California-based Asoka Corp. has introduced its PL7070-COM serial powerline communications (PLC) bridge adapter for connecting solar equipment throughout a building. The adapter enables the passage of RS-485 signals between remotely located solar equipment over the powerline wiring.
The company says each PL7070-COM adapter in the network plugs into an AC outlet nearest to the RS-485 equipment, to which it connects through a short DB-9 cable. The adapter supports 128b AES encryption over powerline links for data and content protection.
Asoka says the PL7070-COM features wide temperature operation (-20 degrees C to 60 degrees C) and an adjustable baud rate (selectable between 1.2, 9.6 and 19.2 kb/s) to accommodate major brands of inverters.
‘One of the challenges facing solar installers today is the need to pull serial cable between photovoltaic panels and inverters, which can be a long, difficult process,’ says Asoka President and CEO Eric Grubel. ‘In addition to reducing the time to complete a solar installation, we believe that the PL7070-COM results in simplified and overall lower cost installations.’
