Is there a product better than a class A thermopile pyranometer in the PV field?
The answer to the question is ‘Yes’: there is a Pyranometer of higher accuracy than the class A one. Its technical name is Sunmeter Pro irradiance sensor. It allows to calculate the performance of a photovoltaic system with a measurement precision around 2%.
We calibrate our sensors with a measurement uncertainty of less than 2%. What’s noteworthy is that their readings closely match the energy production of a photovoltaic module under optimal conditions throughout the day thanks to the use of microprismatic photovoltaic glass.
A photovoltaic glass with its orange peel texture allows to increase energy production.This occurs when the sun is not perpendicular to the module plane.
For example, in the morning, in the afternoon and during the seasons when the sun is ‘low’ or in more astronomical terms, when at low solar altitudes. Regarding the type of glass it depends on its ability to absorb sunlight (photons) and convert it into energy (electrons), the more photons the glass is able to absorb, the greater the amount of current generated by the photovoltaic module. Similarly, the more reflections we will have on the surface of the solar irradiance sensor, the more it will return an underestimated irradiance value.
Photovoltaic glass includes a variety of concave or convex geometric surface elements, allowing them to capture a greater number of photons from rays that are not perpendicular to the glass (such as in winter, evening, or morning conditions).
In addition, the glass is provided with an anti-reflective layer with a refractive index between that of air and glass. A normal glass on the other hand has got a high transparency but its smooth surface causes a greater reflection of the sun rays for angles of incidence that exceed 20 º.
The figures show the paths of the sun’s rays on a normal glass and on a photovoltaic glass. As can be seen with photovoltaic glass there are more opportunities for solar rays to reach the cell beneath, even for inclinations greater than 20 °.
Sunmeter Pro is manufactured with a microprismatic glass similar to that used in the production of photovoltaic modules.
On the other hand, we can observe that there are few irradiance sensors that possess the photovoltaic glass. Our next article will provide a detailed, quantitative comparison tests between an irradiance sensor based on high transparency glass and an irradiance sensor based on photovoltaic glass.
Digital output via RS-485.
It complies with IEC EN 61215, par.10,11,12 For CEI EN 61724-1 so that class A includes them.
Our solar meters are compatible with many models of dataloggers or inverters of the major brands. Compatible with the following models:
-> Huawei’s 1000/2000/3000 smartloggers
-> Fractalgarden’s Ermeslog
-> Sungrow’s COM100
-> Growatt Shinemaster and many others.
If you want the complete list, you can find it at the following link: Sunmeter Pro.
On our website, in the download section you will also find technical sheets and software that we produce: https://soluzionesolare.com/downloads/
