MB 700 Series User manual

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MBSoiling Station–700 Series
Advanced Soiling Station Series
Document ID: M4 028 010 010 01 (R2)
Revision 1.03 2022/05/29
SW 2.10

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Table of Contents
1. Warnings.................................................................................................................................................5
2. MBSoiling Station ...................................................................................................................................6
2.1 MBSoiling Station Applications ........................................................................................................6
2.2 Soiling Parameters .........................................................................................................................6
2.3 MBSoiling Station Models..............................................................................................................7
3MBSoiling Station Installation ................................................................................................................9
3.1MBSoiling Station With Solar Charger: ..........................................................................................9
3.2 MBSoiling Station –Without Solar Charger:................................................................................11
3.3 MBSoiling Station - Cleaning:.......................................................................................................12
3.4 MBSoiling Station Controller Connections...................................................................................13
3.4.1 PV Panel Interface......................................................................................................................13
3.4.2 MBSoiling Station Power Supply Connections.........................................................................14
3.4.3 Serial Port -RS485.....................................................................................................................15
3.4.4 Port ETH ...............................................................................................................................16
3.4.5 SD Memory Card........................................................................................................................17
3.4.6 Internal Modem (Optional)..................................................................................................18
4Embedded Webserver..........................................................................................................................20
4.1 User Login....................................................................................................................................21
4.2 Welcome Page..............................................................................................................................22
4.3 Soiling Station Configuration Files..............................................................................................23
4.4 Device Configuration...................................................................................................................25
4.5 Measurement Panels Configuration:............................................................................................26
4.6 Soiling Parameters .......................................................................................................................27
2022.01.3 Soiling Calculation............................................................................................................27
4.6.2 Solar Panel Parameters........................................................................................................28
4.6.3 Soiling Parameters...............................................................................................................29
4.7 Configure –Datalogging Files.....................................................................................................29
4.7.1 Day Log File Configuration:......................................................................................................31
4.7.2 Remote File Transfer Configuration:........................................................................................32

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4.8 Configure –Cellular Modem.......................................................................................................35
4.9 Configure –Serial Port (RS485)..................................................................................................35
4.10 Configure –ETH Network...........................................................................................................38
4.11 Configure –SNTP Client.............................................................................................................39
4.12 MyPage Parameters......................................................................................................................40
4.13 User Configuration.......................................................................................................................41
4.14 Commit Configuration.................................................................................................................41
5Embedded Webserver–Diagnostics.....................................................................................................43
5.1 MBSoiling Station Status.............................................................................................................44
5.1.1 MBSoiling Station Status..........................................................................................................44
2022.01.3 Soiling Station Modem Status .........................................................................................45
5.2 MyPage Parameters......................................................................................................................46
5.3 Data Log Files..............................................................................................................................46
5.3.1 DataLog Files –Day ..................................................................................................................47
2022.01.3 DataLog Files RFT-1 and RFT-2.........................................................................................48
5.4 Soling Parameters.........................................................................................................................49
5.5 Soling Station Messages ..............................................................................................................50
5.5.1 Download Device Status Report ..............................................................................................50
2022.01.3 Download Device Value Report.......................................................................................51
2022.01.3 Delete MBLogger Messages ............................................................................................51
5.6 Solar Panel Offset Calibration......................................................................................................52
6Soiling Station Messages ......................................................................................................................53
6.1 Soiling Station Information Messages.........................................................................................53
6.2 Soiling Station Fault Messages....................................................................................................57
7Technical Specifications........................................................................................................................58
2022.01 General Specifications: ........................................................................................................58
7.2 Measurement Parameters:..........................................................................................................58
7.3 Communication Serial Port (RS485):............................................................................................58
7.4 Communication Port ETH.............................................................................................................58
7.5 Internal Modem ...........................................................................................................................59
7.6 Datalogging ..................................................................................................................................59
7.7 Electrical.......................................................................................................................................59
7.8 Environmental..............................................................................................................................59
7.9 Physical.........................................................................................................................................59
8Soiling Station MODBUS Slave Registers..............................................................................................60
8.1 Soiling Station Time ....................................................................................................................60

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8.2 My Parameters .............................................................................................................................60
8.3 Soiling Parameters .......................................................................................................................61
8.4 Measurement Panel Parameters ...................................................................................................61
9Soiling Station Diagnostics....................................................................................................................64
10 Soiling Station Library...........................................................................................................................67
10.1. Library for Solar Panels.................................................................................................................67
11 Revision History....................................................................................................................................68

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1. Warnings
•Installation at site should be done by skilled and qualified personal after taking
required approvals.
•Use proper protection gear and tool while installing the device.
•Be aware of your surroundings while doing the installation work.
•Serious injury can occur if proper safety norms are not followed.
•Compliance with all utility and electrical safety codes regulations are mandatory.
•Read the manual and get acquainted with the datalogger connections and terminals
before commencing installation activity.
•Before connecting the datalogger, read its label to confirm power supply
requirements.
•All connections should be done only when power to device is switched off.
•Improper installation and connections may damage the device and sensors
connected to the same.
•Protect from overvoltage and static electricity.
•To prevent potential fire or shock hazard, do not expose the datalogger to rain or
moisture.
•Physically damaged equipment should not be used or connected to main power.
•Use proper earth connection.

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2. MBSoiling Station
MBSoiling Station series-700is advanced range of soiling station. The soiling station
provides following advanced functions:
3. Uses latest ARM 32 bits processor.
4. Real time monitoring of clean and soiled PV panels.
5. Regular monitoring and filtering of soiling parameters.
6. All measurements are available via serial RS485 (MODBUS RTU) and ETH
(MODBUS TCP) ports.
7. Modem 4G (optional) for communication of logged files to remote servers.
8. MODBUS TCP (master and slave), SNTP, FTP and DNS.
9. All parameters are available as MODBUS (RTU or TCP) slave parameters.
10. External SD memory card (16GB) for data logging.
11. Programmable data logging interval.
12. Embedded webserver for configuration of soling functions and diagnostics (real time
view of measured parameters). No programming is required.
13. MyPage –to display user selected parameters in one webserver page.
14. Internal battery backed up real time clock (RTC).
15. Data file transfer to two file servers.
16. Internal memory of 32MB and expandable SD card memory up-to 16GB.
17. Log for user activity and device messages/ faults.
18. Calibrate soiled panel with respect to clean panel.
19. Powered via solar charge PV panel or AC power supply.
20. Optional –automatic cleaning of soiled and clean panels. With monitoring of cleaning
liquid level in the tank.
21. Excellent on-site diagnostic support with soiling station status and value reports.
2.1 MBSoiling Station Applications
The soling station is used to measure power generation losses due to soiling of panels
in of photovoltaic plant. Number of soiling stations to be installed in a plant will
depend on its topology and size. Guidelines provided in IEC-61724-1 should be
followed.
Soiling station can be used in various applications:
•Site resource and generation capacity assessment.
•Scheduling of PV panel cleaning.
•Plant performance evaluation.
2.2 Soiling Parameters
Following soiling parameters are measured and calculated:
Sl.
No.
Parameter
Description
1
Clean Panel Voltage
Clean Panel open circuit voltage
2
Clean Panel Current
Clean Panel short circuit current
3
Clean Panel Temperature
Clean Panel temperature

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Table -2.2: Soiling parameters
2.3 MBSoiling Station Models
Various options and models available are shown in table 2.3 below:
Table-2.3: Soiling Station models
Note: C: Soiling station with cleaning option.
4
Soiled Panel Voltage
Soiled Panel open circuit voltage
5
Soiled Panel Current
Soiled Panel short circuit current
6
Soiled Panel Temperature
Soiled Panel temperature
7
Reference panel Effective
Irradiation - EffRadClean
Calculated based on panel short circuit
current and panel temperature for
reference panel.
This calculation also compensates for the
panel temperature and the panel
temperature coefficient.
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Soiled panel Effective
Irradiation - EffRadSoil
Calculated based panel short circuit
current and panel temperature for soiled
panel.
This calculation also compensates for the
panel temperature and the panel
temperature coefficient.
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Soiling Ratio
EffRadSoil/ EffRadClean
10
Soiling Index (%) (SLI)
(1-EffRadSoil/ EffRadClean)*100.
This calculation is also compensated for
calibration constant of soiled panel.
Sl.
No.
Features
700XXX
700XXH
700XMX
700XMH
700CXX
700CXH
700CMX
700CMH
1
Port Serial Port -1
RS-485 (MODBUS RTU
Slave)
●
●
●
●
2
Port ETH
(MODBUS TCP Slave, Web
Server, FTP and SNTP)
●
●
●
●
3
Cellular Modem
-
●
-
●
4
MMC SD Card (16GB)
●
●
●
●
5
Maximum number of
MODBUS TCP Slave
clients
4
4
4
4
6
SNTP Client
1
1
1
1
7
File Transfer Clients
2
2
2
2
8
RTC (battery backed up)
●
●
●
●
9
Solar PV Power supply
●
●
-
-
10
AC Power supply
●
●
●
●
11
Auto Panel cleaning
-
-
●
●

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M: Soiling station with modem
H: Soiling station with high wattage solar panel

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3MBSoiling Station Installation
MBSoiling Station connections are described in this section. All connections
described here may not be available in your soiling station. Features and connections
available will depend on the model selected.
3.1 MBSoiling Station With Solar Charger:
Soiling station can be powered via solar PV panel or AC power supply.
Diagram for soiling station is shown in figure 3.1 below.
Fig - 3.1 Soiling station with solar charger
Parts of soling station with solar charger are listed in table-3.1 below.
Sl.
No.
Part
Model
Description
Soiling Station
1
Pole
MS Pole- three
meters
Galvanized pole with tripod and
accessories.

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Table- 3.1: Parts of soiling station
Measurement panels
boom Pipes
Galvanised- for installing
measurement solar panels along
with mounting accessories.
2
Panel Clean
50W
Clean solar panel
3
Panel Soiled
50W
Soiled solar panel
4
Temperature sensor
–clean panel
MBMet-801B-3000
PT1000 with three meters cable
5
Temperature sensor
–soiled panel
MBMet-801B-3000
PT1000 with three meters cable
7
Lightning Arrester
Copper
8
Copper strip
25x2.5mm –Five
meters
For earthing lightening arrestor
9
Solar charging
panel
50W
Solar charging panel
10
Charging panel
boom Pipes
Galvanised- for installing
charging solar panel along with
mounting accessories.
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Cables
Required interconnecting cables
Soiling Station Control Box
1
Soiling station
controller
MBMet-700X
Soiling station controller as per
selected model
2
Battery charger
Battery charger
3
Battery
16AH
Battery to power soiling station
4
AC Power supply
12V/ 3A
Backup power supply
5
Enclosure
IP65
6
Enclosure mounting
accessories
7
Power supply and
serial port
protection devices

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3.2 MBSoiling Station –Without Solar Charger:
Diagram for soiling station without solar charger is shown in figure 3.2 below.
Fig - 3.2 Soiling station without solar charger
Parts of soling station without solar charger are listed in table-3.2 below.
Sl.
No.
Part
Model
Description
Soiling Station
1
Pole
MS Pole- three
meters
Galvanized pole with tripod and
accessories.
Measurement panels
boom Pipes
Galvanised- for installing
measurement solar panels along
with mounting accessories.
2
Panel Clean
50W
Clean solar panel
3
Panel Soiled
50W
Soiled solar panel
4
Temperature sensor
–clean panel
MBMet-801B-3000
PT1000 with three meters cable
5
Temperature sensor
–soiled panel
MBMet-801B-3000
PT1000 with three meters cable
7
Lightning Arrester
Copper

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Table- 3.2: Soiling station without solar charger
3.3 MBSoiling Station - Cleaning:
Clean panel of the soiling station should be cleaned periodically depending on local
dust conditions. This should be done at least once in a day.
Soiled panel should be cleaned as per cleaning schedule of the generation PV panels.
8
Copper strip
25x2.5mm –Five
meters
For earthing lightening arrestor
9
Cables
Required interconnecting cables
Soiling Station Control Box
1
Soiling station
controller
MBMet-
700X
Soiling station controller as per
selected model
2
Enclosure
IP65
3
Enclosure mounting
accessories
4
Power supply and
serial port
protection devices

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3.4 MBSoiling Station Controller Connections
Soling station controller connections are explained here.
3.4.1 PV Panel Interface
Connections for clean and soiled solar panels are shown in figure -3.4.1 below.
Figure-3.4.1: Clean and soiled panel connections
Details of measurement PV panels connections are provided below in table 3.4.1.
Table-3.4.1: Measurement solar panel connections
Terminal
Wire
Colour
Description
Remarks
T18
White
W1
Clean panel temperature
measurement using 3-wire RTD
Connection.
T19
White
W2
T20
Red
W3
T21
Red
W4
T22
White
W1
Soiled panel temperature
measurement using 3-wire RTD
Connection.
T23
White
W2
T24
Red
W3
T25
Red
W4
T26
Red
Clean Panel +
Clean panel measurement
T27
Black
Clean Panel -
T28
Red
Soiled Panel +
Soiled panel measurement
T29
Black
Soiled Panel -

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3.4.2 MBSoiling Station Power Supply Connections
Soiling station controller power supply connections are shown in figure 3.4.2 below.
These terminals are not plugin type.
Figure-3.4.2: Soiling station controller power supply connections.
Power supply connections details are listed in table-3.4.2 below.
Table-3.4.2: Soiling station controller connections
Terminal
Wire Colour
Function
Remarks
T1
Red
V+
Voltage Range: DC 9 to
32VDC
Power Consumption (Without
modem) –4W
Power Consumption (With
modem)- 10W
Use proper MCB.
T2
Green
Earth
T3
Black
V-

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3.4.3 Serial Port -RS485
Soiling station serial port - RS485 are shown in figure 3.4.3 below. This port can be
used only as MODBUS slave to read soling parameters.
Figure-3.4.3: Soiling station serial port-1 (RS485) connections.
Note: Serial port-2 is not used.
Connection details for the serial port are listed in table-3.4.3.1 below.
Table-3.4.3.1: Soiling station serial port- RS485 connections
Default configuration for the serial RS485 port is provided in table 3.4.3.2 below.
Table-3.4.3.2: Default port configuration parameters
Terminal
Wire Colour
Function
Remarks
T7
White
A
Isolated RS485 port.
LED Rx and Tx provide indication
for port activity.
Can operate only as MODBUS
RTU Slave.
Use low capacitance, twisted pair
and shielded cable for connecting
devices to the port.
T8
Green
Shield
T9
Brown
B
S. No.
Description
Value
1
Baud rate
9600
2
Data bits
8
3
Parity
None
4
Stop bits
1
5
MODBUS Slave address
1

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These parameters can be changed via the embedded web server.
3.4.4 Port ETH
This ETH port (base 10MHz) is multi- function port.
Figure-3.4.4.1: Soiling station ETH Port.
Use standard LAN cable with RJ 45 connector for connecting to the port.
Port activity LED are provided on the connector.
This port is used for following operations:
i) Configuration of soiling station via embedded web server.
ii) Downloading logged file.
iii) MODBUS TCP slave (multiple masters) to provide measured and collected
parameters to other devices and SCADA.
iv) SNTP Client for time synchronization.
v) File transfer client (ftp).
Configuration details for ETH port are provided here.
Default network configuration for the ETH port is provided in table 3.4.4 below.
Table-3.4.4: Default ETH port network configuration
These parameters can be changed via the embedded web server.
Procedure for setting default IP address in the soiling station is provided below. This
procedure should be followed only if IP address of the soiling station is not known. If
S. No.
Description
Value
1
Device IP
192.168.100.222
2
Network Mask
255.255.255.0
3
Network Gateway IP
0.0.0.0
4
Primary DNP IP
8.8.8.8
5
Secondary DNS IP
8.8.4.4

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soiling station IP address is known, use webserver in the soiling station to set the
required IP address.
Figure -3.4.4.2: Jumpers for setting default IP address in the soiling station.
1. For normal operation jumper 6 and 4 shall be in open condition.
2. For setting default IP address short jumper 6 and 4 for about two seconds.
3. Remove the jumper between 6 and 4.
4. Wait for about five seconds.
5. Soiling station will restart with default IP address. Only default IP address and
Subnet shall be set to default values.
6. Verify default IP address by using ping and / or logging in the soiling station
webserver.
3.4.5 SD Memory Card
Soiling station supports microSD memory card up-to 16GB.
Figure-3.4.5: Soiling station SD card slot.
MicroSD card is used for data logging.
Configuration of data logging operations can be done via webserver.

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3.4.6 Internal Modem (Optional)
Availability of internal modem is based on selected model.
High speed 4G modem (CAT-1) is provided.
Figure-3.3.6: Soiling station internal modem.
Micro SIM slot is provided. Push the SIM inside to lock or un-lock the same.
Use the antenna provided along with the modem.
Contact our sales team if high gain antenna is required.
Modem configuration details are provided here.
Details of modem status LEDs are provided in table-3.4.6 below.
Table-3.4.6: Modem status LED.
The modem can be used for following operations:
i) SNTP Client for time synchronization.
ii) File transfer client (ftp).
Configuration details for the modem are provided here.
LED
Colour
Remarks
Modem
Status
Green
Always OFF: Modem not ready.
Always ON: Modem ready for operation.
Net Status
Blue
Always OFF: Power OFF.
Always ON: Searching for network.
ON 200mSec and OFF 200mSec: 4G
registered.
ON 800mSec and OFF 800mSec: 2G/ 3G
registered.

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4Embedded Webserver
MBSoiling station provides embedded webserver for configuration and diagnostics.
Following functionality is provided via the embedded webserver.
i) Soling Station configuration.
ii) Monitor measured parameters.
iii) Download and delete logged files
iv) User configuration.
v) Soiling Station diagnostic messages
vi) Dropdown list for section of pre-selected options.
vii) Limit validation for configured parameter values.
viii) Hoover (take cursor) over the parameter to get further details on the same.
ix) Details of not all parameters have been provided in this manual (to reduce the
size). Further details can be obtained by using hoover over the parameter.
x) Auto configured parameters will not have editable configuration field.
xi) Configuration of parameters not applicable will be disabled.
xii) Limits are displayed for parameters with limits (allowed minimum and
maximum values). Default values are provided for most of the parameters.
xiii) After editing any parameter click the cursor on any part of the screen. The
parameter valued checked for errors and will be saved if there no error. If any
error is found, same will be indicated on right hand top corner of the screen.
Wrong values will not be saved and menu option for the parameter will turn
red till the wrong value is corrected.
xiv) All edited parameters will be marked till the same has not been committed.
xv) Page menu option for the parameter will be marked with ‘E’. This mark will
be provided at all hierarchy levels (up wards) till “MBLogger Configuration’.
xvi) All configuration of parameters will be saved on ‘Commit’ operation. Edit
marks will also be removed from all edited parameters on ‘Commit’ operation
being successful.