We are supposed to generate close to a third of our electricity using solar panels on our warehouse roof:
The monitoring system isn't fully up to snuff. ("Environmentals," for example, in the upper right-hand corner, is completely wacked-out at the moment.) But the reality is, we are generating power. And, though just about everything else still has to be tweaked to make it correct, I am told the RG PV numbers on the detail view page are accurate.
The way it was all explained to me is this:
There is some malfunction with the weather monitoring station, so the displays under “Environmentals” (on the top right) are not correct. Also, under “detail view” PV devices (on the left) showing the production directly from the inverter is not displaying either. RG PV (right below PV) is the revenue grade monitor which is an auditing device that is actually more precise than the PV/Inverter is working. The PV/Inverter numbers only need to be within plus/minus 5% while the RG PV is accurate to within .5%. Stephen and Matthew will be back within the next week to finetune these issues.I look forward to having all the data available for view!
Under “Detail”, you can check power, voltage or current on the chart below those tabs. DC Input is tied to the PV/Inverter, so won’t display until they correct whatever is malfunctioning with that monitor. Mousing over each data point shows the readings for every 15 minute interval. The “Custom” tab on the far right of the chart enables us to define a date range, which should be helpful to compare to our billing cycle.
Stephen, our service rep, will forward a link that we can imbed on our website that will offer displays similar to the one at Boulder Valley Credit Union.
[NOTE: If you are reading this article on Facebook, it originally appeared on my personal blog.]
