metered solar power production on the Solar-Log WEB Enerest™ platform. Then, the O&M provider or plant owner can see how much power is being produced.
As an example, SunPower inverters are no longer manufactured and these inverters do not use communication cards. As a result, plants with SunPower inverters are left unmonitored. Connect inverter-agnostic solutions like meters from Solar-Log® to these plants. That way, plant operators can still track solar plant production with a neutral monitoring solution.
Wondering if retrofitting existing sites with monitoring is worth it?
Check out this business case for solar plant monitoring retrofit
Not only that, the external CT-based meter options are easy-to-install and don’t require cutting into the system to add a meter socket. Do you already have a meter socket installed? We’ve got that covered too. Ask us about the revenue-grade socket meters from Solar Data Systems.
Use Your Own Software – API or FTP File Transfer
Do you have an existing software platform or a company software that you prefer to use? No problem! Solar-Log® has options to transfer the plant data to other platforms. That means you can connect the Solar-Log® to your existing site and view the information on the software of your choice.
U.S.-Based Technical Support Team
Solar-Log® users don’t have to be concerned with long wait times or trouble reaching technical support. The team at Solar Data Systems often answers the phone after just 1 ring. There is no 2-hour call back window or an additional 2 hours if you miss the call back. Fast support is important, especially when you are on site.
Readily Available – Ships within 3 Days
The Solar-Log Base and Solar-Log 50 Gateway are regular stock product for Solar Data Systems. When you need your products quickly, we can help! Stock products ship from our warehouse in Bethel, CT within 3 business days of order placement.
Find out if Solar-Log is the right fit for your existing solar plant
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