[RE-wrenches] Optics RE
Kirk Herander, VSE
kirkh at vermont.solar
Fri Oct 16 05:09:23 EDT 2020
A company called ViaSat. Northern NH site. Customer tells me it goes down a lot with normal internet use anyway.
Kirk Herander / kirkh at vermont.solar [mailto:kirkh at vermont.solar]
Owner|Principal, VT Solar, LLC
Celebrating our 29th Anniversary 1991-2020
www.vermont.solar [https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=www.vermontsolarnow.com&data=02%7C01%7C%7C9f0330d75a244870112408d685311841%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636842843233477645&sdata=0NjyuKeQbEK6245SNnk8X4XnP9Q%2B%2BqtvcALkdDghvk4%3D&reserved=0]
dba Vermont Solar Engineering
802.863.1202
On 10/14/2020 1:09:21 PM, Howie Michaelson <howie.michaelson at gmail.com> wrote:
Kirk, was that Hughes net that wouldn't recognize the mate?
Howie
Howie Michaelson
Sun Catcher
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer™
Solar Electric & Heat Pumps Systems Sales & Service
802-272-0004
On Wed, Oct 14, 2020, 12:23 PM Kirk Herander, VSE <kirkh at vermont.solar> wrote:
I have a site with satellite internet. it's router would not recognize the Mate 3s or an eguage monitor. I used a Verizon data sim card / jetpack with a repeater to create a Lan connection and all is fine for 9 months now.
Kirk Herander / kirkh at vermont.solar [mailto:kirkh at vermont.solar]
Owner|Principal, VT Solar, LLC
Celebrating our 29th Anniversary 1991-2020
www.vermont.solar [https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=www.vermontsolarnow.com&data=02%7C01%7C%7C9f0330d75a244870112408d685311841%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636842843233477645&sdata=0NjyuKeQbEK6245SNnk8X4XnP9Q%2B%2BqtvcALkdDghvk4%3D&reserved=0]
dba Vermont Solar Engineering
802.863.1202
On 10/12/2020 8:51:19 PM, Howie Michaelson <howie.michaelson at gmail.com [mailto:howie.michaelson at gmail.com]> wrote:
Thanks guys. I really appreciate the info. That does a lot to clear up my misgivings with attempting this!
My only hesitancy at this point is switching to the Mate3. When it first came out, I put it into an off grid upgrade, but ended up hating it - I found it more complicated and less intuitive than the original Mate (which says a lot considering the lack of intuitive design of that). So it seemed harder to explain to my clients. (Maybe I just hate change).
Dan, do you know why satellite won't work for the optics internet connections? Many of my remote sites only have satellite internet access.
Thanks again,
Howie
Howie Michaelson
Sun Catcher
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer™
Solar Electric & Heat Pumps Systems Sales & Service
802-272-0004
On Mon, Oct 12, 2020, 7:56 PM Dan Fink <danbob88 at gmail.com [mailto:danbob88 at gmail.com]> wrote:
Howie; I'm pretty satisfied with the current condition of the OpticsRE world. Most of the past problems have been ironed out, and I've had good email tech support from Outback (!).
You'll need a Mate 3S, an Outback Hub, and a Flexnet DC with shunts for each channel you want to measure. If all your equipment is Outback, you only need the Net shunt on the FLexnet DC, otherwise, more shunts. As Jerry mentioned, the Mate 3S will automatically get it's IP address from the router and connect online, you just type its MAC address into the OpticsRE portal and it starts communicating.
The critical thing is the internet connection -- it must be rock solid or you'll have no end of woes. Satellite internet (Hughes, Exced) will NOT work with it (nor with Midnite's monitoring system BTW). Wired LAN (Cat 5) has worked the best for me, but do NOT exceed (or even approach, in my experience) the 50 foot limit. If you use a wifi adaptor on the Mate 3S instead of wired, make sure you have an *excellent* wifi signal in the room with the Mate 3S. I've never tried a cell adaptor, as where I work cell service is weak and spotty if it even exists, but I assume a very strong cell connection would be needed. In one situation with no cell service, long wire run for ethernet and bad interior wifi (concrete/stucco/adobe style walls) but good local coax modem internet, I just ran fiber optic cable with a fiber to ethernet adaptor on each end (Mate 3S and cable modem) outdoors in conduit, about $150 in equipment, and that cable could be half mile long but seem like 3 feet to the Mate 3S.
As for the Midnite controller, just put one shunt for the Flexnet DC on the output of the Midnite CC, and you'll at least be able to read amperage and work the watt/hour meter. The Flexnet DC gives you a shunt channel for net on the main DC negative, plus 3 more shunt channels to measure whatever you want -- wind turbine, other brand CCs, etc.
The configurable email alerts and automated daily data dumps are super handy for systems that are hours drive away. I also learned to set the Mate 3S to automatically reboot every 24 hours....this (oddly) cleared up many problems I had in the past with the Mate 3S dropping offline randomly.
Dan Fink
Owner, Buckville Energy Consulting
NABCEP Certified PV System Inspector
IREC Certified Instructor™ for:
~ PV Installation Professional
~ Small Wind Installer
NABCEP Registered Continuing Education Providers
d [mailto:dan.fink at greendustrialtraining.com]anbob88 at gmail.com [mailto:anbob88 at gmail.com]
970-672-4342
On Mon, Oct 12, 2020 at 5:05 PM Howie Michaelson <Howie.Michaelson at gmail.com [mailto:Howie.Michaelson at gmail.com]> wrote:
Hey FOlks,
While Outback had been my goto offgrid system, over the last many years I have gravitated to the Conext and Sol-Ark systems. However, I have many legacy Outback VFX systems out there and some could really use remote communication. Unfortunately, I have stayed far away from Optics RE, as I haven't been thrilled with the reports of issues the system had. However, it seems it is the best option for remote oversight, so I am trying to figure out what is required and what it is capable of.
I've read through the initial documentation and as best I can gather, I need a Mate 3s and an internet connection - is that all? I assume having a FlexnetDC in the system is critical as well. I'm also wondering if there is a way to monitor basic production data from a Midnite Classic through the Optics system. And is the Optics RE system fairly solid since I'm not thrilled about putting in systems that need too much fussing or attention to keep operating once they are set up properly. Finally, are there any other comparable monitoring equipment that would work for monitoring such systems?
Thanks,
Howie
Howie Michaelson
Sun Catcher
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