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This device helps to measure the power of the sun – irradiance (W/m2) from the hemisphere – at a given location. It helps you to understand how much solar PV energy can be harvested and what is the best orientation of the panels.
While pyranometers are typically expensive lab instruments, this device uses a small solar panel to establish irradiance. To do so, it makes use of the characteristic of PV panels that their short-circuit current is proportional to the level of irradiance. This short-circuit current (Isc) is measured with a digital to analogue converter (DAC) over power resistor with a low resistance value. All in all, this allows us to build an affordable, programmable instrument with a high degree of reliability. For best results, it is calibrated against a reference (lab) instruments. But for most circumstances, we can calibrate it with the help of available local 'lab grade' meteo data than can be obtained online.
The Pyranometer uses off-the-shelve hardware components that are easy to find, while it is programmed in open-source Arduino code that runs on a MKR Zero board. The code is modular, making it possible to change or add specific functionality if you are at ease with the Arduino programming language.
The Pyranometer has been made in 2022 by Elektropionir as a demonstration device for use in education and training. In the future, we’ll likely be adding some extra functionality such as logging of the data for longer on-site monitoring or debugging of PV installations.
While comparable functionality can be found in commercial devices, the possibility to modify or add functionality to our own needs is unique feature.