CAS DataLoggers Supplies Universities With Low-Cost Solar Monitoring Kit

In universities all over the world, classrooms and labs are researching and experimenting with alternative energy applications involving solar power and photovoltaic (PV) cells. These institutions all require an economical solution for DC power monitoring, and now CAS DataLoggers and Electrocorder are offering this promising field the ideal solution: the new PV-3 Solar Data Logger Kit. This comprehensive package has everything researchers need for photovoltaic cell monitoring, including a solar data logger, 2 fused voltage input leads, a DC current probe, pyranometer, USB lead, 12Vdc PSU, carrying case, and FREE software.

Rated IP65 for outdoor and indoor usage, the datalogger is well protected for typical applications. This solar datalogger enables users to accurately monitor one or two DC voltage channels ranging from 1V to 60Vdc, monitoring PV cell output and viewing current/voltage curves. This green solution also logs solar irradiance across 0-1500W/m-2 and PV systems with outputs of up to 300V Vdc and up to 100A current. The solar datalogger logs and saves the average voltage (and current if applied) over the recording period chosen from 1 second to 1 hour, and can also record VAvg, VMax & VMin on 2 channels. Voltage levels are stored with dates and times. Its backup battery allows the datalogger to keep recording for as long as a month, and the external 12Vdc PSU input allows for prolonged logging without batteries.

Location details are input to the power logger’s non-volatile memory with the provided Windows software and stored with a capacity of 32,000 TRMS voltage values per channel (10 bit), enabling continual recording for extended periods. The datalogger is simple to setup even for semi-technical staff.

Unlike the single sample that similar products take before going right back to sleep and missing nearly all the important information, Electrocorder dataloggers use a constant sampling technique to capture users’ relevant data by constantly sampling every channel 16 times per cycle. At the end of each averaging period, 3 quantities are saved for each channel: the TRMS average, the Max, which is the highest cycle value during the period, and the Min, the lowest cycle value, ensuring that the datalogger records all the peaks and valleys of one cycle or longer.

Customers get added value with the FREE user-friendly software included in the PV-3 kit. It’s quick and easy to upload all stored data to a PC via the supplied USB cable. Using the software, the logged voltage levels, dates and times can be viewed in tabular and graphical form, exported to a spreadsheet for clear organization, or saved to file. Users can also choose to print out graphs displaying the recorded levels and the allowable tolerance bands.