Digi International and SolarEdge plan to collaborate on full connectivity solutions for photovoltaic systems, including data harvesting from revenue-grade power meters, PV inverter mesh networking and future interaction with the smart grid.
According to the companies, Digi International's range of wireless connectivity solutions enables SolarEdge to improve the retrieval of inverter and panel performance data from PV systems. Among the solutions that are now available, SolarEdge is now using Digi's XBee-PRO to provide the industry's first solar inverter with embedded ZigBee connectivity.
SolarEdge continuously collects data from each solar panel and transmits it without added communication wires from panels to inverters. This solution – providing wireless network and remote connectivity between solar inverters – allows simple access to high-resolution, performance-monitoring data, the companies state.
By embedding ZigBee connectivity into each inverter, Digi enables SolarEdge to create a self-healing mesh network between all of the site's inverters, which eliminates line-of-sight issues. The inverters can also be easily connected to any local area network using any ZigBee equipped gateway with cellular, Wi-Fi or Ethernet connections, such as Digi's ConnectPort X gateways.
This distributed architecture approach also contributes to higher reliability due to the lack of cables and connectors and lower susceptibility to lightning hits, in addition to the reduced costs related to cabling, ducting and labor, the companies add.
SOURCE: Solar Edge
