We understand the financial importance of making sure solar plants are running free and clear of errors. We also understand how frustrating monitoring and solar plant troubleshooting can be. Being in the solar industry for 12 years, we talk to many installers on a daily basis. We know the specific headaches that O&M teams have when it comes to troubleshooting.
One of the best answers is the emazys Z200 PV analyzer.
This is a portable, battery-powered tool that not only detects plant faults and failures but also pinpoints the exact location of the failure within the array.
WATCH the Z200 pinpoint the location of a ground fault in less than 3 minutes
As an O&M provider or installer, we’re sure you’re tired of lugging several tools to the site in order to find an issue. With the Z200 PV analyzer you have one instrument for safety, health checks and troubleshooting, including all the accessories to handle all testing situations.
Simply put, the Z200 is a solar industry game changer – and it is much more than just a string tester!
Here are 4 common solar plant troubleshooting headaches and how the Z200 relieves them:
1. Solar Plant Troubleshooting Depletes Valuable Team Resources, Especially TIME
One of the first complaints we hear about is that troubleshooting solar plants depletes solar business resources. We all know that truck rolls cost money. Plus, truck rolls for plant malfunctions take the team away from other revenue generating activities that they could be doing.
For the past ten years or more, the solar industry has been working with basically two tools to ensure electrical safety at time of commissioning and to analyze performance. These two tools have been string testers and IV curve tracers. But, neither of these instruments has ever been able to inform the user of what or where the fault is. So, finding ground faults has been tremendously time-consuming.
String testers and IV curve tracers can’t define what or where the fault is. The Z200 includes fault finding in the testing procedure.
The Z200 uses NEW patent technology. It can perform all the standard tests of a string tester plus it performs impedance spectroscopy between connected string terminals. If we lost you at “impedance spectroscopy”, you don’t have to understand what that means, just know that this technology is different. The technology is advanced but the outcome is straightforward – the Z200 will find the location of the ground fault.
WATCH how the tone generator works
Now, most solar panel test equipment is not made specifically for exploring the root cause of lost energy production. Faults in PV systems make testing costly. Therefore, emazys has developed a technology that includes automatic fault finding IN the testing procedure.
The Z200 PV Analyzer saves service teams and average of 2.5 hours per troubleshooting task. It reduces fault finding work time in the field from hours to only minutes.
In the example above, an O&M provider was using a string tester to troubleshoot an array that was 1 hour from his office. He was onsite for 3 hours the first day, waiting for the clouds to clear enough to grab the measurement needed. He had to troubleshoot onsite for two more days. A total of 9 hours were spent onsite, plus 6 hours of driving. In dollars that means $375 (15 hours to locate the fault multiplied by $25 labor cost per hour).
PLUS, lost time that could have been spent on revenue generating activities.
PLUS, lost revenue due to underperformance because the fault was not located immediately.
The emazys Z200 could locate that fault in 5 minutes, reducing total truck roll time to just 2 hours, 5 minutes. Equal to $52
2. Costly Interruptions Due to Weather Conditions
We often hear how onsite teams had to postpone or halt troubleshooting activities because their tools require a certain level of irradiance in order to work properly. So, if there is little sun, many troubleshooting tools will not work.
Have you ever driven to a site and then had to sit around waiting for minimum weather conditions to run proper testing? Imagine not having to waste hours standing around and waiting for clouds to clear.
The Z200’s new, patent Impedance testing technology works well even under low irradiance. That means, when technicians are in the field, the emazys tester can always be used. This makes it possible to make use of every minute a avoid costly interruptions due to bad weather.
Imagine not having to waste hours standing around waiting for the clouds to clear.
3. Multiple Truck Rolls to Troubleshoot the Same Issue
The number 3 common headache we hear about is having to revisit the site over and over again for the same issue and still not being about to pinpoint the location. As our O&M cost example showed, the Z200 reduced the need for several site visits by locating the position of the ground fault on the first try.
No other instrument can find failures inside the modules without dismantling them.
You can find failures inside the module without dismantling the module. No other instrument can do that! Normally you would have to take them down one by one to determine where the failure is.
Even if the fault is intermittent, you can leave the Z200 tool in the field to detect a fault, no matter when it is occurring. Catch faults even if they occur at 6am or 7:30pm!
4. Hours Spent Interpreting Data or Report
And finally, even after completing tests, we know it takes time to analyze the data received and the next steps are often unclear.
The Z200 can be completely operated through a mobile device and sharing test results is fast and easy. Save the data as a CSV, JSON or PDF. Best of all, the interpretation of the data is done for You. The Z200 actually tells the user in words what the problem is and where. There is no need to spend hours scrutinizing the data or interpreting reports in order to determine the issue.
In addition to advanced and fast solar plant troubleshooting, perform overall health checks with the Z200. Preventative maintenance means avoiding solar plant downtime all together.
The Z200 provides data for the overall health of a PV system by measuring Rs, Riso, Voc, Isc, system impedance with and without load, and bypass diode test. Users can compare string by string to see if there is a difference in the impedance. Even just a few ohms will lower the output from the string and affect the return on the solar investment.
Perform overall solar plant health checks with the Z200
Z200 users can commercialize on these health checks by charging an annual inspection rate for their services.
