Lundberg Family Farms

The Sentalis 1000 PV implemented at Lundberg Family Farms incorporates state-of-the-artdatalogger technology to allow for direct communication with theinverter as well as providing accurate external measurements.  Theadvanced data acquisition system is able to connect directly to theInternet. This approach eliminates the need and cost of an on-sitecomputer and increases the reliability of the data set. The result was the cost-effectivegeneration of custom tailored visualizations that enable quick and easysystem analysis. 

In addition to seeing performance data on-site via asmall LCD display for troubleshooting, theycan view real-time, detailed performance data from anywhere over theInternet with an attractive and functional website.

They have added the Net Energy optional package in order to closely monitor their investment, and realize the way in which energy flows from and to the utility grid. So that when aggregating the data, Lundberg Family Farms has an idea of wether they have been a net energy importer or net energy exporter for a particular time period.This has been found useful, because it has enabled them to take control of their load structure and perform peak shaving strategies that allows them to avoid peak-rate charges.

By shifting demand patterns, the farm leaves room to export electricity during the times of the day where the utilities pay the highest rates. In turn maximizing the revenue opportunity from their investment, and increasing the pace at which the investment pays back for itself.

Because the farm deals with a large number of arrays, they found it valuable to add the DC Monitoring option that is offered to all of our Sentalis systems. Where additional break down of DC to AC efficiency is possible, and granular detail of array currents and voltages is accessible for pin-pointing problem areas of system.