Jesse, I'm not sure what you are referring to about PVA and optimizers. I'm not going to comment about optimizers although they seem very cool. I don't have a lot of personal experience with dc optimizers yet.
I am very familiar with the Solmetric PV Analyzer which is an I-V curve tracer. It is the least expensive curve tracer on the market. At $3,000 list price it may seem pricy, but for what it does, it is cheap. There is a wireless sensor kit that has irradiance and temperature sensors that automatically load the values in with the I-V curve data. This is very helpful when you are doing numerous repetitive commissioning tests on large arrays, but at $1,500 list price, it is not worth it if you are only using the tracer occasionally and for diagnostic reasons. A simple hand-held irradiance meter and thermocouple on the back of a module is about 1/10 the cost. Also, the wireless sensors have a poor range (10-15 feet) so they are not intended to set up on one end of a commercial roof and leave there while you test an array. You can read what I wrote in SolarPro last year, but if there is any way your company can find a budget to buy one, it is worth it. The basic software that comes with it is marginal, but they have new software that costs extra and is hopefully much better. I also have a HukseFlux IV 400. This is more compact than the Solmetric, has wired irradiance and temperature measurements, and can accurately test modules which are a challenge for the Solmetric unit. The HukseFlux unit is more expensive at a list of about $5,000 with sensors but comes with better software for analysis. To get into a curve tracer cheaply, I would pick the Solmetric without wireless sensors. To use it for commissioning, both products have pros and cons and I would say I'm split between two. The main this is to get one and start using it since it will teach volumes about I-V curves. Bill. -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of boB Sent: Sunday, August 26, 2012 11:03 AM To: RE-wrenches Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Solmetric PVA and Tigo On 8/26/2012 7:54 AM, Jesse Dahl wrote: > Hello, > > Has anyone has experience using the Solmetric PVA and optimizers? Is there any issues? > > Jesse > You might ask Bill Brooks. He has a paragraph of recommendation right on the data sheet. for the handheld analyzer. boB _______________________________________________ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: [email protected] Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org _______________________________________________ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: [email protected] Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
