Voltaic Systems, a U.S.-based developer of solar PV systems for remotely-sited industrial and infrastructure equipment, has added monitoring software to track the health of the batteries in its Core Solar Power System product line.
The Core Solar Power products, which feature a PV panel, an integrated waterproof lithium battery and a mounting system, are sold as an alternative to traditional lead-acid batteries to power infrastructure equipment, such as cellular routers, network devices, air quality monitors, outdoor security cameras, irrigation systems, communications gateways and remote lighting.
The new monitoring software delivers information about the battery, its temperature, state of charge, power generated by solar panels and power consumed by the device.
“Given the value of the data and remote nature of these kinds of industrial Internet-of-Things applications, we developed a battery health monitoring system to help customers understand and make decisions about their deployments,” Voltaic Systems’ chief operating officer, Jeff Crystal, told pv magazine.
The monitoring system provides status snapshots via the cellular network, as well as time-series data (see graphic below), which can be used to warn of potential outages and provide potential corrective steps. “In one instance, a customer modified their power consumption during a particularly rainy week to maintain uptime. It works for single systems as well as for managing fleets of remote devices,” said Crystal.
The Core Solar Power System includes an integrated maximum power point tracking (MPPT) charge controller in addition to the battery and PV panel. The panel sizes range from 25 W to 200 W and the matching batteries range from 18 ah (5 kg) to 100 ah (33 kg). The dimensions range from 307 mm x 507 mm x 30 mm to 586 mm x 980 mm x 30 mm.
The Voltaic Systems products are often integrated into its customers' solutions, such as the air quality monitoring system shown below, made by California-based Clarity Movement Co..
Image: Voltaic Systems
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