*Augsburg / Kaiserslautern, 01 July 2015 – meteocontrol GmbH, a leading company for professional remote monitoring of photovoltaic systems, has formed a collaboration alliance with viamon GmbH, a manufacturer of GPS-based theft protection for PV modules and inverters. The integration of the anti-theft feature in meteocontrol’s VCOM virtual control room monitoring system provides operators of PV systems and PV power plants with an efficient solution for remote monitoring and theft protection in one portal.*
Both new and existing solar energy systems can be equipped with the intelligent anti-theft solution from viamon. The GPS-based system is integrated directly in the PV module or inverter so that it is not visible from the outside, but it reacts to jolts, movement and changes in position. An alarm is triggered immediately in cases of theft – this message is sent via e-mail, SMS, smartphone app, telephone or VdS protocol.
*Complete information on one platform*
The collaboration alliance has enabled meteocontrol to integrate viamon status display technology in the VCOM virtual control room monitoring system. “We are delighted to be the first PV service provider to realize the interface to viamon anti-theft technology,” says Martin Schneider, Managing Director of meteocontrol. “This solution gives PV system operators all the key information they need on one platform and thus reduces the complexity of overall system operations.” The complete status is visible in the so-called “viamon widget.” The integration of the anti-theft solution is also user-friendly: Within the meteocontrol portal operators simply enter the API key generated by viamon for the specified system to gain immediate access to the tool. In cases of theft, details such as GPS coordinates are constantly displayed in the app or the viamon portal. These systems were optimized for this purpose, whereas the VCOM basically focuses on the system status.
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*Integration minimizes operating costs*
“The integration in the meteocontrol portal provides our customers with significant value added,” says Oliver Strecke, CEO of viamon, “because the display of the overall status helps reduce the operating costs in terms of security.” In most cases the anti-theft solution leads to lower insurance premiums and reduces the cost of investment in classic security solutions. The joint solution from both alliance partners is also ready for international deployment: viamon theft protection is fully functional worldwide and the VCOM virtual control room has been designed to meet international requirements. Both alliance partners have already won their first customer for the joint solution: BayWa r. e.
renewable energy GmbH is now using the new system with great success in a major solar energy park in Great Britain.
*About viamon***
viamon optimizes the production of renewable energy and enhances security in PV power plants. The company collaborates with constructors, operators, insurance companies and PV module manufacturers. viamon’s mission is to monitor and protect PV power plants and dedicated systems that are of high value where mains power is not fully available. The complete solution from viamon includes the company’s own patented monitoring technology with a GPS-based geo-fencing theft protection system. This is the world’s first integrated anti-theft solution for PV modules and inverters. Solutions from viamon have been deployed successfully in Germany, Great Britain, Spain, Switzerland, Namibia, Ghana, Nigeria, Chile, India, China and the Dominican Republic.
Further information: www.viamon.com
*About meteocontrol*
meteocontrol, EU headquarter based in Augsburg, Germany and APMEA headquarter based in Shanghai (China), with offices and branches in Lyon (France), Madrid (Spain), Milan (Italy), Concord (U.S.A.) and Moers
(Germany) offers energy and weather data management, yield reports, quality audits and technical due diligence as well as monitoring and technical operations management of PV systems of all sizes. meteocontrol has more than 30 years of expertise in renewable energy systems and has so far been involved in projects with a total investment volume of more than 13 billion euros. The company currently conducts technical operation management for systems with a total power of around 500 MWp.
In addition, meteocontrol is the market leader for professional remote monitoring of PV systems. meteocontrol monitors around 37,500 PV systems around the globe with a total power of over 10 GWp. meteocontrol is a member of SFCE Shunfeng International Clean Energy Limited.
Further information: www.meteocontrol.com
