Assembling Basic Weather Stations

Please follow the assembly steps outlined below to ensure a quick, successful installation.

Once assembly is complete, please follow the steps specified in the "connecting to the agent" section to complete the installation.

 

     

  1.  Unfold the instrument tower base.

    • The base will need to be attached to suitable anchor points via the mounting points in the tower base "feet".

    • The instrument tower must be grounded.

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  3.  Add the instrument pole

    • Be sure to tighten the mounting bolts at the base of the pole.

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  5.  Mount acquisition module

    • Mount the module on one leg of the tripod (as shown at right) using the hardware provided.

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  7.  Mount ambient temperature sensor

    • Attach the ambient temperature sensor assembly to the instrument pole as shown at right.

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  9.  Mount irradiance sensor.

    • Use the built-in bubble level to make sure that the sensor is level.

    • Be sure to remove the green sensor cover once assembly is completed.

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  11.  Attach cell temperature to panel

    • Attach the cell temperature sensor to the back of the nearest PV panel.

    • Use the provided glue and Velcro to hold the sensor tight to the panel and to provide strain relief for the sensor cable (as show at right).

    • Do not glue the sensor directly to the panel. That will degrade its accuracy. 

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  13.  Zip tie all sensor cables

    • Use the provided zip ties to secure all sensor cables to the instrument tower, and panel rack for the cell temp. cable.

    • Use zip ties to secure coils of the slack sensor cables to the acquisition module

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  15.  Connect weather station to the agent

    • The station is now ready to connect to a WattMetrics acquisition agent. Please see the "connecting to the agent" section for more detail.

 

(click any image for more detail)    

Step 1: set tower base

Step 2: add instrument pole

Step 3: mount acquisition module

Step 4: mount ambient temp. sensor

Step 5: mount irradiance sensor

Step 6: attach cell temp. sensor to panel

 

Step 7: zip tie cables

Step 8: connect to agent