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Solar Monitoring

The most important measurement parameter is irradiation. Since PV systems are becoming ever larger, the accuracy of the irradiation measurement is increasingly important for the efficiency of the system. Wind cools the temperature of the module and must therefore be included in the efficiency calculation. Precipitation leads to contamination or covering (snow). With increasing temperature, the performance of the solar module decreases. Therefore, it is important to measure the temperature of the solar module in addition to the air temperature.

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Compact Weather Sensor WS510 with detection of temperature, relative humidity, air pressure, wind direction, wind speed, radiation

WS510-UMB Smart Weather Sensor

First and only Smart Weather Sensor with integrated Kipp & Zonen CMP10 Pyranometer (secondary standard)

First and only Smart Weather Sensor with integrated Kipp & Zonen CMP10 Pyranometer (secondary standard). Measurement of temperature, relative humidity, air pressure, wind direction, wind speed and radiation.

  • Temperature, relative humidity, air pressure, wind direction, wind speed, radiation
  • Ultrasonic/Wind, NTC/T, Capacitive/RH, MEMS capacitive/Pressure, Kipp&Zonen/Radiation
  • Wind detection with birdproof construction. Compact all-in-one weather sensor, low power, heater, aspirated radiation shield, maintenance-free operation, open communication protocol.
  • RS485 with supported protocols UMB-Binary, UMB-ASCII, Modbus-RTU, Modbus-ASCII, XDR and SDI-12
Compact Weather Sensor WS502 with detection of radiation, temperature, relative humidity, air pressure, wind direction, wind speed

WS502-UMB Smart Weather Sensor

Compact all-in-one weather sensor with measurement of temperature, relative humidity, air pressure, wind direction, wind speed and radiation.

Compact all-in-one weather sensor from the WS-Series. Measurement of temperature, relative humidity, air pressure, wind direction, wind speed and radiation.

  • Temperature, relative humidity, air pressure, wind direction, wind speed, radiation
  • Ultrasonic/Wind, NTC/T, Capacitive/RH, MEMS capacitive/Pressure, Lufft Pyranometer/Radiation
  • Wind detection with birdproof construction. Compact all-in-one weather sensor, low power, heater, aspirated radiation shield, maintenance-free operation, open communication protocol.
  • RS485 with supported protocols UMB-Binary, UMB-ASCII, Modbus-RTU, Modbus-ASCII, XDR and SDI-12
Compact Weather Sensor WS501 with detection of temperature, relative humidity, air pressure, wind direction, wind speed, radiation

WS501-UMB Smart Weather Sensor

Compact all-in-one weather sensor with measurement of temperature, relative humidity, air pressure, wind direction, wind speed and radiation.

Compact all-in-one weather sensor from the WS-Series. Measurement of temperature, relative humidity, air pressure, wind direction, wind speed and radiation.

  • Temperature, relative humidity, air pressure, wind direction, wind speed, radiation
  • Ultrasonic/Wind, NTC/T, Capacitive/RH, MEMS capacitive/Pressure, Kipp&Zonen Pyranometer/Radiation
  • Wind detection with birdproof construction. Compact all-in-one weather sensor, low power, heater, aspirated radiation shield, maintenance-free operation, open communication protocol.
  • RS485 with supported protocols UMB-Binary, UMB-ASCII, Modbus-RTU, Modbus-ASCII, XDR and SDI-12
Compact Weather Sensor WS301 with detection of temperature, relative humidity, air pressure, radiation

WS301-UMB Smart Weather Sensor

Compact all-in-one weather sensor for measurement of temperature, relative humidity, air pressure and radiation.

Compact all-in-one weather sensor from the WS-Series. Measurement of temperature, relative humidity, air pressure and radiation.

  • Temperature, relative humidity, air pressure, radiation
  • NTC/T, Capacitive/RH, MEMS capacitive/Pressure, Kipp&Zonen Pyranometer/Radiation
  • Compact all-in-one weather sensor, low power, aspirated radiation shield, maintenance-free operation, open communication protocol
  • RS485 with supported protocols UMB-Binary, UMB-ASCII, Modbus-RTU, Modbus-ASCII, XDR and SDI-12
Compact Weather Sensor WS800 with detection of temperature, relative humidity, air pressure, wind direction, wind speed, precipitation intensity, precipitation quantity, radiation and lightning strikes

WS800-UMB Smart Weather Sensor

First and only compact all-in-one weather sensor with detection of lightning strikes

Compact all-in-one weather sensor from the WS-Series. Measurement of temperature, relative humidity, air pressure, wind direction, wind speed, precipitation intensity, precipitation quantity, radiation and lightning strikes.

  • temperature, relative humidity, air pressure, wind direction, wind speed, precipitation intensity, precipitation quantity, radiation, lightning strikes
  • Ultrasonic/Wind, NTC/T, Capacitive/RH/Pressure, Radar/Precipitation, radio wave emission/Lightning strikes
  • Wind detection with birdproof construction. First and only compact all-in-one weather sensor with lightning detection, low power, heater, aspirated radiation shield, maintenance-free operation, open communication protocol.
  • RS485 with supported protocols UMB-Binary, UMB-ASCII, Modbus-RTU, Modbus-ASCII, XDR and SDI-12
Compact Weather Sensor WS800 with detection of temperature, relative humidity, air pressure, wind direction, wind speed, precipitation intensity, precipitation quantity, radiation and lightning strikes

WS700-UMB Smart Weather Sensor

All-in-one weather sensor with measurement of temperature, relative humidity, precipitation intensity, precipitation type, precipitation quantity, air pressure, wind direction, wind speed and radiation.

Compact all-in-one weather sensor from the WS-Series. Measurement of temperature, relative humidity, precipitation intensity, precipitation type, precipitation quantity, air pressure, wind direction, wind speed and radiation.

  • Temperature, relative humidity, precipitation intensity, precipitation type, precipitation quantity, air pressure, wind direction, wind speed, radiation
  • Ultrasonic/Wind, NTC/T, Capacitive/RH, MEMS capacitive/Pressure, Radar/Precipitation
  • Wind detection with birdproof construction. Compact all-in-one weather sensor, low power, heater, aspirated radiation shield, maintenance-free operation, open communication protocol
  • RS485 with supported protocols UMB-Binary, UMB-ASCII, Modbus-RTU, Modbus-ASCII, XDR and SDI-12
Compact Weather Sensor WS600 with detection of temperature, relative humidity, air pressure, wind direction, wind speed, precipitation intensity, precipitation quantity

WS600-UMB Smart Weather Sensor

Compact all-in-one weather sensor with measurement of temperature, relative humidity, precipitation intensity, precipitation type, precipitation quantity, air pressure, wind direction and wind speed.

Compact all-in-one weather sensor from the WS-Series. Measurement of temperature, relative humidity, precipitation intensity, precipitation type, precipitation quantity, air pressure, wind direction and wind speed.

  • Temperature, relative humidity, precipitation intensity, precipitation type, precipitation quantity, air pressure, wind direction, wind speed
  • Ultrasonic/Wind, NTC/T, Capacitive/RH, MEMS capacitive/Pressure, 24 GHz Doppler radar/Precipitation
  • Wind detection with birdproof construction. Compact all-in-one weather sensor, low power, heater, aspirated radiation shield, maintenance-free operation, open communication protocol.
  • RS485 with supported protocols UMB-Binary, UMB-ASCII, Modbus-RTU, Modbus-ASCII, XDR and SDI-12
Compact Weather Sensor WS200 with detection of wind direction, wind speed

WS200-UMB Smart Weather Sensor

Compact all-in-one weather sensor for measurement of wind direction and speed.

Compact all-in-one weather sensor from the WS-Series. Measurement of wind direction and speed.

  • Wind direction and speed
  • Ultrasonic/Wind
  • Wind detection with birdproof construction. Compact all-in-one weather sensor, low power, heater, maintenance-free operation, open communication protocol.
  • RS485 with supported protocols UMB-Binary, UMB-ASCII, Modbus-RTU, Modbus-ASCII, XDR and SDI-12
Lufft Snow depth sensor SHM 31 - Lufft snow height sensor SHM 31 - snow level detection

Snow Depth Sensor SHM31

The laser-based snow depth sensor Lufft SHM31 stands for millimeter-accurate snow level detection over long distances in all weather conditions without any maintenance, due to opto-electronic/laser based rangefinder technology.

The laser-based snow depth sensor Lufft SHM 31 stands for millimeter-accurate snow level detection over long distances in all weather conditions without any maintenance, due to opto-electronic/laser based rangefinder technology.

  • Snow depth
  • opto-electronic measuring technique (rangefinder; laser distance sensor) with eye-safe laser
  • Determination of snow depth over long distances, heating options allow high quality measurements in all weather conditions, simplified installation due to automatic inclination angle compensation
  • RS485 & RS232 with Modbus RTU, UMB, UMB-ASCII 2.0 & SDI12 protocol
Lufft WS100 Radar precipitation sensor rain sensor and smart disdrometer

WS100 Radar Precipitation Sensor / Smart Disdrometer

Absolutely maintenance-free and extremely fast measurement of precipitation type (Rain, snow, sleet, freezing rain, hail) and intensity, thanks to radar measurement technology. The smart radar rain sensor & present weather detector!

The Lufft WS100 is our maintenance-free radar precipitation sensor. It recognizes the type and amount of precipitation from the first drop. The sensor is suitable for hard-to-reach places.

  • Rain/precipitation quantity, rain/precipitation type (Rain, snow, sleet, freezing rain, hail)
  • 24GHz Doppler radar
  • Very fast response time, maintenance-free measurement, present weather detection
  • RS-485 semi-duplex two-wire, SDI-12, pulse interface / UMB protocol, Modbus
Brochure - Lufft - Image brochure (EN)
Image Brochure with description of all Lufft market segments
Lufft - ISO9001 - 2015 - Certificate (EN)
Video - Lufft: a passion for precision (Corporate Video)

Integration into PV/Solar Monitoring Systems

Many photovoltaic system providers throughout the world use our sensors. In general, MODBUS interfaces are used to transfer measurements to the PV controller. On request, we integrate manufacturer-specific protocols as a plug & play interface.

Why is the WMO standard required in such applications? Because the large measuring range is necessary for irradiation, in order to measure the actual effi ciency of the PV system. And because the service life of the system is intended to be more than 10 years. This requirement also applies to the sensor technology.

Which alternative sensor technologies are useful? GHI: Global irradiation on the horizontal surface GTI: Global irradiation, tilted. And thus aligned to the irradiation angle of the sun. DHI: Diffuse Horizontal Irradiation Together with the WS600, these sensors are transmitted via a Modbus interface to the data acquisition unit / controller of the PV system.

You want to learn more about our smart weather sensors in PV applications?

Watch our webinar: Smart Solar Monitoring with Smart Weather Sensors

Do you have any questions or do you need advice?

Get in contact with us

Benefits of our sensors

The Lufft multi parameter weather stations fit perfectly to the needs of utility scale solar farms because of the following key items:

  • Modular concept for different pyranometer classes (up to Secondary standard for safe operation)
  • Project-specific combination of sensors can be networked via Modbus
  • Traceability and highest accuracy for maximum efficiency and system safety

You want to learn more about  the benefits of our smart weather sensors in PV applications?

Watch our webinar: Smart Solar Monitoring with Smart Weather Sensors

Do you have any questions or do you need advice?

Get in contact with us

Udo Kronmüller, our Expert for Solar Monitoring held a webinar about best practise in various uses of smart weather sensors in PV monitoring applications.

He discussed in this webinar how, in addition to solar radiation, other environmental factors such as temperature, wind, precipitation and lightnings also affect the productivity and stability of utilities. Operation and maintenance specialists discovered how they can optimize their monitoring system, while EPCs learned how to minimize efforts for meteorological control systems.

You missed it? No problem - Watch now the on demand recording of the webinar:

Smart Solar Monitoring with Smart Weather Sensors

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