Saturday, 5th of July 2008
Saturday, 5th of July 2008
"monitoring" — 2 posts
SolarCity Watches your Solar PV System
by dan — Thursday, June 14th, 2007
I'm not sure if this is news... it's actually news about upcoming news... but the news-news is that SolarCity is launching a proprietary remote monitoring system for their solar PV installations. We've been wondering exactly what sort of competitive position Fat Spaniel etc. will stake out, especially as remote monitoring functionality potentially gets integrated directly into the inverter by more manufacturers. Here's an installer - albeit a fast growing one - who's decided the road to remote monitoring is better travelled with a home grown system rather than being dependent on a third party. From the sounds of it, the architecture of all of these sytems is similar - so exactly how defensible the technology is remains to be seen. If nothing else, perhaps Fat Spaniel et al. will make an attractive acquisition target for another installer with the reach and the money.
0 comments | not rated | Discuss |  del.icio.us
Only a matter of time?
by dan — Monday, June 4th, 2007
Inverter manufacturer PV Powered announced a plug-in module for their inverter line that provides remote solar PV system monitoring. I've been wondering how long it would take for an inverter manufacturer to build in some of the remote monitoring features for which solar installers and customers are dependent upon third party vendors like Fat Spaniel. I must imagine that SunnyBoy, Xantrex, etc. won't be far behind in providing integrated remote monitoring for their products. Fat Spaniel has done a nice job selling their system as an add-on, but they may wind up squeezed out of the market if inverter manufacturers follow the lead of PV Powered. Fat Spaniel may very well be able to adapt - they had to have expected to face this sort of competition - who knows, maybe they'll get acquired and have their technology integrated by one of the manufacturers.
0 comments | not rated | Discuss |  del.icio.us