[RE-wrenches] Off-grid in Tanzania

Steve Jefferson Steve.Jefferson at sma-america.com
Tue Nov 12 16:29:21 PST 2013


Hi Wrenches,

There are a couple different ways to monitor SOC on a Sunny Island system.


1)      Realtime: Log into the webbox and click on the SI serial number.  The SOC is displayed on the Overview tab and also can be found in the Spot Values tab (all channels being recorded on the SI: battery voltage, battery current, generator voltage, generator power, etc).  Normally you can only log into the webbox when you are on the same local area network, but if you configure port forwarding on the router you will be able to log in to the webbox from anywhere.

2)      Sunny Portal: Set up a graph in Sunny Portal using the Visualization tab.  You can even setup the SOC on the Y1 axis and the battery voltage on the Y2 axis.  The graph will update depending on how many times the webbox uploads to the portal, so the more uploads you do the more current the data will be.  You can graph any of the Sunny Island's available channels as well.

Feel free to contact us with any questions about setting this up.



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Steve Jefferson
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From: re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Andrew Truitt
Sent: Monday, November 11, 2013 2:46 PM
To: RE-wrenches
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Off-grid in Tanzania

Thanks everyone.  Field serviceability is important and some great points have been made.

In terms of monitoring, has anyone used the Pentametric on-line monitoring interface?  How about the MyMidnite interface for the Classic?  And finally, I've heard that battery SOC can be monitored through the Sunny Webbox, but I can't find any literature on the feature - anyone have any experience with this?



For a brighter energy future,


Andrew Truitt
Principal
Truitt Renewable Energy Consulting, LLC
(202) 486-7507<tel:%28202%29%20486-7507>
LinkedIn Profile<http://www.linkedin.com/pub/andrew-truitt/8/622/713>
Company Website<http://truittreconsulting.weebly.com/>
NABCEP Certified PV Installation Professional ID: 032407-66
Colorado Journeyman Electrician License No.: 600132

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"Don't get me wrong: I love nuclear energy! It's just that I prefer fusion to fission. And it just so happens that there's an enormous fusion reactor safely banked a few million miles from us. It delivers more than we could ever use in just about 8 minutes. And it's wireless!"

~William McDonough







On Fri, Nov 8, 2013 at 3:28 AM, Tump <tump at swnl.net<mailto:tump at swnl.net>> wrote:
Adding UP..... ok so lets say that the SMA SI went south We now have 100+lbs of shipping, customs, delivery to site & installation oh yeah don't forget the returning of the old one verses Fed X of boards in a box that CAN be delivered by bike, and installed perhaps, not so easily for someone that is not experienced, but both can be handled by a less a experienced person. and yes there too IS the return of boards also to consider.
Installing both product lines AND my primary work is OFF grid, I am all to well aware of failures and the potential headaches they can create. Failure rate of both the SMA & OB is not excessive but I would be designing this type of system w/ future failure in mind.

On Nov 7, 2013, at 7:08 AM, Richard L Ratico wrote:


It would be interesting to be able to compare the failure rates of the two
systems, particularly if they will be installed in areas with challenging
environmental conditions. Boards may be lighter, but.....If they add up, they
may not continue to feel that way.

Dick Ratico
Solarwind Electric

--- You wrote:



I use and sell the SMA product SI & SB line, I use the SI & SB for my own & I
can't say enough good about the functionality of these units. I would suggest
this product too BUT,.... sorry when they shit the bed AND THEY DO the outback
line IS FIELD SERVICABLE! I have hefted a few SI on the boat, off the boat, up
the hill n back down, boards are quite a bit lighter!

I would only go with a DP&W TOP mounted array. SHADE for folks/animals +
reduction of possible theft & damage. They make it right and you DO get what you
pay from  DP&W!

My $.02    TUMP
On Nov 6, 2013, at 9:07 PM, SunHarvest wrote:

Although it's more expensive, I'd go with AC Coupled SMA. Contact the owner
of http://standardmicrogrid.com/ for more info on his recent work in
Zambia...wait, I think he's there now. They have a pretty sleek set-up for a
Sunny Island-based system, monitoring included. I'd go with ground-mount but be
aware of theft (goes without saying, right?). You can also check out Volunteers
for International Aid (VIDA) http://www.thevida.org/


And hey, get me involved! It's been years since I've been to A-land and I've
been trying to get back ever since. So much so that I've recently formed a
non-profit, Good Sun, to go back to places like Africa and do good work for good
people.


My bags are packed...

Eric Stikes
Owner
SunHarvest
001.530.798.3738 (Cell)
----- Original Message -----
From: Andrew Truitt
To: RE-wrenches
Sent: Wednesday, November 06, 2013 3:43 PM
Subject: [RE-wrenches] Off-grid in Tanzania

--- end of quote ---
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