Offering an improved level of insight and control to maximize the performance of commercial and utility scale solar sites, Solar Power Technologies has unveiled the Clarity system, an intelligent suite of hardware and software solutions.
To maximize energy harvest and innovative wireless communications and infrastructure products that enable scaling to the largest utility sites, the Clarity (News - Alert) system includes optimization and monitoring hardware products that can be deployed at the string or panel level.
To analyze array performance, diagnose impairments and precisely identify remedial action to improve financial performance of solar assets, the Clarity system also includes a suite of cloud-based software management tools, the Intelligent Array, that deliver clear and concise actionable information.
“A common concern of large site owners and their operations and maintenance (O&M) partners is the lack of detailed insight into the factors affecting array performance and a fear that the costs of maintaining large systems at peak performance could become prohibitive over time,” commented Ray Burgess, CEO of Solar Power Technologies. “The Clarity system provides a solution to these concerns, by building intelligence into the array, so that it informs you what, where and why intervention is required.”
Now, optimizers and monitors can be interchanged within an array and scaled from full array coverage down to the string level or selective coverage based on site specific concerns or financial requirements.
Providing 10 times more accuracy and 10 times more granularity than large-scale monitoring systems on the market today, the Clarity system can pinpoint array performance problems down to the panel level with an accuracy of 0.5 percent, the company stated in a press release.
Apart from Solar Power Technologies, there are other companies working on utility scale solar sites. Recently, Sopogy, a provider of micro concentrated solar power (MicroCSP), successfully received certification from the Solar Rating and Certification Corporation (SRCC) in its recently established OG-100 classification for Concentrating Solar Collectors. Sopogy is the first MicroCSP company with utility-scale collectors used in power generation, air conditioning and process heat to receive the certification.
Raju Shanbhag is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Raju’s articles, please visit his columnist page.Edited by Jennifer Russell