Solar power system commissioning

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11515837-B2
Application number	US-202117163671-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 1, 2021
Priority date	Feb 18, 2020
Publication date	Nov 29, 2022
Grant date	Nov 29, 2022

Abstract

Commissioning a solar power monitoring system includes imaging a plurality of labels, wherein each label of the plurality of labels is associated with an electronic component. Further, commissioning the solar power monitoring system includes discovering each electronic component at the same time based on the imaging of the plurality of labels, displaying a list of the discovered electronic components, and commissioning a solar power monitoring system including the discovered electronic components for use.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for commissioning a solar power system, comprising:
imaging a plurality of labels, wherein each label of the plurality of labels is associated with an electronic component of a solar module;
discovering each electronic component at the same time based on the imaging of the plurality of labels;
displaying a list of the discovered electronic components; and
commissioning a solar power monitoring system including the discovered electronic components for use, wherein the commissioning includes assigning logical addresses to associate each electronic component with the solar power monitoring system.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the electronic component is a power optimizer.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the electronic component is a microinverter.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the one or more labels includes a unique identifier for identifying each of the electronic components explicitly.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the imaging corresponds to a bulk scanning of the plurality of labels, wherein the bulk scanning reads each of the plurality of labels at the same time.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
determining a relative position of each solar module in a solar module array based on the bulk scanning.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
mapping the relative position of each solar module in the solar module array to a representation of a roof on which the solar panel system is installed.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
in response to a determination that an electronic component is not functioning properly, indicating on the representation of the roof on which the solar module array is installed which solar panel corresponds to the electronic component that is not functioning properly.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
requesting acknowledgment from each electronic component; and
in response to a determination that an electronic component is not functioning properly, indicating that the electronic component is faulted.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
in response to a determination that an electronic component is not functioning properly, displaying trouble shooting information.

11. A method for commissioning a solar power system, comprising:
discovering electronic components of the solar power system;
mapping the electronic components in a solar power system topology;
determining a health status of the electronic components; and
determining a health status of the solar power system.

12. The method for commissioning a solar power system according to claim 11 , wherein discovery includes determining the electronic components connected to a PV monitoring and control system.

13. The method for commissioning a solar power system according to claim 11 , wherein mapping the electronic components in a solar power system topology comprises associating one or more batteries with one or more inverters of the solar power system.

14. The method for commissioning a solar power system according to claim 11 , wherein determining health status of the electronic components includes obtaining a battery state of charge (SOC); and
determining whether the battery SOC is within an predetermined acceptable range.

15. The method for commissioning a solar power system according to claim 11 , wherein determining health status of the electronic components includes
obtaining a battery state of charge temperature; and
determining whether the battery state of charge temperature is within an acceptable range.

16. The method for commissioning a solar power system according to claim 11 , wherein determining health status of the solar power system includes correlating one or more parameters between the electronic components of the solar power system.

17. The method for commissioning a solar power system according to claim 11 , further comprising updating firmware for electronic components external to a battery.

18. One or more computer readable medium including computer program instructions, which when executed by an information processing system, cause the system to:
discover electronic components of the solar power system;
map the electronic components in a solar power system topology;
determine a health status of the electronic components; and
determine a health status of the solar power system.

19. The one or more computer readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the information processing system is a mobile device.

20. The one or more computer readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the information processing system is a server.

Assignees

• Sunpower Corp

Inventors

• Mellor Jr Richard E
• Kavaiya Gaurang
• Thompson Jonathan Tucker
• Narla Sandeep
• Griffin Joseph
• Ghadami Rasoul
• Uebel Udo
• Cheung Alvin
• Cervantes Fernando
• Zaragoz Alberto Fonts
• Yang Troy
• Patwa Daidipya
• Liu Rex

Classifications

• H02J7/82

  Control of state of charge [SOC] · CPC title

• H02J2101/24

  Photovoltaics · CPC title

• H02J7/80

  including monitoring or indicating arrangements · CPC title

• H02J7/35

  with light sensitive cells · CPC title

• H02S50/00 Primary

  Monitoring or testing of PV systems, e.g. load balancing or fault identification · CPC title