After construction, real-time monitoring and alerting lets O&M teams determine system health at a glance. Roll ups of financial performance help guide decisions to dispatch teams and schedule maintenance.
The Internet of Things (IoT), a technology trend of embedding tiny computers into networks of everyday devices to harvest and use data, has come to the solar industry through the partnership of balance of system provider Shoals Technologies Group and wireless solutions developer Synapse Wireless. Shoals envisioned a wireless monitoring system that could track a project’s production and progress even before commissioning—during construction, when money is flowing out a developer’s door.
Synapse, meanwhile, boasts a long record of providing a variety of industries with real-time, decision-making data through use of its SNAP IoT operating system which runs on top of a wireless mesh network. This platform enables wireless devices to collect and transmit meaningful data that now turns everyday items—light switches, refrigerators, valves—into smart devices that generate insightful information.
In the fashion industry, for example, this type of wireless capability notifies shop owners when customers are trying on a piece of clothing and when it’s not returned to the rack, suggesting it may be time to restock. In the solar industry, EPCs and owners now have real-time data that notifies them when a panel is experiencing soiling, shading or high heat, for example.
The system can also notify system owners when the panel is installed in the first place. The product that does this, available exclusively through Shoals, is called SNAPshot. “Shoals had a vision and partnered with Synapse to develop and build a portfolio of specialized SNAP-based solutions targeted at the needs of PV operators, owners and EPC partners,” said Dell Jones of Synapse Wireless.
SNAPshot transforms how solar farms are built and monitored by increasing speed-to-revenue for solar owners, who will be able to see how efficiently a solar farm is being built; with this ability, EPCs will be more accountable for their time on the job.
Because the nodes within the network are instantly connected upon install, data begins to transmit immediately with real-time access on your speed to market.
Project owners can see this data through a sleek cloud-based monitoring system (pictured) that details system production overall, as well as a precise inventory of panel performance. In a large solar field with multiple phases of construction, owners don’t have to wait to see whether the project is being built ontime. They know from hour to hour and minute to minute how it’s coming along.
“It simply becomes impractical to walk a large field to get details of string performance in the commissioning phase,” Jones said. “To wire a large field for monitoring is also financially impractical.”
According to Shoals, 30% of its EPC customers use SNAPshot as a commissioning tool, and the company said they found the benefit of constant monitoring during construction justified the cost.
“The added value to the owner is assuring the performance of the ongoing operations and the alerts for issues that are under warranty,” Jones said.
As SNAPshot encounters the future, it could move to monitoring distributed systems. O&M providers could use the system to monitor for repairs. One utility is looking at the installation of mesh networks to reduce the backhaul cost of many distributed systems in a neighborhood.
And if wireless monitoring appears on a roof, you can bet it will show up inside the home, too—watching over HVAC, lighting, water heating and pumps to optimize energy use. In addition to wireless monitoring solutions within the solar industry, Synapse is also a leader in both indoor and outdoor lighting controls that integrate well with the renewable side of the business.
