New hardware that you can place onsite to help you understand if your hardware is running right: “RainWise, a manufacturer of professional grade meteorological equipment, has unveiled the world’s first compact and modular professional grade Modbus RTU weather station. The PVMet 500 has base model sensors that can measure basic weather data, ambient temperature, relative humidity and barometric pressure. Users can opt for additional sensors to measure windspeed, wind direction, and rainfall. The PVMet 500 also supports up to three irradiance sensors in any combination of thermopile (all standards and classes) and silicon diode technologies, configured to monitor global, plane of array albedo (bifacial PV) and diffused solar parameters. In addition, it can monitor the PV panel temperature via three individual sensors in thermal blocks.” Source – Rainwise.

Today’s award for making a thing right the first time that never needs to be changed goes to Morningstar. “Morningstar’s SunSaver Controller series is approved for use in hazardous locations outlined in the classifications: Class 1 (presence of flammable gas, liquid or vapor), Division 2 (absence of ignitable concentrations under normal conditions) , Groups A & D (acetylene, propane, gasoline, naphtha, benzene, butane, ethyl alcohol, acetone, methane). Its construction is tropicalized, hardened and encapsulated for field use in extreme conditions, and includes full electronic protections. Proven in demanding oil and gas use, it’s now a leading solar controller for general industrial and even consumer use for users who want top professional quality in their own systems.” Our take: I remember buying my first unit, that looks exactly like this unit below, 15 years ago. Source – Morningstar

The company that makes the inverters for your batteries now wants to help you pay for their gear – “Our new energy storage financing covers the equipment purchase, installation, commissioning and training costs—up to 1 million dollars—all in one simple lease.” The company also notes you can use the Section 179 tax deduction, and includes a calculator. I’ll throw out there that if you include solar with your energy storage install you’ll have a shot at also getting a 30% tax credit applied to the energy storage hardware. Source – Dynapower

Sungrow is showing off its hardware in a recently released white paper: “Sungrow introduces the world’s most powerful 1500V string inverter in 2019 — SG250HX, which is a global product in compliance with both IEC and UL standards.” With design tidbits like: “Up to 6.3MVA Block, Cost Saving: The global market for large-scale PV installations is shifting to bigger block design to reduce LCOE. Based on the cost comparison of different capacity block, 6~7MW block enables lowest cost. Sungrow’s SG250HX is suitable for any block size between 3MW to 6.3MW. The SG250HX typical system diagram is shown as figure 2 (of link). Source – Sungrow.

SMA has two announcements for the US market:

“The SMA Energy System Home includes a Sunny Boy 6.0-US battery inverter and a10 kWh battery from BYD, one of the world’s leading producers of battery technology. The system is available in two variants. The first includes the fully integrated Automatic Backup Unit, which simplifies installation for backup use cases. Whole-home backup can quickly and easily be achieved, or specific loads can be identified and protected“. Source – SMA America

Sunny Boy-US are now working with SMA’s new TS4-R-F module-level retrofit device for module-level shutdown. “The Sunspec transmitter is factory integrated. No additional hardware or communication equipment is required for operation”. Source – SMA America.

And this from across the pond can give you installers some perspective on how to get your floating solar into place. Assemble nearby the shore, and boat it out:

https://twitter.com/NorthernPontoon/status/1057197251674677253