The Tempest is an amazing little instrument. The fact that it’s solar powered may mean it can be used to calculate the solar capacity factor at a given site. Capacity factor is the actual energy produced over a period of time divided by the maximum potential energy of the system. It varies by location and cloud cover, and calculations are generally available at the state level (in the US) and at the country level in other locations. These numbers are obviously some kind of a regional average but they may not represent a given location well. If the Tempest can measure the energy produced by its solar cells the calculation should be straightforward.
You have not voted for your feature request.
Your request suggests using the Tempest solar panels rather than the actual solar sensor. The Tempest solar panels are not mounted at an optimal angle.
There are some discussions in this forum regarding using the Tempest for these types of calculations such as:
cheers Ian
I don’t think it can measure the solar panels, but it already gives a value of W/m2 using the sensor for solar radiation. If you collect those during the day, you only have to integrate them. But your request could be one that integrates the measurements for you and shows them somewhere (reset at midnight)
Thanks for the pointer to the discussions, Ian. I’m following them.
-David
…something easy to do via the API, as I’m discovering. Another reason to install the Tempest on the construction site early-on.