First, Outback does have a solution: the Flexnet and Mate 3 stuff;
Outback's stuff is pricey though. They're also a mess to wire IMHO.
Here's 2 others to consider: Pentametric from Bogart Engineering, and
Midnite Solar.
Midnite Solar's monitoring is free when you buy their controllers. They
already come with an Ethernet port too. (unlike Outback's)
ALso, Midnite has the new Gizmo Jr. which is a single wire shunt monitor
connection, and they should have full State of Charge monitoring
capability soon for it on their monitoring website: mymidnite.com (also
free).
The Pentametric is my long time go to meter, and it has a full Ethernet
setup, but they don't have a website like Mymidnite.com, so you have to
access the Pentametric remotely through the local network. That gets
into static DNS addresses, etc.; all that IP stuff I'm not well versed at.
I've successfully used both monitoring systems.
Also, don't just look at daily production; for off grid, you need
battery state of charge.
R.Ray Walters
CTO, Solarray, Inc
Nabcep Certified PV Installer,
Licensed Master Electrician
Solar Design Engineer
303 505-8760
On 12/5/2013 2:03 PM, Davis Terrell wrote:
Hi Wrenches,
I am evaluating remote monitoring solutions for an off-grid project
and wanted to get any feedback people were willing to share. I see my
three main choices as Outback, SMA Sunny Island, or an XW system, the
first two of which I have a good bit of experience with.
It looks like the only good remote options for Outback are 3^rd party
which I couldn't get much info on, despite emails to the
manufacturers. Anyone have any experience with GreenHouse Gas and
Electric dataloggers?
A Sunny Island with a Webbox and Sunny Portal seems the most
straightforward, but doesn't have real-time data.
I stumbled upon the Connext Combox on the Schneider site and it looks
like a great product, but I am a little wary. What comments I did
find out about it online weren't very favorable. And it looks like
setting it up for remote access is not very straightforward.
Thanks for any thoughts/experiences!
Davis Terrell
Project Manager
Green Earth Energy
da...@mckernongroup.com <mailto:da...@mckernongroup.com>
office: (802) 247-1200
mobile: (802) 989-1661
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