Solar PV and Energy Monitoring

Making solar generation and energy consumption visible and easy to manage

energy consumption

solar PV systems

solar water heating

other renewable energy technologies incl. micro hydro

domestic hot water systems

space heating / conditioning

air conditioning

refrigeration

swimming pools

heat pumps

indoor air quality

internal environments

SPLASH Monitoring are based in Albany, Auckland and was developed by Chartered Building Services Engineers

SPLASH was initially developed in 2007 to provide education around solar water heating & other renewable energy technologies, SPLASH is now used to monitor and control;

Who are SPLASH Monitoring

SPLASH is used by;

educational institutions, museum, zoos, schools & universities to assist

in education & promotion of emerging technologies

corporates showcasing their investment in renewable energy & energy

efficiency – engages with staff & customers

power companies & other corporates for service & product testing trials

including behavioural change

universities & research organisations as a cost effective, accurate &

reliable data logging system

the solar PV industry as the “Go to” monitoring system – incl. fleet

management

energy managers & energy auditors for power consumption monitoring

equipment manufacturers for product testing & “SPLASH inside”

Who are SPLASH Monitoring

SPLASH Monitoring;

provides a proven, reliable & cost effective monitoring & reporting system

optimises solar generation by comparing the predicted & actual

generation using analytical algorithms & reports where improvements can

be made

identifies slow or sudden changes in solar generation performance &

reports the likely causes and remedial works required

reports how & when power is being consumed

provides fleet management allowing all your systems to be continually

monitored with email and text message alerts

provides tools and visualisations to engage with key stake-holders, end

customers and employees - assists behavioral change

provides tools and visualisations to provide education and promotion of

your investment in renewable energy systems

enables improved governance & compliance with regulations

Why use SPLASH to monitor solar PV and consumption

Two options to monitor the solar PV system;

monitoring the inverter & obtaining all its available data – requires

SPLASH Streambox or Cloud based API

monitoring power generation using CT’s – requires a power logger

You can also extend the above to monitor

grid consumption & export

consumption circuit monitoring

Recommended installations;

domestic – inverter monitoring plus grid consumption / export – install

SPLASH Streambox & din rail mounted power logger or obtain meter data

using a Streambox or a Cloud based API

commercial – inverter monitoring plus grid consumption / export &

consumption circuit monitoring – install Streambox & 12 CT Power Logger

Solar PV inverter and power monitoring

Why monitor the inverter?

Monitoring the inverter offers

significant advantages over just

monitoring the solar power

generation with CT’s, these include;

notification of “for information”,

as well as “critical alerts” allowing

remedial works to be undertaken

whilst system is still operational

obtaining DC side information –

important for the analytics system

when determining system

performance & comparing actual

versus expected performance

controlling inverter incl. its energy

output

How - For supported inverters a SPLASH Streambox (with API’s) connects directly to and extracts all data from the inverter. Connection to the inverter can be either via a serial bus, ethernet (LAN), wireless or via cloud portal (no SPLASH hardware on site)

SPLASH inverter monitoring – how and why?

Install SPLASH Power Loggers, (3 or 12 CT versions available) to monitor power;

consumed by the whole building

generated by solar PV, renewable energy systems, generators or batteries

consumed by specific zones or floors of a building or process

consumed by individual assets or equipment

Add multiple power loggers for large or complex sites.

SPLASH will provide real-time reporting based on a range of agreed conditions

When monitoring individual assets, alerts

are generated if:

the asset consumes excessive power or

exhibits unusual behaviour

the asset fails or develops a fault

SPLASH power monitoring – How does it work

Customer dashboard and interface

SPLASH “Easy View”

clearly shows the current

generation & consumption –

often used as a lobby screen

or customer interface

click on the buttons to

generate an “Easy View” for a

selected time period, ie billing

period or use “Time 2 Time”

click on the label of the energy

stream to view more detail

click graph button to view

historical kW, kWh, voltages,

frequency, power factor

“Easy View” included in

periodic monthly & weekly

reports

live “Fleet Manager” provides

a summary of performance

incl. alerts and fault log

periodic reports, weekly or

monthly incl. benchmarking

against previous periods

report by individual asset or

location

custom reports to meet

customer requirements

continuous & reliable

reporting for auditing &

governance purposes

flexible / custom graphing

system

export data in to CSV files

export data into customer’s

database

Reporting

key people notified of faults via

fleet manager, texts or emails

different alert levels from

‘notification’ to ‘critical’

instant access to site information

available via link in alert

alerts can include site, equipment

& safety information

enables remote diagnosis &

resolution

if required, technician arrives

with the correct parts for the

job

minimises down time

saves time, travel & expense

Alerts

SPLASH Monitoring provides

unique views, often used as

public lobby screens that;

clearly show how & when

power is being generated &

consumed

allows complex or extensive

data to be easily interpreted

are used by corporates,

central & local government

facilities, museums,

universities, schools &

educational facilities to

promote their investment in

renewable energy & energy

efficiency, engage &

educate

Visualisation

Use SPLASH to Monitor and Control

Live animations simulating actual system operation. At a glance you can see:

system operation

room status – lights &

doors

pressures

temperatures

flow rates

alerts

power consumption

New features

June 2016 – launching a new Cassandra database allowing;

actual weather data to be incorporated & referenced to each installation

WITS predicted power pricing downloaded for each installation

comparing “normalised” solar PV systems

sharing of weather sensors between systems – solar radiation &

temperatures etc

Where to next – Neural Networks

Actual Monitoring

Data From

External Sources

Neural Networks

(an artificial brain that

receives information, learns

and refines its output over

time)

Inputs SPLASH Monitoring

Control and or

Recomendations

User and

Controller

Dashboards and

User Interfaces

Outputs

A Callaghan Innovation funded project. SPLASH Monitoring & Auckland University of Technology –predicts;

consumer behaviour & requirements ie consumption at a particular time of day & day of week

availability of energy based upon weather and usage patterns etc

Make decisions and controls systems or make recommendations to change behaviour

Where to next – Neural Networks

SPLASH MonitoringInputs Outputs

Actual Monitoring• Solar PV

• Power Generation

• Solar Water Heating

• Resource Consumption

- Electricity Total, per circuit/Appliance

- Gas

- Hot and Cold Water

• Battery Storage

• Weather

• Environmental Conditions inside / Out

Data From External Sources• Actual Weather data

• Energy Price Prediction WITS

(Wholesale Information Trading

System)

Load Control (auto / recommended)• Turn On / Off Large Loads to Manage

Peak Power Use

• Turn On / Off Loads based upon

Instantaneous Power Prices – Load

Shedding

• On Site Storage – Charge or Discharge

– Batteries, Hot Water Storage etc

Management / Technician Interface• Effectively Commission Systems

• Ongoing Commissioning / Refining

System Operation as required (Soft

Landings)

• Maintain and Manage Systems - Alerts

• Offer peace of mind and a point of

difference

Customer Interface• Manage the System Operation

• Provide feedback From SPLASH or

External Sources (Power Co’s)

- Assist with Habitual Change

(Improve Efficiency), offer guidance

- Recommend improvements and

products etc

- Power Company Customer

Retention

• Manage Energy Networks

Neural Networks (an

artificial brain that learns

and refines over time to

Predict)• Weather

• Solar Power Generation

• Solar Hot Water Generation

• Electricity Consumption

• Energy Consumption

• Hot Water Consumption

• Internal Conditions

- Temperatures / Humidity

Corporate

AMP

Fonterra

BRANZ

BUPA

Millennium Hotels

Public Buildings / Tourism

Auckland Museum

Shed 10 – Auckland Council

Skycity

Central and local government

New Zealand Defence

EECA

Auckland Council

Waterfront Auckland

Wellington City

Kapiti Coast

South Waikato District Council

Palmerston Council

Tauranga City

Educational

Auckland Museum

University of Auckland

Auckland University of Technology

Victoria University

Papamoa College

University of Waikato

Nelson Environment Centre

Beacon Pathway

Power Companies

Powerco

Mercury Energy

Meridian

Pioneer Generation

Electra

Alpine Energy

Vector

Contact Energy

Who uses SPLASH

Thank you – any questions

SPLASH Monitoring

15B Saturn Place, Albany,

Auckland, New Zealand

e ian@splashmonitoring.com

w www.splashmonitoring.com

P +64 9 442 0996