Networking infrastructures are the keys to a good solar monitoring system
Contributed by Moxa
From utility-grade to residential solar installations, networking infrastructures are the keys to a good monitoring system. This, in turn, will affect the efficiency of the energy production.
The advent of transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP), the prevalence of Ethernet and mobile-networking technologies, opens the possibility of allowing the field engineers, solar-equipment providers or the power companies to monitor all environmental indicators and the status of the equipment remotely. It allows people to conduct preventive maintenance or change of array configurations to ensure the best performance out of the system.
Take utility-grade solar deployment. Industrial networking equipment makes up the souls of control-and-monitoring systems. Only industrial-grade Ethernet switches and networking routers should be used to withstand the extensive heat and harsh environments where the arrays are installed.
Industrial networking equipments are designed using only components with long mean times before failure (MTBF) to avoid component degradation because of violent temperature or humidity changes. Network redundancy is also another important feature that needs to come with the networking equipment.
To drive the overall costs down on a solar monitoring system, a good solution may be embedded computing technology. For example, a data-logging gateway that combines both data logging and cellular gateway into one box could be a good option.
Most of the industrial networking switches are equipped with ring topology redundant. At the utility level, where the deployment might expand to involve hundreds of arrays, chain topology can be ideal. Chain topology offers not only the multiple routes redundancy, but it also gives the system administrators the flexibility to expand the network with ease as the site expands.
In commercial and residential solar installations, the demand for super-efficient solar power generation is not as strong as in utility applications. But the demand to see how the solar installations (which the homeowners and commercial building owners spent thousands of dollars on) can drive down their demand for power, or even sell any excess back to the grid, continues to grow. This is especially true as the subsidy from the government is dropping.
Solar monitoring systems for commercial and residential applications rely on a robust networking infrastructure, but they are somehow different from utilities in the following ways:
- They are remote and geographically widely spread.
- They need a cost-effective solution that combines networking function with a logger.
There is a trend in the industry to start using mobile networks for remote data acquisition. But a common problem in North America is that no cellular carriers have the full coverage, which means multiple carriers might be used by the solar-monitoring solutions providers. In this case, installers should consider the interchangeability of different cellular modules so the device can be used on different carriers’ networks.
To serve the second requirement (to drive the overall costs down on a residential and commercial solar monitoring systems), a good solution may be embedded computing technology.
For example, a data-logging gateway that combines both data logging and cellular gateway into one box could be a good option.
Networking is the soul of all solar monitoring systems. A reliable and expandable network is important to establishing a successful monitoring system. Only a stable network can continuously provide important data information on power generation and environmental indices.
That data can then be used for preventive maintenance and operation optimization to maximize the investment. Without a stable networking, system administrators will find themselves spending more time on trouble shooting than conducting data analysis that will turn into real profits.
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