User Manual for Solar Station

Monitor

1. Introduction
As a piece of PC terminal software,this software of solar station monitor can be set through simple
operations, and conduct real-time monitoring of the upper computers of solar charge controllers
such as our household series products and inverters. Moreover, the software helps users check and
modify parameters about charging, discharging, equipment and loading.

1.1 Purposes of This Manual

This manual provides actual operation interfaces together with descriptive text to help users
understand operation methods and procedures. The manual introduces basic methods and steps of
usage, as well as precautions to ensure that users use the system effectively and properly so as to
improve work efficiency. Maintenance staff and users are the targeted readers of this manual.

1.2 References
Operation instructions of our controllers such as home use products and inverters can be
referenced.

2. Operating Environment
2.1 Hardware Environment
You are advised to configure a memory bigger than 512M for hardware and over Intel Pentium 4 +
2.0G for CPU.

2.2 Software Environment

Operating systems on which this software can be run are recommended: Windows XP /
Windows 2000 Professional / Windows 2000 Server/ Windows7 or Windows8, which are all
32-bit and 64-bit OS.

3. Software Installation
3.1. Software Installation
Double-click Setup.exe in the installation package to install the software.

3.2 Software Uninstall

Choose Solar Station Monitor on the control panel and click the Uninstall.

4. Software Details
Installed on a server or workstation, this software communicates with the solar charge controller
via serial port and monitors the working status of the solar power system, such as the solar charge
controller (real-time monitoring), state of solar array, and state of battery. The software also
provides functions for browsing and modifying parameters about charge-discharge control,
equipment and loading status; and for displaying and analyzing charge-discharge electricity data
accumulated by equipment.
4.1 Overview of Software Interfaces
The main interface of the software consists of menu bar, tool bar, station explorer, function and
message window.
1
2

3 4

Figure 4-1-1 Main interface of the software

As shown in the figure, Area 1 is the menu bar that serves as the function entry to most functions
of the software. Click the menu bar, and menu items are displayed. Area 2 shows the tool bar that
provides all kinds of commonly-used tools for users. Area 3 indicates the station explorer in the
form of a tree list. Station Explorer provides functions of visual management of user site
information and other information. The first-level list displays the communication port numbers,
and the second-level list displays station names. Area 4 shows the function window bar that
provides effective function operation interfaces for monitoring the software. Area 5 is the message
window that displays real-time operation and failure information.

4.2 Function Index

The menu bar provides entry to most functions of the software, as shown in figure 4-2-1:

Figure 4-2-1 Menu bar

Diagram 4-2-1: Function description of the menu bar

Second-level
Menu Bar First-level Menu Function Description
Menu
System Log Off Logging off the logged-in
 user
Switching between users
User Switch
with different permissions
Change Password Changing login password
Exit Exiting the software
Showing/ Hiding the tool
Tool Bar
bar
Showing / Hiding Station
View Station Explorer
Explorer
Showing / Hiding the
Message Windows
Message Windows
Configuring communication
Port Configuration
port
Add Station Adding station information
Communication
Refreshing all stations and
Refresh All Stations showing whether the station
can be used
Real Time Clock Real-time clock
Device Parameter Device ID
Setting device ID
Setting
Control Parameter Setting control parameters
General GLoad Setting general loading
Parameter Load Configuration
Configuration parameters
Factory operation;
recovering default
Factory Operation
parameters of the controller
and cleaning up the data
Monitoring the data and
Real Time Monitoring working status of a single
controller
Monitoring and collecting
statistics on the data
Daily Monitoring
diagrams of a single
controller
Monitoring
Monitoring the data and
Global Monitoring working status of multiple
controllers
Reading and conducting
chart analysis of previous
History Monitoring
working conditions of the
controller
Saving and setting the data
Data Save Data Save Setting
of the controller
Help About Describing software
 information
User Manual Describing software help

Tool bar shows all common tools, as shown in 4-2-2:

Figure 4-2-2 tool bar

Figure 4-2-2: Function description of the tool bar

Tool Bar Function Description
Switching between users with different
User Switch
permissions
Port Configuration Configuring communication port
Monitoring the data and working status of a
Real Time Monitoring
single controller
Monitoring and collecting statistics on the data
Daily Monitoring
diagrams of a single controller
Monitoring the data and working status of
Global Monitoring
multiple controllers
Reading and conducting chart analysis of
History Monitoring
previous working conditions of the controller

4.3 Overview of Operation Step

1. Log in.
2. Configure serial port communication.
3. Add station information.
4. Configure parameters.
5. Choose stations and start monitoring (real-time, global, daily, history).
6. Save and maintain the data.
Note: For stations with configured serial port and information, skip Step 2 and Step 3.
4.4 User Management
1. Login:
After the software is started, the Login dialog is popped up, see figure 4-4-1.

Figure 4-4-1 Login dialog

Log in with the corresponding username. When you click the Login button, the system matches
the username and the password. If the password is incorrect, a prompt is displayed indicating
“Wrong password". If the password is correct, the system displays the corresponding management
interface according to the user permission. The login password for Administrator (default) users is
111111. Guest users do not need to enter a login password.
Guest user permission: user switch, real-time monitoring, global monitoring, history
monitoring and daily monitoring.
Administrator user permission: all.

Switching between users with different permissions:

Choose System—>User Switch on the menu bar or click on the tool bar. Operation on
the dialog box is the same on the login dialog box.
User Log-off:
Choose System—>Log Off on the menu bar. When a user performs log-off operation, the system
logs off the current login interface and logs in the system as a Guest user. Meanwhile, the prompt
box "Log Off successfully" is displayed.
Note: If a user logs in the system as a Guest user, the user cannot be logged off.

Changing Password:
Choose System—>Change Password on the menu bar, and the following dialog is
displayed:
 Figure 4-4-2 Change Password dialog

The system checks whether the original password is correct and the two newly input passwords
are consistent. If they are, the message "Password changed successfully" is displayed; if not, the
message "Wrong password" is displayed.

4.5 Basic Communication Configuration

Port configuration
Choose Communication—>Port Configuration on the menu bar or click on the tool
bar for port configuration, as shown in Figure 4-5-1.

Figure 4-5-1 Port configuration dialog

Diagram 4-5-1 Chinese / English description
Chinese Port Baud Data Stop Parity
Rate Bits Bits Check Bit
English Port Baud Data Stop Parity
Rate Bits Bits Check Bit

Adding a port:
Select the COM port and corresponding Baud Rate, click the Add button on the right side, and
click OK to add the port in Station Explorer.

Deleting a port:
Choose Communication—>Port Configuration on the menu bar or click on the tool bar,
select the port to be deleted from the right port bar, and click Delete and OK to delete the port.

Station Explorer:

Adding a station:
Choose the Communication—>Add Station on the menu bar or right-click the blank area of
Station Explorer, and the corresponding option box pops up. Choose Add Station, and the
corresponding dialog box pops up, As shown in figure 4-5-2, add station information. The
following five parts of station configuration information can be added: basic station information,
photoelectric cell array information, battery information, loading information and remarks.
 Figure 4-5-2 Add Station dialog
Note: Station information marked with "*" in Add Station Windows is mandatory.

Changing a station:
Right-click the blank area in Station Explorer, and the corresponding option box pops up. Choose
Edit Station to enter the Edit Station dialog box and modify the station information, as shown in
figure 4-5-3.
 Figure 4-5-3 Change Station Dialog

Viewing station information:

In Station Explorer, double-click the name of the station to be checked. Right-click the blank area,
and the corresponding option box pops up. Select View Station to enter the Station info dialog
box, where you can view the station information but cannot make modification, as shown in figure
4-5-4.
 Figure 4-5-4 View Station Info dialog box

Refreshing station information:

Choose Communication—>Refresh All Stations on the menu bar, and you can scan if existing
stations can be used, as shown in figure 4-5-5. Stations with red X are not available, while those
without red X are available.

Figure 4-5-5 Station availability display

Note:
1. All stations are scanned to confirm available stations every time when the software is started.
2. After any operation on the station information page, the system scans all stations to confirm
available stations.
3. When station information is refreshed, monitoring and other communication are automatically
cut off.
Methods of reading an equipment ID:
1、 The LCD of the controller displays an equipment ID, and one controller corresponds to only
one ID,
2、 Choose Parameter—>Device Parameter—>Device ID Setting on the menu bar, and the
page as shown in fig 4-5-6 appears.

Reading an ID:
Select the corresponding port in the dialog box Device ID Setting, and click Read ID to obain the
equipment ID. Before obtaining the ID, ensure that the only communication controller is
connected to the port.

Setting an ID:
Set a new ID to the controller. Once the controller is confirmed as communication-capable after
the ID is read, click Set ID to set a new ID for the controller. The ID of a controller must be the
same as that in the station information.

Figure 4-5-6 Dialog box for setting an ID

Note: Before reading and setting the equipment ID, ensure that the serial port is connected to only
one piece of equipment. The ID in station information must be the same as the controller ID,
especially after the controller ID is changed.

4.6 Modifying Parameters

Modifying control parameters

Choose Parameter—>Control Parameter on the menu bar, and the Control Parameter dialog
box pops up, as shown in Figure 4-6-1.
 Figure 4-6-1 Dialog box for modifying control parameters
Click the Read button, and the Edit Boxes on the interface displays the current parameter data of
the controller. After changing a parameter value, click the Update button to update the control
parameter of the controller.
Click the Restore default button and all Edit Boxes of the current value on the interface
automatically fill ins the default value of the corresponding parameter.
Click the Export Setting button to save all the control parameters on the current interface as a.txt
file, which is used as backup file of control parameters.
Click the Import Setting button to import the original *.txt control parameter backup file into the
interface. The file can be used as the modified value of the current control parameters.

Diagram 4-6-1 Description of battery types:

Battery Type Remarks
Control parameters cannot be modified
except the battery capacity and
Sealed (Default) temperature compensation coefficient.
Control parameters cannot be modified
except the battery capacity and
Gel temperature compensation coefficient.
Control parameters cannot be modified
except the battery capacity and
Flooded temperature compensation coefficient.
User The user can modify control parameters.
Diagram 4-6-2 Description of charging modes
Charging Mode Remarks
Volt.Comp. Charging mode of the Volt. Comp. (Default)
SOC is a charging mode that realizes the
charge-discharge control of the battery based on
SOC
the preset target value for charging and
discharging.

Diagram 4-6-3 Parameters about battery voltage (Normal temp. 25℃)

Battery Type Sealed Gel Flooded User
Over Volt.Disconnect Volt. 16V 16V 16V 9~17V
Equalizing Charging Volt. 14.6V 15.2 14.8V 9~17V
Boost Charging Volt. 14.4V 14.2V 14.6V 9~17V
Floating Charging Volt. 13.8V 13.8V 13.8V 9~17V
Boost Recov. Charg. Volt. 13.2V 13.2V 13.2V 9~17V
Low Volt. Reconnect Volt. 12.6V 12.6V 12.6V 9~17V
Under Volt. Warning Volt. 12 V 12V 12V 9~17V
Low Volt. Disconnect Volt. 11.1V 11.1V 11.1V 9~17V
Discharging Limit Volt. 10.6V 10.6V 10.6V 9~17V
0~600
Equalizing Duration 120 minutes 0 120 minutes
minutes
120 10~600
Boost Duration 120 minutes 120 minutes
minutes minutes
Equalizing Charge Interval（0:
Close the Equilibrium 30 days 0 days 30 days 0-255 days
Charging function）
5 1-30
LVD Delay Time 5 seconds 5 seconds
seconds seconds

Diagram 4-6-4 Description of other control parameters

Default
Parameter Modification Range
Value
Battery Capacity 200Ah 1~9999Ah
0~-5mV
Temp. Compensation Coefficient -3mV/℃/2V
（0：Close the Temp.
Compensation function）
Rated Voltage Level Auto Auto/12V/24V/36V/48V
Battery Charge 100% 100% (SOC charging mode)
Battery Discharge 30% 10~80% (SOC charging mode)
Note: User battery is the default battery type. Default voltage parameters of the system are the
same as those of the sealed battery. Follow the following logic when modifying charge-discharge
parameters:
Over Volt. Disconnect Volt. ＞ Equalizing Volt. ≥ Boost Volt. ≥ Floating Volt. ＞ Boost
Recov. Volt.
Over Volt. Disconnect Volt. ＞ Over Volt. Disconnect Recov. Volt.
Low Volt. Reconnect Volt. ＞ Low Volt. Disconnect Volt. ≥ Discharging Limit Volt.
Under Volt. Warning Volt. ≥ Low Volt. Disconnect Volt.
Boost Recon. Volt. ＞ Low Volt. Reconnect Volt.

Load Configuration
Choose Parameter—>Load Configuration—>General Load Configuration on the menu bar to
enter the dialog box General Load Configuration, as shown in Figure 4-6-2.

Figure 4-6-2 Dialog box General Load Configuration

Click the Read button to enter the load control mode of the controller. The default mode is Debug
Mode. You can select other modes such as Manual Mode, Light ON/OFF, Light ON+Time or
Load on Mode, and modify related control parameters. Click the Update button to update new
load control parameters.
Note: 1. Manual Mode enables users to manually handle Switch Load that is on the Load
Control bar of the Real Time Monitor interface. And the Switch Load button can only be
operated under Manual Mode.

Factory operation:
Choose Parameter—>Factory Operation on the menu bar, and the Factory Operation dialog
box pops up, as shown in Figure 4-6-3.
 Figure 4-6-3 Factory Operation dialog box
Click the Restore Default button to restore factory parameters.
Click the Clear Data button to save the data.
Note: Perform this operation with caution as it involves clearing of data used by the controller.

4.7 Functions

Real-time monitoring (monitoring of controller status data)

Choose Monitoring—>Real Time Monitoring on the menu bar or click on the tool bar, and
the Real Time Monitoring window appears. Then, click Start Monitor, and real-time monitoring
is enabled, as shown in Figure 4-7-1.

Figure 4-7-1 Real Time Monitoring dialog box

Diagram 4-7-1 Description of working parameters:

 Name English Name Status Value
Controller
Controller working state Normal, Divice Over Temp
working state
Battery MPPT, EQU, BST, Floating, Idle,
Battery Charge state
Charge state Start, Limit
Array Array Over Voltage, Array Reverse,
Array working state
working state Array Over Power
Normal, Low Volt. Disconnect,
Battery
Battery working state Under Voltage Warning, Over Volt.
working state
Disconnect, Batt. Over Temp
Load State Load State ON, OFF

Diagram 4-7-2Description of parameter information

Name Detailed Parameters
Array Array Voltage, Array Current, Array Working State, Array
Information Power
Battery Battery Voltage, Battery Current, Battery Temperature, Battery
Information SOC, Charge State, Battery State
DC Load
Load Current, Load Voltage, Load Power
Information
Controller
Device Temperature, Device Working State
Information
Note: Only under Manual Mode can the user click the ON/OFF button of Switch Load.

Daily monitoring (data diagram display and statistical data collection):

Choose Monitoring—>Daily Monitoring on the menu bar or click on the tool bar to enter
the Daily Monitoring window, as shown in Figure 4-7-2. During daily monitoring, the window
monitors diagrams about Array, Battery, Load in terms of Voltage, Current and Power; and
displays related parameters.
 Figure 4-7-2 Daily Monitoring window

Diagram 4-7-3 Description of monitoring parameters:

Name Description
Max/Min Battery Voltage Maximum/minimum battery voltage
Max Charge/Discharge Current Maximum charge/discharge current
Max Charge/Discharge Power Maximum charge/discharge power
Charge/Discharge Ah Charge/discharge Ah
Charge/Discharge KWh Charge/discharge KWh

Global monitoring (recent working status of the controller)

Choose Monitoring—>Global Monitoring on the menu bar or click on the tool bar to enter
the Global Monitoring window, as shown in Figure 4-7-1. The window monitors the working
status of multiple controllers and collects statistics on related information such as Charge KWh,
Batt. LVD times, Batt, and Charge fully times. For relevant parameters, see Figure 4-7-1 and
4-7-3.
 Figure 4-7-3 Global Monitoring window

History monitoring (monitoring history display and diagram analysis):

Choose the Monitoring—>History Monitoring in the menu bar or click on the tool bar to
enter the History Monitoring window, as shown in Figure 4-7-1. The window reads recent
monitoring information and performs diagram analysis of related data. For relevant parameters,
see Diagram 4-7-3.

Figure 4-7-4 History Monitoring window

Reading historical data:
Select the number of days in history from the drop-down list of Read History Data and click the
Read button. The recent working status of the controller is displayed.

Saving historical data:

After reading historical data, click the Export Excel button to save the data in a .csv file, as
shown in Figure 4-7-5.

Figure 4-7-5 Export Excel dialog box

Graphical analysis of historical data:

After reading historical data, select the parameter (refer to diagram 4-7-3) for which graphical
analysis is to be performed from the drop-down list of Item Selection, click the Curves button for
curve analysis (Figure 4-7-6), or click the Histogram button for histogram data analysis (Figure
4-7-7).
 Figure 4-7-6 Curve data analysis

Figure 4-7-7 Histogram data analysis

4.8 Saving Data

Choose Data Save—>Data Save Setting on the menu bar or click on the tool bar to enter the
data saving dialog box, as shown in Figure 4-8-1.Data saving can be set with reference to the
Figure 4-8-1.
 Figure 4-8-1 Data Save dialog box
Diagram 4-8-1 Description of data save setting:
Name Function Description
Changing the interval time of data update in the
Read Interval
monitoring function widow.
Auto Saving Choose whether to save data automatically.
File Path File save path.
Save Interval Changing the interval time of saving data.
Data is saved in the form of excel. file. The
Line Count Line Count parameter limits the rows of data
to be saved in the excel. file.
Temporary(MB) Maximum capacity of data to be saved.
Note: The capacity of data to be saved is subject to the smaller value of the Line Count and
Temporary parameters.