PV Monitoring

[screwdriver]

The New wattson solar has got an extra unit to connect to the gen meter pulse unit so you can get totally accurate readings.

We have used quite a few sunwatch units and had problems with about 10% of the senders which was quite a few!

We have been using the ecoeye wireless meters as they are a local firm to us and they are bringing a solar specific model which is fairly good but I have not yet had one to play with yet.

I have used the owl and it is fine for a the basic output but as with all clamp based pv monitors it does not show true power at night as the powerfactor of a lot of inverters is quite poor when in sleep mode which shows up as anything between 40 and 90w when in truth it is only about 5w!

I would personally recommend the wattson as it has very good software and is pretty customer friendly, plus the benefit of pulse meter connection! the only downside is the cost....

 

[timskipper]

I'm also looking for a decent logging/monitoring solution. We have 20x 195w ZN Shine panels and a Mastervolt Voltmaster XS5000 inverter, and was given a Sunwatch 25 monitor as part of the deal - it's pretty rubbish. I've now got hold of the PC-Link dongle and downloaded the free MasterLog software, which is a bit better but it's very badly written and flaky in operation, albeit better than the Sunwatch.

Is the wattson system mentioned above compatible with a wide range of inverters?

 

[screwdriver]

I'm also looking for a decent logging/monitoring solution. We have 20x 195w ZN Shine panels and a Mastervolt Voltmaster XS5000 inverter, and was given a Sunwatch 25 monitor as part of the deal - it's pretty rubbish. I've now got hold of the PC-Link dongle and downloaded the free MasterLog software, which is a bit better but it's very badly written and flaky in operation, albeit better than the Sunwatch.

Is the wattson system mentioned above compatible with a wide range of inverters?

it clips onto the supply cables so works with anything as long as you can get to the cables!

 

[danesol]

Hi

What monitoring systems are people fitting for customers? We have used Sunny Beams, Aurora displays and PV Solo monitors. The Sunny beams are fine but the others have caused problems. Does anyone know of a good wireless monitor that is reliable and fixes to the total generation meter?

Many thanks

Tom

With the SMA system I have installed I paid the xtra for the Sunny Beam ( £~ 150 ), however now am abit wiser I maynot have of brought one now as Sunny Explorer is FREE from SMA's website and is better & worse in its application, but naturally you would need a Blue Tooth adapter on your computer to use.

I must add the SB is great to play with.... and displays the info well in all sorts of forms, from Revenue to current POWER to whats happened today, yesterday and your monthly & annual yeilds

I also have Sunny Data Control downloaded - again a FREE download from SMA website however you would need an approx cable to connect to the Inverter.

I think looking back there is a possibility I would of instead had the Wattson Monitor ( £ < 150 ) which can monitor both your generation and your usage, but this depends on where your plant is sited in reference to your electric meter.

Another thing to mention about the SB is that its NOT realtime data, its queries the Inverter at the time set by the user and all the data is kept in the SB as csv files which although gives you the info you want isnt always what it states on teh inverter unless you have set to "update" every 5mins, which runs your batteries down in your SB. However these csv files are good for transfer to your PC via USB for later analysis, although you have to wait till 12noon the following day before all the files are totally over from the preceding day's activities.

So all in all IMO, it depends on what you want to see, what your inverter is, have you got BT and whats your budget for your monitor ?

(A USER P.O.V )

hth

 

[LydiaJ]

Thanks very much.

I've found something under power options called "USB selective suspend setting" that was enabled, so I've disabled it. I'll try again tomorrow, and see if it manages to start up again on Wednesday morning.

If that doesn't fix it I'll see if I can get a serial cable from somewhere. The laptop has a docking station with a serial port, so I should be able to plug it in there.

It didn't start up this morning.

I went up there and again, the software was still running, but the latest logged data was from last night. I tried telling it to stop recording and start again, but nothing happened. Then I tried taking the USB connector out and putting it back in again, and the computer said Windows had a problem, and restarted itself!

I have ordered a serial cable. While I am waiting for it to be delivered, I am going to investigate whether it's a problem with the laptop itself. I got it cheap, second-hand, because it's quite old and was never particularly high spec. So I'll put my proper laptop up in the loft this afternoon and connect it up to the inverter, and see what happens tomorrow morning.

 

[greenslade]

so not quite the easy fix that we hoped. I do think the issue is to be found in the laptop, because, afaik, there's nothing to stop the inverter producing data so long as it's active... and the kaco software carries on running. Good move to try a different laptop....

 

[greenslade]

anyone know if the 'old' Wattson solar can be retro-fitted with a y-cable and extra sensor plugged to transmitter to behave like the new Wattson solar? Or is it fundamentally a different device? Steve

 

[LydiaJ]

so not quite the easy fix that we hoped. I do think the issue is to be found in the laptop, because, afaik, there's nothing to stop the inverter producing data so long as it's active... and the kaco software carries on running. Good move to try a different laptop....

Well, things were no different with a different laptop. I agree with you that it can't be the inverter - unplugging the USB cable from one laptop and back into the other one produced immediate data. And I also agree I don't think it's the software either. I am coming to the conclusion that it must be the USB port, especially since you've had no trouble logging through a serial port. I found a document online explaining how to get into the power management of the USB hub and disable "allow the computer to turn off this device to conserve power" but when I followed the instructions I found the relevant boxes were already unticked, possibly as a result of the setting I changed the other day. I am going to restart the laptop now, though, in case it's the sort of setting that doesn't properly change until you reboot. Otherwise, I am now pinning my hopes on the serial cable. I've just had an email to say it was shipped today, so it should arrive soon and then we'll see what happens with it. Thanks for your support.

 

[greenslade]

Yes...I would think that's the most likely reason. In my case, when I used the serial port it just worked... surprised me!

 

[sharpener]

anyone know if the 'old' Wattson solar can be retro-fitted with a y-cable and extra sensor plugged to transmitter to behave like the new Wattson solar? Or is it fundamentally a different device? Steve

Having read the installation guide http://www.diykyoto.com/store/assets/0000/0667/YCB-ENG_1.0_12-11.pdf it looks as though the extra sensor is wired in antiphase using the Y cable so as to subtract the PV current from the total and derive a net figure for household load (not a very elegant piece of design!).

So yes, I can't see any reason why it would not work but I have not tried it. What does their tech support say?

 

[greenslade]

yes, it looks like that to me too. I might give their tech support a bell - maybe they'll send me an upgrade kit! Steve

 

[LydiaJ]

Yes...I would think that's the most likely reason. In my case, when I used the serial port it just worked... surprised me!

Woohoo! My serial cable came in the post yesterday and I connected it up. This morning it started logging all by itself. We were right: it was the USB port that was the problem.

Thank you so much for your input. Knowing that it worked for you with a serial cable was the thing that moved my attention from the Kaco-Viso software to problems with the hardware.

 

[GreggElectrical]

Just though Id let you know what I used in the end.

http://www.greenenergyoptions.co.uk/assets/media/GEO_Solo FIT_PV.pdf

Great unit. Only problem so far is the range is a little limited. If your meter is in the garage you may has issues using the device at the other end of the house.

All my customers love it though and if you take a copy of the username and password of each device you have a free online monitoring solution for all your P.V systems. Fantastic.

RRP is around £130.00.

 

[dansk]

Easy fix for the range problem. Needs re-pairing to better channel, on back press pair button till it says "net left" switch off and reboot, whilst booting up remove battery from transmitter and re-insert whilst holding down little pair button, it should connect automaticly on the best channel available.

I had same issues, this fixed it.

 

[dansk]

can you explain the online part for me? dont they need to be online?