Solare Datensysteme: growing commercial PV rooftop business in India

10/06/2016 | Print view

With the Solar-Log, German based Solare Datensysteme offers a centralized monitoring and energy management system. - © Solare Datensysteme GmbH — © Solare Datensysteme GmbH

With the Solar-Log, German based Solare Datensysteme offers a centralized monitoring and energy management system.

Solare Datensysteme GmbH (SDS) reports growing business in India. The company has already over 1,000 data loggers in service in India, that monitor commercial PV rooftop systems with more than 30 MW. In May 2016 SDS set up an office and storage facility in Mumbai.

More and more PV plants are being installed in India. The 8 GW mark was achieved at the end of July. It is forecast that India will have 100 GW installed by 2022. Environmental policy differs fundamentally from state to state in India. Most states use the net metering system. Large PV plants should be used primarily for the continued expansion of photovoltaics in India. A further objective is to have smaller commercial buildings equipped with PV plants, especially in areas where there is no power grid or an inadequate one.

Professional energy management system required

“A professional energy management system is required to ensure trouble-free operation of PV plants and to provide individual support for self-consumption optimization and feed-in management. Solar-Log provides structured and expert monitoring. Moreover, the Solar-Log WEB Commercial Edition web portal provides the option to visualize data and to manage all of the settings and functions centrally”, company speaker Marco Weinmann says.

Solar-Log compatible with inverters from 100 manufacturers

“Inverter-independence is an essential and unique selling point of the Solar-Log system”, Weinmann adds. The Solar-Log is compatible with inverters from 100 manufacturers. This offers EPCs and installers, project planners and PV plant operators a high degree of flexibility, he says. In addition, the integrated components such as meters and string combiner box could be easily configured and visualized. “The Zero Export function is becoming more and more important for India. This function has already been integrated into the Solar-Log and is already used by several plants”, Weinmann reports.

Focus in India on commercial rooftops

SDS has been active in the Indian market for the last two years and already has 1,000 data loggers in service. These data loggers monitor plants with an output of over 30 MW. Here the focus is on the commercial rooftop segment. For this achievement, SDS received the Solar India Award 2016 in the category of "Solar Project Monitoring Technology Company of the Year." In May, SDS set up a small office and storage facility in Mumbai. (HCN)