This tool monitors and manages the measured values of any number of solar power plants fitted with SolarMax inverters. Users can query the present status of their solar power plant, the operating data, statistics, measured values and device parameters.
In comparison to the previous version (MaxTalk), the user guidance of MaxTalk 2 has been greatly enhanced. The new professional version MaxTalk 2 pro also permits registered installers additional configuration options to meet the requirements contained in the medium-voltage guideline of Germany's Federal Association of Energy Suppliers and Water Utilities applicable to solar plants in Germany from April 2011.
More flexibility for plant layouts Sputnik Engineering has increased the flexibility of SolarMax MT string inverters, introduced in 2010, (rated output: 10, 13 and 15 kW), to allow for greater flexibility during plant layout. Instead of six kilowatts of generator output per MPP tracker, it is now possible to connect a maximum of nine kilowatts of generator output.
This will give installers the freedom, as when wiring the 15-kilowatt inverter SolarMax 15 MT, to connect either two module strings each with nine kilowatts DC output to the inverter or, alternatively, to select a symmetrical division of three times six kilowatts.
In between these two, any combination is possible, as long as the voltage and current limits stated in the data sheet are observed. "The use of several MPP trackers is primarily practical if the solar generator is exposed to varying conditions (inclination, orientation, shading, etc.)," says Sputnik product manager Olaf Geistlinger.
In this case, similar generator strings can be bundled at individual trackers and the energy yields can in this way be optimised even during the installation phase. But if the ambient conditions are the same, it is practical to distribute the generator to few MPP trackers and to provide for module strings which are as long as possible. This increases the DC input voltage and, hence, the overall efficiency of the PV power plant.
At the end of February Sputnik Engineering will integrate the new circuitry feature in its MaxDesign layout program.
