25 years meteocontrol
Accelerating the energy revolution
25 years ago, the founders of meteocontrol had a vision. They were convinced that renewable energies are the future and that we can accelerate and shape their development.
In 1998, the basis for this was created in Augsburg by founding a small engineering office for energy, measurement and data technology. In pioneering work, we created the first data loggers for solar power plants, the first system for remote monitoring and the first internet-based evaluation and analysis tools.
The beginnings go back even further, when engineers implemented a remote measurement network to map photovoltaic systems for the so called 1,000 Roofs-Program. It was the world's first scientifically supervised field test for grid-connected photovoltaic systems.
These achievements provided the strong foundation for subsequent exciting developments to today's meteocontrol as a leading provider of innovative energy and asset management solutions.
Driven by our vision, ingenuity and years of experience, we remain true to our promise to continuously and holistically evolve our solutions. Our goal? To accelerate the energy transition and enable a 100% renewable energy future.
The motivating idea for the founding of meteocontrol was how photovoltaic systems could be operated so efficiently that they could compete with fossil energy sources and nuclear power. In the early days, we tried to bring tangible benefits to individuals and businesses by measuring yields and visualizing them in a way that everyone could understand. I am very delighted to see how meteocontrol has evolved and how it is powering the future of renewable energy.
Gerd Heilscher, Managing Director at meteocontrol 1990 to 2006
How the blue'Log evolved
The WEB'log, which was first introduced in 2002, has undergone continuous further development and improvement over time. However, it became clear that the technical basis had become outdated over time.
The development of the blue'log was therefore a logical consequence and the result of an independent engineering by meteocontrol. Based on many years of experience and the extensive know-how gained through the WEB'log, a new product was designed and developed. Through this process, meteocontrol was able to respond precisely to the needs of the market.
The blue'log was developed in 2016 in response to these challenges and offered significant improvements over the WEB'log. The data logger had powerful hardware, sufficient memory and modern software technologies. It also met current IT security requirements.
With the blue'Log, meteocontrol had taken a step into the future to offer customers an advanced and reliable solution for the monitoring. From 2018, the XM version of the blue'Log X series was added to the meteocontrol portfolio, followed by the XC version for plant control in 2019. It was the first certified plant controller for PV systems in Germany.
How the VCOM Cloud evolved
Around the millennium, the first Internet-based portal was created under the name safer'sun. But the equipment and design were soon no longer up to date. The development of VCOM began in 2009, when the idea of an integrated control station was born.
The approach was to offer a comprehensive solution for the technical operation management of photovoltaic plants. Then, in 2011, the VCOM was introduced at a customer, the company a+f (now Iqony Solar Energy Solutions - SENS). Step by step, the new portal replaced the previous one, safer'sun.
The VCOM has been continuously developed, and in 2014 the launch of the new portal generation of the VCOM took place. This version introduced even more comprehensive features and improved usability.
Finally, in 2019, the VCOM CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management System) was made available. This enhancement enabled digitization of service calls and holistic asset management (master data management). In the same year, the VCOM was already able to record a monitored output of 14 GW.
With each further development, VCOM has made its contribution to increasing efficiency and optimization in monitoring and technical operations management and has established itself as a pioneering tool for monitoring renewable energy systems.
Today, our cooperation with meteocontrol is a close and trusting partnership. For many years, we have been jointly developing the VCOM Cloud - in order to offer O&M teams and customers optimal solutions for effective monitoring and efficient asset management. In this way, we have actively helped to shape many changes in the industry. This makes IBC SOLAR and meteocontrol a great team and gives us the assurance and the trust to continue to grow together in the future.
Sebastian Geier, Senior Vice President Product and Innovation Management, IBC SOLAR
One of the key reasons we have chosen to collaborate with meteocontrol is their provision of leading technology, both in software and hardware for energy monitoring and control. In a fast-changing market with high demands, meteocontrol stands out by continuously improving their technology and exploring new ways to enhance performance. Their commitment to partnership and professionalism is evident in every interaction as they go above and beyond to ensure the success of their clients.
Mickey Arzuan, General Manager, Ledico Green Energy
As a leading O&M provider in the European photovoltaic market we rely on meteocontrol's VCOM Cloud and CMMS to optimize the performance of our clients' assets. The digitalized and automated workflows are a huge time-saver for our O&M processes and, as our managed portfolio is expanding across Europe, the rapid access to information is becoming increasingly important. Together with meteocontrol we provide solutions to ensure our clients the highest efficiency of the photovoltaic systems we manage.
Aljosha Stefan Torri, Executive President, Stern Energy
Did you know that...?
Surprising facts about meteocontrol
... about 17,000 blue’Log XM/XC are online worldwide.
... in Technical Consulting more than 3,000 yield reports for approx. 25.6 GWp have been completed.
... the VCOM Cloud is used in 140 countries.
... our hardware developers used work titles from Greek mythology? For example, the internal project name of the former data logger operating system was Apollon.
.. one of the earliest systems in the portal is located at the Messe Freiburg. It has been providing reliable data since November 2002.
... in the 90s, the production of solar power for a customer was once visualized with a traffic light. In the production of bathtubs, it showed when the PV system on the roof was producing electricity (green) and when employees could switch on the machine for deep-drawn bottoms and when not (red).
As energy supplier for Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica and Honduras, we needed a unified and efficient tool to manage our asset of photovoltaic plants. With VCOM Cloud, we have it all covered, from production to the grid, making our operations and maintenance seamless. meteocontrol has been very attentive to our feedback and made sure to align their product with our market requirements and future needs. It is a top-notch solution.
Carlos A. Moreno, T&D Operation Leader, Celsia
Together with meteocontrol, we are pursuing an ambitious goal: to drive the global energy transition and improve access to clean electricity worldwide.
In emerging markets, companies are growing rapidly and need more affordable, and sustainable energy. meteocontrol's standardized solutions enable us to implement solar projects quickly and flexibly, without compromising on fulfilling rigorous requirements and ensuring high quality. We look forward to many more successful projects and to making a meaningful difference together.
Martin Baart, CEO and co-Founder, ecoligo
We are pleased to look back on almost 20 years of cooperation with meteocontrol as a loyal partner, with whom we have been able to work continuously on solutions. Also for the future, we can rely on the competence of meteocontrol in our joint development for the integration of batteries and generators for the control and monitoring system of hybrid systems. We congratulate meteocontrol on its 25th anniversary. Due to the many good experiences in our cooperation, we wish to have meteocontrol as a reliable partner during the next 25 years as well.
Thorsten Preugschas, CEO, Soventix GmbH
1976
Founding of the Engineering Office for Solar Technology (Ingenieursbüro für Solartechnik - IST)
2003
All data measured at the system on site was sent via email to the safer'Sun portal. The visualization was browser-based. The user could be notified by SMS, fax or e-mail about errors at the plant, such as an inverter failure.
2004
The company grew and the office in Stadtjägerstraße became more cramped. Every free space had to be used.
2006
Insight into the portal
2007
Insight trade fair presence of meteocontrol
2009
1 GWp monitored power
In addition, the EEG 2009 introduced for the first time the possibility that distributed generation plants could be regulated by the grid operator in order to minimize grid fluctuations.
2010
Founding of meteocontrol North America, California
2012 - 2015
The solar industry in crisis
Numerous companies went bankrupt and tens of thousands of jobs in the solar industry were lost.
2014
Launch of the new generation of the VCOM portal (Virtual Control Room)
The WEB'log data logger generation, which had become technically obsolete in the meantime, was replaced by the innovative blue'Log X-Series.
2015
Foundation of the office for software development in Taiwan.
Foundation of the subcompany Raising Power GmbH, Augsburg for construction, technical management, maintenance and repair of PV plants on site.
2017
Establishment of meteocontrol Japan Corp. as a joint venture with Suntech Power Japan Corp.
Founding of joint venture meteocontrol Chile SpA.
Founding of joint venture meteocontrol Central America SA de CV
2018
Introduction of blue'Log X-Series XM/XC.
Founding of meteocontrol Australia Melbourne
2019
blue'Log XC (Control) for plant control was launched.
Launch of VCOM CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management System)
2022
Introduction of Smart Alarms
The global growth of renewable energy makes it necessary to use strong O&M processes to increase time efficiency in green energy generation.
1976
Founding of the Engineering Office for Solar Technology (Ingenieursbüro für Solartechnik - IST)
2003
All data measured at the system on site was sent via email to the safer'Sun portal. The visualization was browser-based. The user could be notified by SMS, fax or e-mail about errors at the plant, such as an inverter failure.
2004
The company grew and the office in Stadtjägerstraße became more cramped. Every free space had to be used.
2006
Insight into the portal
2007
Insight trade fair presence of meteocontrol
2009
1 GWp monitored power
In addition, the EEG 2009 introduced for the first time the possibility that distributed generation plants could be regulated by the grid operator in order to minimize grid fluctuations.
2010
Founding of meteocontrol North America, California
2012 - 2015
The solar industry in crisis
Numerous companies went bankrupt and tens of thousands of jobs in the solar industry were lost.
2014
Launch of the new generation of the VCOM portal (Virtual Control Room)
The WEB'log data logger generation, which had become technically obsolete in the meantime, was replaced by the innovative blue'Log X-Series.
2015
Foundation of the office for software development in Taiwan.
Foundation of the subcompany Raising Power GmbH, Augsburg for construction, technical management, maintenance and repair of PV plants on site.
2017
Establishment of meteocontrol Japan Corp. as a joint venture with Suntech Power Japan Corp.
Founding of joint venture meteocontrol Chile SpA.
Founding of joint venture meteocontrol Central America SA de CV
2018
Introduction of blue'Log X-Series XM/XC.
Founding of meteocontrol Australia Melbourne
2019
blue'Log XC (Control) for plant control was launched.
Launch of VCOM CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management System)
2022
Introduction of Smart Alarms
The global growth of renewable energy makes it necessary to use strong O&M processes to increase time efficiency in green energy generation.
1976
The inauguration of the Engineering Office for Solar Technology (Ingenieursbüro für Solartechnik, abbreviated to "IST") laid the foundation for research, planning and consulting in the field of solar technology.
1990
The branch office of IST EnergieTechnik was founded in Augsburg by Gerd Heilscher. This intensified the research work in the field of photovoltaics.
1990
The status of photovoltaics in Germany
In Germany, solar energy had been considered more of an option for supplying off-grid loads and electrical power to appliances and small systems, rather than an option for feeding energy into the public grid.
The installed electrical capacity of photovoltaics was 2 MW.
Systems were mostly used for research and demonstration purposes and built on behalf of power suppliers.
Small, decentralized grid-connected photovoltaic systems were almost unknown at that time - especially systems installed on or on top of buildings. There was a lack of experience, therefore, about their planning, construction and operation.
1990 - 1992
The 1,000 Roofs Program
With the so-called 1,000 Roofs Program, this changed.
The funding program of the previous Federal Ministry of Research and Technology (BMWT) not only aimed to promote photovoltaics, but also to determine the exact state of the art and the resulting need for development.
Funding was provided for grid-connected photovoltaic systems of 1 to 5 kWp mounted on the roofs of single- and two-family households.
The 1,000 Roofs Program was the world's first scientifically supervised field test for grid-connected photovoltaic systems. This broad-based test installed and tested nearly 2,000 of these grid-connected photovoltaic systems between 1991 and 1995.
Other countries launched similar programs, such as the 70,000 Roofs Program in Japan (1994) and the 1,000,000 Roofs Program in the United States (1997).
On behalf of the Federal Ministry, the engineers of IST developed the first remote measurement network for surveying photovoltaic systems as part of the program. The results of the surveys formed the basis for the future remote monitoring system safer'Sun and the data logger WEB'log.
1991
The legal basis for feeding solar power into the grid
The Electricity Feed Act - the precursor of the Renewable Energy Sources Act (Erneuerbare Energien Gesetz EEG) - provided the legal basis for feeding electricity from renewable sources into the public grid.
1995 - 2001
The first boom of the Internet
The Internet became increasingly popular. More and more computers were connected to each other and the number of domains registered in Germany increased rapidly.
1998
meteocontrol developed from the spin-off of IST EnergieCom
On June 29, 1998, the deed of partnership of IST EnergieCom was signed. Managing director was Gerd Heilscher.
On July 13, 1998, IST EnergieCom GmbH was entered in the Augsburg Commercial Register. The registered office of the company was Stadtjägerstraße 11 in Augsburg. The office premises were located in a former bakery.
The purpose of the company was to operate an engineering office in the fields of energy, measurement and data technology. This activity also included the trade with hardware and software products. With the founding of IST EnergieCom, there was an increasing focus on the monitoring and visualization of solar power plants.
1999
Launch of the 100,000 Roofs Program
The 100,000 Roofs Program was launched in January 1999. The funding was to be used up to and including 2004 to co-finance 100,000 PV systems of an average size of 3 kWp on the roofs of interested applicants.
1999 - 2001
First internet-based evaluations
The first internet-based evaluations were developed during this time. However, the appropriate hardware for data acquisition did not exist. In cooperation with development partners or the first customers, the data logger - a forerunner of the later WEB'log - was developed. In 2001, KACO assured an acceptance of 10 devices.
The passage of the Renewable Energy Sources Act (Erneuerbare Energien Gesetz EEG) in 2000 intensified the development of cost-effective monitoring concepts and services to minimize downtime and secure long-term yields.
2000
The Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) came into force
The aim was to transform the energy supply in Germany and increase the share of renewable energies (photovoltaics, water, wind and biogas) in the electricity supply - to 80% by 2050.
Electricity from renewable energies was now to have priority over fossil energy sources in the public power grid. In addition, feed-in tariffs and levies were set.
Compared to the Electricity Feed Act (1991) for the technical opening for photovoltaics, the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG, 2000) is considered an economic opening for the feed-in of electricity from photovoltaics or renewable energies. It is considered an important instrument for the expansion of renewable energies and the energy transition.
For each solar kilowatt hour fed into the public grid, the system operator received a feed-in tariff fixed for 20 years. This was initially 99 pfennigs (51 cents) net.
Monitoring became increasingly important to minimize downtime and secure yields in the long term.
2002
Launch of the remote monitoring system
In close coordination with KACO Gerätetechnik GmbH, specifications were defined and the first data logger ready for series production was developed.
The remote monitoring system, consisting of the data logger "WEB’log" and the Internet-based evaluation and analysis tool "safer'Sun" was launched.
As a joint venture between S.A.G. Solarstrom AG in Freiburg (75%) and the Swiss holding company JKP AG (25%), IST EnergieCom GmbH changed its name to meteocontrol GmbH. The entry in the commercial register took place on April 11, 2002.
2003
All data measured at the system on site was sent via email to the safer'Sun portal. The visualization was browser-based. The user could be notified by SMS, fax or e-mail about errors at the plant, such as an inverter failure.
If settings were changed on the WEB'log via the portal, the users usually had to wait 15 minutes until the device reported again and they could check whether the changes were successful. Today, changes are implemented and checked live.
The data logger WEB'log was compatible with the 3 inverter manufacturers Siemens (Sinvert Solar), Kaco and SMA (SunnyBoy). When placing their orders, customers indicated which inverter manufacturer is used.
Today in 2023, the blue'Log is compatible with 69 different inverter manufacturers, with a total of 176 different series.
If you add other devices such as energy meters, sensors or string measurement technology, the blue'Log is compatible with more than 3,300 devices - all of which are included as standard.
2004
The company grew and the office in Stadtjägerstraße became more cramped. Every free space had to be used. The former bathroom was converted into a storage area.
Other countries passed laws similar to the EEG in Germany to promote renewable energy, such as the Real Decreto in Spain (2004).
2005
The first branch office of meteocontrol outside Germany was opened in Madrid, Spain.
Founding of the technical consulting division. So far, more than 3,000 yield reports have been prepared for approximately 25.6 GWp. The largest project for which a yield calculation has been prepared so far was 611 MWp in Finland.
2008
meteocontrol took over the development and production site of I2SE in Moers (NRW).
The requirements for the control of photovoltaic plants and feed-in management increased. The number of generation plants by renewable energies in the medium voltage grid increased more and more, so that in 2008 - with validity from 01.01.2009 - a new medium voltage guideline appeared. This required all generation plants to participate in grid support (reactive power control).
2009
1 GWp monitored power
The first idea for an integrated control room - the later VCOM Cloud (Virtual Control Room) - was developed.
meteocontrol reached the 1 GWp mark in monitored power.
In addition, the EEG 2009 introduced the possibility for grid operators to regulate distributed generation plants to minimize grid fluctuations.
With the release of the EEG 2009, grid operators were entitled to temporarily reduce the output of plants > 100 kW (active power control).
2011
Opening of the branch offices in Milan and Lyon.
In 2011, the VCOM (Virtual Control Room) was introduced to the first customer, the company a+f (now Iqony Solar Energy Solutions - SENS).
2012 - 2013
Continued growth of meteocontrol and constant space capacities were in conflict. Therefore, the Quality Services division moved to nearby office space at the site of the company Dierig until a comprehensive expansion of the office in Spicherer Straße became possible in 2012.
2012 - 2015
The solar industry in crisis
The solar industry became globally competitive and a predictable business. The industry started to grow rapidly, so foreign competitors entered.
As a result of price wars and severe cuts in photovoltaic compensation, the German market collapsed. Numerous companies went bankrupt and tens of thousands of jobs in the solar industry were lost.
The picture shows meteocontrol employees at the major demonstration in Berlin in March 2012.
2013
On December 13, 2013, S.A.G. Solarstrom AG announced provisional insolvency. As an individual company, meteocontrol, a stable and profitable company in the S.A.G. Group for many years, was only indirectly affected by the insolvency of the parent company.
2014
Launch of the new generation of the VCOM portal (Virtual Control Room)
Apart from that the WEB'log data logger generation, which had become technically obsolete in the meantime, was replaced by the innovative blue'Log X-Series. The developments at a glance:
- future-proof operating system
- architecture and CPU allow a high sampling interval
- modern and at the same time future-proof programming language with a huge developer community
- higher data availability
- more complex, precise and dynamic feed management
- increasing IT security requirements
Following the insolvency of the previous parent company, there were changes in the corporate structure. The S.A.G. Group was taken over by the Chinese investor SFCE International.
2015
Foundation of the office for software development in Taiwan.
Foundation of the subcompany Raising Power GmbH, Augsburg for construction, technical management, maintenance and repair of PV plants on site.
2017
Establishment of meteocontrol Japan Corp. as a joint venture with Suntech Power Japan Corp.
Founding of joint venture meteocontrol Chile SpA.
Founding of joint venture meteocontrol Central America SA de CV
2019
blue'Log XC (Control) for plant control was launched.
Launch of VCOM CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management System)
2020
20 years EEG
In the meantime, the EEG had now been in existence for 20 years. Worldwide, it has been the model for up to 100 similar regulations.
The share of renewable energies in electricity consumption grew steadily: from around six percent in 2000 to around 45 percent in 2020.
Establishment of meteocontrol AMEA DMCC in Dubai
2022
Introduction of Smart Alarms
The global growth of renewable energy makes it necessary to use strong O&M processes to increase time efficiency in green energy generation.
The new smart alarms feature provides a data and component-based solution, including a machine learning algorithm to detect alarms.
Smart alarms make it possible to learn the normal behavior of an inverter as the main component of a PV system, which is then used to learn the behavior of the system. With this approach, possible losses and their causes can be intelligently detected.
Headquarters relocated to Sheridan Cubes at Pröllstraße 28, Augsburg, Germany