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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.  Add the instrument pole

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.  Mount acquisition module

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

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4.  Mount ambient temperature sensor

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.  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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

6.  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. 

  

 

 

 

7.  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

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

8.  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.