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Our 4G gateway reads the inverters over Modbus, we measure irradiance and module temperature on site, and the IoTData platform calculates the performance ratio, compares strings and warns you when something drops. Integration and engineering, not an off-the-shelf box.
The utility measures what flows in and out at the point of interconnection. What happens behind it, string by string and inverter by inverter, only shows up if you measure it.
A module’s nameplate power is rated at 1,000 W/m² of irradiance and 25 °C cell temperature. On a sunny roof the cells run much hotter than that, and crystalline silicon loses output as it heats up. That is why module temperature is measured on site, not assumed.
The utility’s meter sits at the point of interconnection and records the energy that crosses it in each direction. It can’t see a shaded string, a tripped inverter or one that is limiting output. A monthly total that looks fine can hide all three.
PR = energy produced ÷ (plane-of-array irradiation ÷ 1,000 W/m² × rated power). It is the yardstick that separates “low output because there was little sun” from “low output because something is wrong.” Without irradiance measured on site there is no PR, only a guess.
Inverter makes and models, the Modbus port available (RS-485 or Ethernet), the string layout, installed capacity, cellular coverage on site, and what you want to see in the report.
Our own 4G gateway installed in the panel reading the first inverter, an irradiance sensor in the plane of the modules and a module temperature sensor. That manufacturer’s Modbus registers mapped on the platform.
One billing cycle comparing the energy we read with the manufacturer’s portal and the utility meter. PR only goes into the report once the readings agree.
Rollout to the remaining inverters and plants, alarms set per string and per inverter, an automatic monthly report, and maintenance by the people who built it.
We’re upfront about what’s ours. Inverters, irradiance sensors and temperature sensors come from the market, and we tell you which ones we picked and why. The 4G gateway, the firmware, the Modbus reading, the platform and the report are ours. Over cellular the data arrives within minutes; where there is no signal, the DG satellite network also delivers within minutes. Timeline and price come out of the survey, not a price list.
The IoTData platform already receives flow, pump hours, weather stations and vibration. The plant joins the same dashboard, with the same login and the same alerts.
Our own 4G gateway reading over Modbus RTU or TCP: power, daily and lifetime energy, voltage and current per input, status and fault codes, from any brand that publishes its register map.
An irradiance sensor in the plane of the modules and a module temperature sensor, the two measurements IEC 61724-1 calls for so the performance ratio means something.
Daily and monthly performance ratio, per inverter and for the whole plant. Strings and inputs compared with each other: the one that yields less than its siblings under the same sun has shade, soiling or a bad connection.
An alert when an inverter stops, a string falls off the curve or PR drops while the sun doesn’t; only on a change of state, no spam. A monthly report for the owner and the history for whoever else asks.
The array on the factory roof shares a dashboard with motor vibration and plant consumption. Generation and consumption side by side show how much of the bill the plant covered, and the inverter-down alert arrives through the same channel as the machine alarms.
If you pump with your own power, you want generation, pump hours and water flow side by side. The weather station that already measures rain and temperature gets an irradiance sensor, and the array joins the irrigation dashboard.
An installer or investor with plants from different brands sees them all in one place, with PR comparable across sites because sunlight was measured at each one. A monthly report per plant and per client, without a spreadsheet.
Data Frontier designs and manufactures from hardware to software: the 4G gateway board, the firmware that speaks Modbus and queues data when the signal drops, the IoTData platform and its API. When a reading fails, the people who designed it fix it, with no third-party vendor in between.
It shows that inverter’s generation, the way that manufacturer chooses to. When the plant has two brands, or you have five plants, or you want to know whether it produced what the day’s irradiance allowed, the portal has no answer. The platform reads all of them over Modbus, measures the sun on site and calculates the performance ratio.
It is the ratio between the energy the plant produced and what it would have produced if it had turned all the irradiation it received into energy at rated power, as defined in IEC 61724-1. A PR that drops while the sun doesn’t is soiling, shade, a disconnected string or an inverter limiting output. Without irradiance measured on site, PR is a guess.
The inverter stays. Our 4G gateway goes in the panel and reads the inverter through the Modbus port it already has (RS-485 or Ethernet). On the roof or the ground, we add an irradiance sensor in the plane of the modules and a temperature sensor bonded to a module. Where there is no cellular coverage, we also offer the DG satellite network.
It produces the monthly generation, availability and performance ratio report for the owner, and keeps the generation history in whatever format the utility, the investor or the auditor asks for. Billing and any export credits still follow the utility’s meter at the point of interconnection; the platform shows what happens behind it.
An answer from an engineer, not a bot. If you already have the manufacturer’s portal, a weather station or a management system, say so: we build on what’s there.
E-mail [CONTACT E-MAIL]Engineering and manufacturing by Data Frontier, Brazil.Standard cited: IEC 61724-1 (photovoltaic system performance monitoring). STC: standard test conditions for module ratings. Photos under the Unsplash license, the same as on our agriculture and industry pages.
Billing and any export credits follow the utility’s meter; the platform shows what the plant generates and does not replace that meter.