[RE-wrenches] outback off grid monitoring

Jason Lerner wapalco at rockisland.com
Sun Dec 14 16:05:38 PST 2008


Hi Jay,
I have been using Wattplot for a few years and have seen it grow into  
a great product for remote Outback systems.
http://www.wattplot.com/wattplot.htm

You need to have a computer on site or use a $100 RS-232 (from Mate)  
to IP converter.  This IP converter draws about 5 watts and allows  
data collection every second  from the Mate to any place off site with  
an Internet connection.  I monitor 4 remote systems on my office PC  
(not for Macs though).  It can provide email notifications,  daily  
kwh's,  aux usage,  etc,  Pen plots are great to pin point when some  
event occurred,  and all warnings and error codes are recorded, and  
can be emailed.  All files can be exported and read in Excel.

Every port gets it's own screen line showing all important info such  
as Battery Voltage, AC In/Out charging modes, battery temp etc.  It  
has become a great tool on my laptop to calibrate the voltages from  
every FX or FM's on large systems.

My experience with satellite Internet is between the FAP (fair access  
policy) restricting bandwidth and what they charge to get a static  
IP,  it might be better to have a laptop on site and install the  
Wattplot on it, and have it do email reports whenever you would like.  
The Asus Eee PC with a 10" screen is the most efficient laptop I have  
found for this type of setup,  but it needs to have Windows and not  
Linux.

Feel free to contact me off list.

Best,

Jason Lerner
Waldron Power and LIght Co.

(888) 927-2526

On Dec 14, 2008, at 3:20 PM, jay peltz wrote:

> Hi All,
>
> I'm looking into my options about monitoring and control of a large  
> remote Outback off-grid system.
> System will already have satellite internet wireless access.
>
>
>
> Wondering what my options are and who likes what.
>
> The ones I've found are
> Righthand Engineering
> Fat Spaniel
>
>
> thanks,
>
> jay
>
> peltz power
>
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