Spectrafy SolarSIM-D2 User Manual
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Spectrafy SolarSIM-D2 User Manual

Solar spectral irradiance meter
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User Manual:
Solar Spectral Irradiance Meter
SolarSIM-D2
© Spectrafy, 2024

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Summary of Contents for Spectrafy SolarSIM-D2

  • Page 1 User Manual: Solar Spectral Irradiance Meter SolarSIM-D2 © Spectrafy, 2024...
  • Page 2 Tel: 1-613-237-2020 info@spectrafy.com www.spectrafy.com Spectrafy reserves the right to make modifications to the user manual without prior notice. Warranty and liability Spectrafy guarantees that the Solar Spectral Irradiance Meter (SolarSIM-D2) has been thor- oughly tested to ensure that it meets all of the stated specifications. A two year warranty is provided from date of invoice, subject to correct installation and operation.

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    4 Connectivity 4.1 SolarSIM-D2 COMBOX ......4.2 Serial-over-Ethernet converter ......
  • Page 4 Dimensional drawing of a mounting plate....The SolarSIM-D2 COMBOX......

  • Page 5: Introduction

    D2) from Spectrafy. Please become familiar with this instruction manual for a full under- standing of the use of your SolarSIM-D2. The SolarSIM-D2 is designed to be a cost-effective tool for accurately determining the solar spectrum and direct normal irradiance (DNI) as part of on-site solar resource assessments and module performance characterization studies.

  • Page 6: Main Components

    1 Main components The exploded view of SolarSIM-D2 components is shown in Figure 1, which includes • a front cap, • a front window, • bandpass filters, • an enclosure, • a backplate, and • a connector. 1.1 Front cap The front cap is used to secure the front window glass to the enclosure via six screws.

  • Page 7: The Exploded View Of Solarsim-D2 Components

    Figure 1: The exploded view of SolarSIM-D2 components. Figure 2: SolarSIM-D2 main dimensions.

  • Page 8: Installation

    1. Place the SolarSIM-D2 on the mounting plate as per Figure 4. 2. Place the spring under the SolarSIM-D2 so that it roughly aligns with one of the mounting holes on the SolarSIM-D2. 3. Insert the mounting screw through the SolarSIM-D2’s mounting hole and the spring.

  • Page 9: Assembled Solarsim-D2 On A Mounting Plate

    Figure 3: Assembled SolarSIM-D2 on a mounting plate. Figure 4: Dimensional drawing of a mounting plate.

  • Page 10: Maintenance

    The SolarSIM-D2 needs very little maintenance. The most important task is to make sure that the front window of the SolarSIM-D2 is clean at all times, as the accumulation of dirt can lead to misrepresented data. Furthermore, the alignment of the SolarSIM-D2 should be checked regularly.

  • Page 11: Connectivity

    Option 1 uses the SolarSIM-D2 Communication Box (COMBOX) - a seamless link between a PC and the SolarSIM-D2, as shown in Figure 5. A standard 6 ft USB cable is connected from the COMBOX to a PC. On the other side, a 10 m RS-485 communication cable is connected from the COMBOX to the SolarSIM-D2.

  • Page 12: Solarsim-D2 Combox

    6. Once the FTDI drivers are installed, restart the PC. 4.2 Serial-over-Ethernet converter For remote test site applications the SolarSIM-D2 can be connected to a networked PC via a suitable serial-over-Ethernet (SOE) converter - such as the ICP DAS I-7188-E2 .

  • Page 13: Server Configuration For Vxcomm Software

    Figure 6: Server configuration for VxComm software. Note, the SolarSIM-D2 supports only the ASCII RS-485 communication mode. Figure 7: Port configuration for VxComm software. Note, the SolarSIM-D2 supports only the ASCII RS-485 communication mode.

  • Page 14: Datalogger

    4.3 Datalogger The connectivity with a datalogger is similar to the SolarSIM-D2’s integration with the SOE converter. The SolarSIM-D2 communication cable is connected to the corresponding datalogger inputs as per Section 4.2. The datalogger must have a spare RS-485 port.

  • Page 15: Adjustment Of The Solarsim-D2 Daq User Settings

    The Sampling sets the data acquisition resolution for the entire SolarSIM-D2 data set, while the rate determines how often to poll the measurements over the duration of the DAQ rate. If...

  • Page 16: Using The Software

    Once launched, the program automatically searches for the SolarSIM-D2 calibration file. If the SolarSIM-D2 DAQ detects multiple calibration files, the application will prompt the user to select the serial number of the desired SolarSIM-D2, as shown in Figure 11.

  • Page 17: Browsing To The Calibration File

    Figure 10: Browsing to the calibration file. Figure 11: Selecting multiple calibration files. Figure 12: Failing to detect the SolarSIM-D2. Figure 13: Changing and verifying geographic settings.

  • Page 18: Data Type And Storage

    A snippet of the SolarSIM-D2 spectrum file is presented in Figure 15. As shown, the wavelength column is not included to minimize the file size. Rather the 3721 values of the spectral irradiance in units of W/m /nm are presented in a single column format.

  • Page 19: Data Collection Size

    150 MB. The user is advised to Custom spectrum timer Spectrum timer user settings.conf use the options in the file to reduce the daily spectral data set size as desired. Figure 15: SolarSIM-D2 spectrum data file snippet. Figure 16: SolarSIM-D2 daily summary file snippet.

  • Page 20: Changing Default Language For Non-Unicode Characters

    5.6 Changing default language for non-Unicode characters For users of computers with non-Latin based languages, such as Chinese, the SolarSIM-D2 DAQ may improperly display non-Unicode characters. To solve this problem, the user must change the default language for non-Unicode programs to English. To do so, first locate the...

  • Page 21: Changing The Default Language For Non-Unicode Characters

    Figure 19: Changing the default language for non-Unicode characters..

  • Page 22: Datalogger Setup

    Section 4.2. The serial port is then configured with standard serial parameters as per Table 3. 6.2 Serial commands There is only one serial command that one needs to use to acquire the SolarSIM-D2 data: Nxxx E where corresponds to the 3-digit serial number of your SolarSIM-D2.

  • Page 23: Processed Output Example For Nxxx E Command

    The aforementioned example string is parsed in Table 4. Please note, this string structure applies to the SolarSIM-D2 with the serial number 112 and above. Nxxx E Table 4: Processed output example for command.

  • Page 24: Raw Data File Format

    6.3 Raw data file format The SolarSG software requires a .csv file in a specific format based on the SolarSIM-D2 raw data output. The file must have the following headings with the corresponding data: Timestamp Timezone (hr) Ambient temperature (C)

  • Page 25: Solarsg Application

    The SolarSG application is an executable that the user must run to process the raw data from the SolarSIM-D2 into the spectral data. This software is located on the provided USB key inside a folder with contents as per Figure 21, which initially include: atmParam.data...

  • Page 26: Appendix: Using The Solarsg Application

    Appendix: Using the SolarSG Application...
  • Page 27 Fig. 2. user_settings file showing altitude, longitude and latitude of the SolarSIM location and Automode set to 1(on). 3. If you are already working with the SolarSIM raw data .csv files, skip to Step 4. Otherwise, format your SolarSIM raw data into daily .csv files with the following format: a. SolarSIM-D2 Filename format: yyyy-mm-dd_SSIM_Raw_Data_SNxxx.csv...
  • Page 28 5. Double-click the SolarSG application – it will start processing the raw data. 6. Processed data will be stored in the folder “~\Processed Data\Direct” “~\Processed Data\Global” within the SolarSG Folder for the SolarSIM-D2 or SolarSIM-G, respectively. a. If nothing happens, check the error logs to make sure everything is set up properly.
  • Page 29 Command line input to generate processed data with a spectrum: ~/ SolarSG.exe “yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss, timezone,ambient_pressure,ambient_temperature,internal_temperature,internal_humidity, V1,V2,V3,V4,V5,V6,C:\filepath\to\spectrum.csv,C:\filepath\to\calibration_file.json” ii. Command line input to generate processed data without a spectrum: ~/ SolarSG.exe “ yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss, timezone,ambient_pressure,ambient_temperature,internal_temperature,internal_humidity, V1,V2,V3,V4,V5,V6,-1,C:\filepath\to\calibration_file.json” SolarSIM-D2 output data string format:...
  • Page 30 “yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss,timezone,elevation,azimuth,ambient_temperature,ambient_pressure, internal_temperature,DNI,Ozone,PWV,AOD 368nm,AOD 412nm,AOD 500nm,AOD 675nm,AOD 862nm,AOD 1024nm,I1,I2,I3,I4,I5,I6” b. SolarSIM-G i. Command line input to generate processed data with a spectrum: ~/ SolarSG.exe “yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss, timezone,ambient_temperature,ambient_pressure,ambient_humidity,internal_temperature, internal_humidity,V1,V2,V3,V4,V5,V6,V7,V8,V9,C:\filepath\to\spectrum.csv,C:\filepath\to\calibr ation_file.json” ii. Command line input to generate processed data without a spectrum: ~/ SolarSG.exe “yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss, timezone,ambient_temperature,ambient_pressure,ambient_humidity,internal_temperature,...

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