iBPortal Aids in Solar System Research

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"By constantly having their energy consumption displayed on the GreenTouchscreen®, our students are developing a new awareness of how their habits impact the environment. It also invokes a sense of energy competitiveness between the students that live there. Having the website available to the rest of the campus (and the world) sends a message of 'we care' in the sense of environmental stewardship." Mike Lubberden, Director, Construction and Energy Management Central College Pella, Iowa

Ames, IA – Quality Attributes Software’s new iBPortal^TM has been selected by the Iowa Energy Center (IEC) to monitor, trend, compare and test two solar/photovoltaic (PV) systems. In accordance with the launch of the IEC’s new website, users are now able to view real-time data gauges and historical data charts of the PV systems with their iBPortal^TM Dashboard.

Focused on the study of renewable energy, the IEC is currently using iBPortal^TM to assess the benefits a Dual Axis Tracking PV system (located at the Biomass Energy Conversion Center (BECON) in Nevada, IA) may or may not have over a Stationary PV system (located at the Gateway Center in Ames, IA).

“Retrieving the performance data every other second with scientific grade accuracy and reliability was one of the main hurdles of this project, and managing such large amounts of data also required new levels of optimization,” said Dwight Stewart, COO of QAS. “However, through this effort we have further refined our products to function within scientific grade applications. This announcement marks the first release of several projects geared toward the research community.”

Under the auspices of the Iowa Energy Center, QAS worked closely with the center’s researchers to develop a highly accurate and appropriate tool for observing PV performance. Researchers and general users can track and compare real-time and historical solar irradiance, power production, energy production, efficiency, and many other variables to aid in their research.

To learn more about the PV study and to view the live and historical data, visit the Iowa Energy Center website.

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