Solmetric or Pathfinder? [RE-wrenches]

[Peter Parrish]

I don't have a huge amount of time to devote to this post, so I will make it
a train of thought. Shading IMHO is the single most misunderstood and
miscalculated issue in the solar electric business. First, there are several
flavors of Solar Pathfinder graph paper and most people use the one
corresponding to their latitude. This can be a mistake if your tilt is
significantly less than the latitude. In our case, this works out to a tilt
angle 20 degrees or less at a latitude of 34 deg. Use the "ecological" graph
paper for that range of tilt (zero to 20 deg). This is not my opinion but
the opinion of the Pathfinder tech support guru. Second, the Solar
Pathfinder Assistant (SW package) while it finesses the graph paper problem
originally didn't give correct numbers for anything but a due south
orientation. They now claim that it works for most orientations -- and I
tend to believe them at least for SE to SW orientations. Finally, the
Solmetric gizmo also didn't work originally for anything but south; they
were very upfront about it and since the Solmetric developers are ex-Agilent
guys out of Santa Rosa they at least have a good pedigree. I got an email a
few weeks back claiming that the latest release of the product now supports
other than south orientations. Bottom line: use the manual path finder with
the right graph paper, and use the latest version of SP Assistant and the
Solmetric SW. Finally, can one buy an extra battery and wall charger for the
Solmetric and do field swaps if needed?

- Peter

Peter T. Parrish, Ph.D., President
California Solar Engineering, Inc.
820 Cynthia Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90065
Ph 323-258-8883, Mobile 323-839-6108, Fax 323-258-8885
CA Lic. 854779, NABCEP Cert. 031806-26
peter.parrish at calsolareng.com 

-----Original Message-----
From: Bob-O Schultze, Electron Connection [mailto:econnect at snowcrest.net] 
Sent: Monday, April 09, 2007 12:32 PM
To: RE-wrenches at topica.com
Subject: [Norton AntiSpam] Re: Solmetric or Pathfinder? [RE-wrenches]


Hiya Dave,
I'm not too familiar with the Solmetric. I had an opportunity to  
check it out recently but it didn't happen. The reason is one HUGE  
flaw in the Solmetric machine. The battery was dead. The battery is  
built in-can't be changed- has to be charged IN the machine. Wanna go  
on a site survey with that? I don't think so.
The Pathfinder program is pretty cool, but PC only. If you use a Mac,  
yer out. It also needs a few improvements like the ability to overlay  
several pictures, ie, from the E and W side of the proposed array.
Best, Bob-O
On Apr 5, 2007, at 8:55 AM, David Palumbo, Independent Power & Light  
wrote:

>
> I am looking to buy an updated site analysis tool. Have been using a
> Pathfinder since 1990.
>
> I have seen product sheets for the Solmetric Sun Eye (with built in  
> fish eye
> lens digital camera and measurement software) and I hear Pathfinder  
> has a
> way to transfer data to a computer program.
>
> The Solmetric looks like it has lots of great features. Anyone who  
> has used
> it please give me a review of it's actual performance, and your  
> likes and
> dislikes. I also see that more features will be available in May.  
> Will these
> features be easily added to the present model of Solmetric?
>
> Dave


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