Monitoring Solar PV installation

Jan 22, 2011 2 Replies
Monitoring Solar PV installation open original image

We have just had a solar PV system installed - the worst time of the year for the UK



I am looking to monitor generated power and currently consumed power by use of Hall effect transducers. In the summer months I am expecting to be generating more power than I am using in the daytime and want to switch on the immersion heater and heat up my hot water when there is spare generating capacity. How can I do this with X10 controllers? Will it need to be controlled by a computer and software- based solution or is there an off-the-shelf controller which could be programmed to do it for me?



TIA


There are many data logger/controller products out there. Here's one that might work that both record the data and let you control the heater:

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You may get a more accurate measurement if you measure both current and voltage after the inverter with a energy meter instead of just looking at the current with the Hall effect sensor.

Hall effect sensors were commonly used for power measurements in cheap instruments in the 90s. Now they are below acceptable accuracies for most metering usage.

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