meteocontrol North America, a subsidiary of meteocontrol GmbH in Germany, and viasys Intelligent Video GmbH are set to revolutionize solar monitoring in the United States PV market by entering into a long-term partnership. The aim of the collaboration is to offer PV-system operators a turn-key monitoring solution at a great value and provide North American customers with professional technical support.
Consolidating the systems will result in cost savings for customers because video surveillance can be integrated into meteocontrol’s monitoring portal without the need for any additional infrastructure in solar farms, since the systems can share the same network components, cabling and control cabinet.
“The challenges involved in securing and monitoring solar parks are impressively similar,” said Anson Moran, CEO of meteocontrol North America. “The solution is optimized alarm management. We will conduct high-level data assessments using video, data analysis and artificial intelligence,”
As the founder of viasys Solar Secure, Anson has the necessary background for the position as well as extensive experience in perimeter security for PV plants. “The collaboration will solidify our reputation as a reliable partner because our product portfolios complement each other perfectly,” said Martin Schneider, Managing Director of meteocontrol GmbH. “Through our new collaboration with viasys Intelligent Video, we will be able to provide additional value to the market.” “Our customers will immediately benefit from an improved range of products and a more efficient service, from a single source,” Schneider added. “In addition, we will be able to position ourselves even better within the PV market. This will make us more competitive and help us increase existing market share as well as tap into new markets.”
Interlocking the viasys and meteocontrol systems will simplify the technical operation management of solar parks and make them even more secure. When the viasys security system is integrated into an operation manager’s portal view, for example, they will be able to see what is happening near the system at any time and track it with precision all the way up to the access control. The meteocontrol monitoring portal signals the operating status in the status message and provides information as to whether the security system is active.
“There are also other developments in the pipeline,” adds Moran. “The operation manager should be able to receive the alarm messages directly in the ticket system, log them there and create the report for the investor. The messages will no longer need to be processed separately from monitoring in the security control room. We also want to set up an O&M camera-based “Awareness System” designed to provide operation managers with the required view of the system on site without the need to invest in an extensive and complete perimeter security system.”
