Solar Power Monitoring Systems

Remote controls usually make life just a fraction of a degree simpler. They keep a couch potato from ever having to watch an entire commercial. In the power industry, remote controls make life more than just a little simpler. Remote monitoring allows a solar plant operator not only to control, but, in many cases, to track and monitor the plant from a distance. Meanwhile, the growth of the solar market is leaving some technology companies in search of a form of wire-free monitoring for growing numbers of solar plants. Ed Schultz, renewable energy business development manager for Beckhoff Automation, said Beckhoff introduced its fiber-optic based remote monitoring system, the EtherCAT, in February. Schultz said that with the EtherCAT technology, Beckhoff can pinpoint where the failure was, which increases performance, decreases cost and diagnoses a problem in a short period of time.