Off-Grid Monitoring
Getting the most out of Off-Grid systems
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Off-grid solar electric systems with battery storage are a great solution for remote locations with a need for reliable power. But these systems can only be truly reliable if they are also remotely and automatically monitored. Monitoring is even more important with such systems than with grid-tie installations – if the power fails, there’s usually no alternative power source.
Fat Spaniel’s web-based monitoring and reporting services for off-grid solutions solve this problem. Fat Spaniel lets you know if your system is generating power, how much energy the loads are consuming and what the battery charge level and states are. You can see this information both in real-time as well as across time, with daily, weekly, monthly and annual historical views. Analyzing the load and battery profiles remotely provides a new level of operational control to ensure long-life battery systems. And, Fat Spaniel’s alerting system notifies you if there are any technical problems, sending you alerts via email or SMS if anything goes wrong with the system.
This solution is ideal for off-grid recreational homes, telecommunications facilities, agricultural operations, oil and gas installations, and many more. The Fat Spaniel services support off-grid charge controllers from both OutBack Systems as well as Morningstar.
Managing Multiple Systems for Improved Efficiency
If you have multiple sites that need to be monitored, then consider Fat Spaniel Insight Manager™. This multi-site management portal enables you to see all of your managed sites at-a-glance, determine their current state of health, see aggregated production and greenhouse gas avoidance data, look at event logs and fault details, plus drill down for more detailed views of each site.
Benefits
- Provide 24x7 remote monitoring of your customers’ off-grid solar electric systems
- Access system data anytime, from any Web browser, using Internet communications enabled by cellular modem or satellite
- Track production, usage, with real-time and historical data – via web views and online downloads
- Remotely monitor battery voltage so you can see charge state
- Extend battery life: determine when an equalization charge procedure is needed for flooded batteries
- Increase customer satisfaction with improved service and greater uptime
- Educate customers through Web views and use these views as effective sales tools to sell more systems to new customers
“Anyone with a vested interest and an Internet connection can see what the system is doing currently, or last week, or last month.”
Ian Woofenden — Senior Editor, Home Power magazine
