TEAL Launches Wireless String Monitoring and Communications Option for Configurable Combiner Box Family

TEAL Electronics, a subsidiary of SL Industries, Inc., introduced a new string monitoring and wireless communication option for TEAL’s Configurable Combiner Box product line, the PVobserver™, for commercial and utility scale Solar Photovoltaic (PV) systems.

Remote string monitoring enables the operator of a commercial or utility scale Solar PV power plant to know immediately if an individual PV string is underperforming or needs maintenance, and can potentially save hundreds to thousands of dollars in Operations and Maintenance (O&M) costs, Service Costs, or kWh of plant production. The TEAL PVobserver is an optional embedded unit in the TEALsolar™ Configurable Combiner Box, which is typically installed between the Solar PV modules and the grid-tied Solar PV inverter, and is designed to monitor the current of each PV module string as well as the string voltage, and communicate the processed data to the internet via standard communications protocols and connections. The TEAL PVobserver is also SunSpec Compliant, and communicates easily with other SunSpec Compliant PV monitoring systems.

The initial product offering of the flexible PVobserver string monitoring and communication platform will consist of individual string current monitoring, combined dc bus voltage monitoring, a microprocessor based PVobserver control module for communications and power calculations, and a symbiotic power supply. The symbiotic power supply in the PVobserve will be powered from the bus that it is monitoring, consuming typically less than 10W, or much less than 0.1% of the power flowing through the combiner box. The initial communications platform will use the output wires to transmit the data using the Echelon LonWorks protocols, which will be converted into SunSpec Alliance compatible Modbus over TCP-IP to your web connection. No extra wires will be needed for either the power supply input or the data communication output. Additional future wireless communication options will be available, as well as separately fed 120Vac power supply input as an option.

"TEAL Electronics recently launched our initial Combiner Box product family, the TEALsolar Configurable series. The initial PVobserver string monitoring and communication option utilizes some basic hardware and firmware platforms that we have developed for other markets, and provides a wireless method of monitoring and communicating the string data to a web browser or your integrated system," said Don Klein, President of TEAL Electronics. "Connectivity will be easy, and the string data will provide real value to the operators of a commercial or utility scale Solar PV plant by helping to identify underperforming strings in real-time, saving money on plant maintenance and helping to optimize plant performance."

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