RT1 rooftop sensor exceeds expectations

Ease of Installation

RT1 is ease of installation, combined with the high-quality PV panel temperature sensor and standard 20m data cable pleased our customers and made the RT1 a competitive product in this challenging market. 

Some RT1 Features:

• Easy to mount because you don’t need any tools or screws
• The solar irradiance measurement is in the exact plane of array of the PV panels, because RT1 is fixed directly on a panel
• Cables and waterproof connectors are high quality
• Temperature sensor is robust, and is thermally isolated from the air
• The temperature sensor will stay firmly fixed, thanks to the special heat-conducting 3M™ tape
• RT1 comes with cable ties and self-adhesive mounting pads, to properly secure the sensor cable to the panel.

Installation video on RT1

The RT1 is really the easiest PV monitoring sensor to install on the market. For a regular pyranometer, silicon sensor or reference cell, you need extra mounting rods or plates.

But the RT1 does not need any extra tools, unless you opt for the side mounting. In that case we supply as standard a small mounting plate, a PowAR Cinch™ clamp and screws. Still very easy. And just to explain how easy, we did make a video. To show that installation really is “easy peasy”.

See how easy it is to install an RT1 sensor and its PV panel temperature sensor by watching our video below.

PV Panel Temperature

A PV panel temperature sensor is a standard part of the RT1 and plugs into the housing, so that it can be easily removed if needed, for example to recalibrate it. We did this because PV panel temperature has a significant influence on the output of the PV panels, and shouldn’t be mixed up with influences of e.g. soiling, cable losses and inverter losses.

Therefore, the user only needs one cable carrying power and RS485 Modbus data to your data gateway for both measurements.

Less Cleaning

Finally, another significant advantage over the competition of flat silicon sensors, often wrongly called reference cells, is the fact that our diffusor that “catches” the sunlight is cone shaped and doesn’t collect dirt as easily as a flat surface with bevelled edges.

A little bit of rain is enough to clean the diffusor and the absence of edges assures that all rain and dust easily run off the RT1.