Trina Trackers

Documentation for the Trina tracker Modbus plugin

Purpose

The purpose of this plugin is to collect data from Trina Solar trackers.

Usage

This plugin reads data from the Trina Solar tracker network. It collects from Network Control Units (NCUs) and Tracker Control Units (TCUs). It uses the Modbus specification, and collects data via TCP. It will be run every 5 minutes, by default. Sensor data will be collected to the tracker table. There are different configuration files reflecting the different number of TCUs in each NCU. The following configuration files available are for trackers with the following number of TCU units: 68, 77, 78, 84, 88, 92, 96, 102, 104, 113, 150. In order to find the total number of TCUs in an NCU, run the NCU configuration file called NCU_config.txt and look at the Total TCUs field. The data from this config file should also be collected as it contains wind speed and other sensor data.

The Trina Trackers will be interrogated for the following available data, for each tracker (TCU):

Variable Name               Units
=================================
TCU ID          	
Actual Angle		    °    
Error  
Error Raw  
Status
Status Raw 
Target Angle		    °

It will also collect general NCU data:

Variable Name					Units
======================================================
Total TCUs       							      	
Solar Radiation     				W/m^2 	
Direct Solar Radiation   			W/m^2 	
Precipitation   				mm    	
Error										    	
Error Raw									    	
Wind Speed   					m/s    
Optimization Angle				°    	
Sun Index									    	
Wind Angle					°    	
Smart Switch								 	    	
Smart Switch Raw							 	    	
Snow Sensor Installation Height			mm    	
Snow Alarm Theshold				mm    	
Longitude					°    	
Latitude				        °    	
Timezone									 	    	
Vangauge Level 1 Wind Start Speed		m/s    
Vangauge Level 1 Wind Start Time		s	    
Vangauge Level 1 Wind Protect Angle		°	    
Vangauge Level 2 Wind Start Speed		m/s    
Vangauge Level 2 Wind Start Time		s	    
Vangauge Level 2 Wind Protect Angle		°	    
Vangauge Level 3 Wind Start Speed		m/s    
Vangauge Level 3 Wind Start Time		s	    
Vangauge Level 3 Wind Protect Angle		°	    
Vangauge Stop Speed				m/s    
Vangauge Stop Time				s	    
Year             							       
Month             							       
Day             							 	       
Hour             							       
Minute             						 	       
Second             						 	       
Group Control      						 	       
Group Control Raw   						 	       
Group Angle   				        °      
Type			   							 	       
Type Raw   								 	       
Agile Level 1 Wind Start Speed		        m/s    
Agile Level 1 Wind Start Time			s	    
Agile Level 1 Wind East Protect Angle		°	    
Agile Level 1 Wind West Protect Angle		°	    
Agile Level 2 Wind Start Speed			m/s    
Agile Level 2 Wind Start Time			s	    
Agile Level 2 Wind East Protect Angle		°	    
Agile Level 2 Wind West Protect Angle		°	    
Agile Level 3 Wind Start Speed			m/s    
Agile Level 3 Wind Start Time			s	    
Agile Level 3 Wind East Protect Angle		°	    
Agile Level 3 Wind West Protect Angle		°	    
Agile Stop Time					s	    
Agile Lower Limit East Wind			°	    
Agile Upper Limit East Wind			°	    
Agile Lower Limit West Wind			°	    
Agile Upper Limit West Wind			°	    
Agile Starting Wind Speed			m/s    
Agile Activation Wind Direction Time		s    	
Agile Deactivation Wind Direction Time		s    	
Wind Direction					°    	
Real Time Wind Speed				m/s    
Protection Level							 	    	
Wind Direction String						    	
Wind Direction String Raw					    	
Snow Depth					mm    	
Ambient Temperature				°C    	

Arguments

Arguments are as follows:

• endpoint. This is either a serial device like /dev/ttyS0 or an IP or DNS like 192.168.1.15

• Configuration File: This is a file that matches the TCUs in the NCU, for the Trina Tracker.

• --port. This is an optional parameter used in an Ethernet gateway, and is the TCP port used for the gateway. Default is 502

• --attempts. This is an optional parameter, and determines how many times to times to attempt to read an inverter value. Default is 1

• --delay. This is the delay in seconds between inverter send and receive commands, AND if attempts > 1. Fractions like 0.3 can be used. Default is 0.05