Solar-Log® Power Management Delivers Zero Grid Export

BETHEL, Conn., June 9, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Solar Data Systems, Inc., along with Comet Solar, helped Hughes Medical Center in Anguilla avoid Feed-In charges by installing a Solar-Log 1200, creating a Zero Grid Export solution.  

Hughes Medical Center is a modern, private medical facility in Anguilla, British West Indies. Local plastic surgeon, Dr. Lowell Hughes, built his dream facility in 1999, offering modern medical care to local patients and international visitors. After the business was launched, Dr. Hughes looked for solutions to reduce costs. Anguilla has some of the world's highest electricity costs and Dr. Hughes recognized the crippling effect of those costs on his business.

Dr. Hughes enlisted local solar installer Comet Solar to install a 30kW rooftop grid tied system, at that time the largest solar installation on the island. The installation was successful in reducing costs but left a large portion of the energy usage uncovered, so the Doctor decided to enlarge the installation. He commissioned another 30kW of ground mounted solar panels behind the clinic, constructed a berm to surround the system and keep it safe from high winds.

Once the system was put into operation, it became apparent that the clinic was not receiving the benefits that the owner expected. Metering equipment revealed that the utility was charging for any excess electricity that flowed out to the grid. "We knew going in that the utility would not readily pay for any electricity we exported, but we were not aware that there would be charges on that power," Dr. Hughes explained. "On the weekend, when the clinic is closed, we can export 80% of the power we generate. We would be better off if we turned the solar system off on the weekend."

After a period of research, Comet Solar identified Solar Data System's Solar-Log^® as the only commercially available equipment to control the export of power. The Solar-Log^® metering equipment adjusted the output of the SMA inverters to reduce the production of electricity when it sensed excess power being exported to the grid. During the week, this resulted in modest savings, but over weekends and holidays, the power management was able to reduce costs through excess power to almost zero.

"Our goal was to deploy an exemplary zero grid export power management system in a commercial setting," says Anton Kaeslin, President of Solar Data Systems, Inc. "We achieved our objective by applying our proven Solar-Log^® technology."

The graph shows the consumption of power in red and the production in green, closely following the consumption. In fact, the Solar-Log^® can achieve almost zero demand and export, perfectly matching the solar production to the facility's demand.

Solar-Log^® products will be on display July 14-16^th at Intersolar North America 2015 at Moscone Center, San Francisco.

About Solar Data Systems, Inc.
Solar Data Systems, Inc. is the manufacturer of Solar-Log^®, a web-enabled monitoring system for photovoltaic (PV) plants. Based in Bethel, Connecticut, Solar Data Systems, Inc. enables plant owners to maximize plant performance and increase return on investment. The Solar-Log^® product family monitors plant performance, tracks local weather information, provides real-time error detection, delivers automatic & comprehensive status & failure information, and offers revenue-grade metering for incentive reporting. Solar-Log^® is a global leader with over 225,000 plants monitored globally through nearly 1 million connected inverters with a generating power of over 9.5 GW. Solar Data Systems is fully owned subsidiary of Solare Datensysteme GmbH, based in Binsdorf, Germany.

Resource: Hughes Medical Center, hughesmedical.com

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150609/221789

SOURCE Solar Data Systems, Inc.