New solar PV farm projects require the use of meteorological (MET) weather stations to achieve and maintain efficiencies critical to power and revenue generation. Nor-Cal Controls ES, Inc. has meticulously engineered the Tahoe™ MET station to meet and exceed the exacting demands of this new industry using Lufft's weather sensor.

Challenges in power generation

Additionally, a critical issue with renewable energy is the variability in power generation that it provides. Knowing how much power a given location may produce is critical to revenue generation and the timely availability of energy to the electrical grid. Therefore, ISO's are required to incorporate certain weather sensing devices into their project as well as ensure that the information captured is reported appropriately and accurately.

Why Tahoe Met Station is the right choice
From project planning to project completion, as well as through the life of a utility-grade solar facility, the Tahoe™ MET station can help participating ISO's to determine the following for their project:

Forecast potential solar availability and generation for prospective project locations
Confirm stability of power generation through time
Detail increasing or decreasing efficiencies based on weather patterns
The advantages of Lufft sensors

Competitor weather station builds typically use multiple sensing devices to gather critical information such as relative humidity, wind speed and direction, precipitation and barometric pressure. Multiple devices create several different opportunities for failure. Additionally, traditional mechanical wind sensing instruments can be sensitive to grit build up and/or freezing temperatures. Nor-Cal alleviates these difficulties with the exclusive use of the Lufft WS601-UMB All-In-One ultrasonic sensor, providing accurate and reliable data gathering of a wide array of weather variables.

About Nor-Cal Controls
Nor-Cal Controls ES, Inc. is a full service controls and monitoring integration company for the renewable and traditional power generation industries. Services offered include engineering and programming expertise in a wide range of programmable logic controllers and SCADA/DCS platforms and accompanying instrumentation.