September 11, 2024 • 42 mins
Shawn Tierney meets up with Nick Rosner of Schneider Electric to discuss their new Altivar Solar ATV320 VSD in this episode of The Automation Podcast.
Note: For more information check out the "Show Notes" located below.
Watch The Automation Podcast from The Automation Blog:
Listen to The Automation Podcast from The Automation Blog:
The Automation Podcast, Episode 218 Show Notes:
Huge thanks to Nick Rosner of Schneider Electric for coming on this show to discuss their new Altivar Solar ATV320 VSD, and for sponsoring this episode to make it ad free!
To learn more about the ATV320, check out the below links:
ATV320 Solar SE.com landing page
ATV320 Solar promotional video
Getting started with Altivar Solar ATV320
How to configure Pulse Counter function on Altivar Solar
Altivar Drives SoMove free software download page
Until next time, Peace ✌️
If you enjoy this episode please give it a Like, and consider Sharing as this is the best way for us to find new guests to come on the show.
Shawn M TierneyTechnology Enthusiast & Content Creator
Eliminate commercials and gain access to my weekly full length hands-on, news, and Q&A sessions by becoming a member at The Automation Blog or on YouTube. You'll also find all of my affordable PLC, HMI, and SCADA courses at TheAutomationSchool.com.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome back to The Automation Podcast, the world's
number 1 industrial automation product and technology show.
Thanks to you, our audience
of highly skilled automation professionals.
Thank you for being a member of our
audience,
and thank you for tuning back in this
week. Now for those new to the show,
my name is Sean Tierney from Insights and
Automation,
and each week I invite a new vendor
(00:21):
to come out of the show to talk
to us about their products and technologies.
And during their presentation, I'll play the role
of the audience. I'll ask questions I think
you guys might have as well as questions
I have. And given that a quarter of
our audience listens to the show, but doesn't
watch it, just listens to it, I'll try
to call attention to any details in the
visuals that I think you listen only people
(00:43):
may wanna know about. Now with that said,
I wanna welcome Nick back to the show.
We got a very exciting product to talk
about. But, Nick, because some of the people
may not have caught your last appearance,
could you do, like, a quick little in,
intro on who you are? Yeah. Happy to
do that, Sean, and thanks for having me
back here again.
So I am, Nick Rausser, senior offer manager
(01:04):
for the Altavar Machinery and Building Solutions with
Schneider Electric.
And I am the launch manager for the
Altavar 3/20 solar products.
And that's what we're here to talk about,
this new innovative
solution for the industry that grabs power directly
from a solar cell
(01:25):
onto the DC bus of a VFD and
make it into useful power for a motor
pump compressor fan. Yeah. There are some great
videos Nick sent over to me, and I
was just watching them. I'm like, wow. This
is really cool. So, Nick, without further ado,
let me turn it back to you, and
let's jump in. Yeah. Yeah. Thanks again. So
let's let's go through this. Very excited to
talk about this.
And, it's, by the way, Sean, a prelaunch.
(01:47):
So a lot of this information is actually
not even
available online yet, but can certainly tell people
how to get the information from your customers.
So many of these links that I have
currently here, the majority are actually
internal.
So the only way to access these would
be there through, a Schneider salesperson
or, one of our Schneider distributors or channel
(02:07):
partners. So my recommendation,
for those that want to be
involved in the prelaunch and some of our
development to reach out to your Schneider
distributor.
Now because it's a prelaunch, does that mean
some of the things might change a little
bit between now and the formal launch?
I don't anticipate that, Sean. We we really
have a lot of the things set and
(02:28):
established. So it's more of the formalities of
getting the Ah, okay. Product,
commercialized in the US,
in terms of our internal systems. But as
far as certifications,
features,
stock,
and manuals, those are all up and running.
So Nice. Nice. Mhmm.
And, I mean, going back to this exciting
launch,
(02:49):
there's
many ways we can apply this product. So,
obviously, the first thing that may come to
mind is, solar pumps,
solar skids, and farming. So for some of
these remote applications,
that's the most traditional way of applying this
product. But there's just so many other things
we can do with this. Orbital compressor skids,
HVAC,
(03:09):
high velocity, low speed fans.
And it has an adjustable
source,
switchable source, I should say, between
the DC bus and the AC power. So
you can actually have both connected and have
them switch over. And, we'll go over through
that on how that looks like. So that
is one of the very cool features and
advantages that that we have here to showcase.
(03:32):
And beyond that, the manual switch over that
we have with that, some of the very
cool integrated pump functions that we have on
this very small
ATV 320 VFD. So for those familiar with
the Schneider ATV 320 product,
it's the same form factor as our compacts,
and we can go through the low horsepower
ranges, which we have available.
(03:53):
Since
this is a very cool offer going into
the DC bus of a VFD,
we essentially have 3 products where you can
do that.
What we're here to talk about is the
product that's specifically for solar applications.
So if you think about the irrigation,
golf courses,
fountains,
pools, residential,
(04:15):
There's just countless of applications that we can
think of or we can apply this in
our markets.
We'll go through some of the details as
to why we came out with this launch
and and the reasoning behind it and and
the growth and traditional aspects of it. But
if we wanna get creative,
talking about our decarbonization
goals, our, energy savings and
off grid, it's just a very cool technology,
(04:37):
something very unique. We have all the global
certifications,
UL on the DC bus portion,
UL on the main power. So for those
that want to create UL panels across the
board,
obviously, global centers to go with that, this
is just a great solution. So
before we jump into the technical product, anything
any questions that may come up before we
(04:59):
go into the, the core of, the horsepower
or the voltage and and the future, Sean,
that you can think of? No. I I
just thinking that, you know, and this is
I haven't seen any of the material yet,
and I always, that's one of my requirements
when somebody comes on because I wanna see
it for the first time like the audience.
And I'm just thinking this really simplifies
those
(05:19):
stand alone systems in the middle of nowhere
that,
you know, there's no power that's running to
it. Right? So I mean think of what
you would have to do with a solar
panel prior to this is you would have
to go to a battery typically. Right?
And you know what, what if you only
need the pump to go when the sun
is out. Right? Why do you have to
have all the cost and, you know, batteries
(05:40):
don't last forever and all these other things?
If we could take that solar power and
put it right to the DC bus of
the VFD,
then when the sun's out, we can be
pumping, and then when the sun goes away,
we can just stop. You know, we don't
we don't need all that other not to
say that that stuff isn't good. In some
applications, it'll be needed. Right? But it can
really bring down the the simplest of the
(06:01):
simple applications,
solar panel, VFD,
pumper motor. And I just love the simplicity
of that for for certain applications. Again, granted
it's not for everyone. And, so let me
just throw it back to you. That those
are kind of my initial thoughts.
And that's just a great point, Sean. I'm
very happy that you brought that up because,
the other day we were with our mining
(06:23):
team and they asked us they have a
solar farm and they have a solar inverter.
Well, guess what? We can apply this a
couple of different ways. With the VFD, you
don't really need the solar inverter because you're
using the inverter, the VFD, to make it
into useful power. So number 1,
yeah, just to be overly
helpful with how we're trying to apply this
and and there's no need for dual inverters.
(06:44):
But we can use the battery
backup or maybe a generator backup as a
backup. As you mentioned, maybe during the night,
if you wanna pump, switch it back to
that battery or generator, and during the day,
use the solar power.
So that's,
those are all valid and unique applications here.
So going back to the mining remote applications,
solar panels,
(07:05):
the end user may spend a couple 100
of 1,000 just to get power into a
remote situation.
Let we can start looking into alternative sources
of how to be able to power your
equipment. So that that's just a very compelling
story behind that.
But, without further ado, Sean, let's jump into
some of the technical features and, some of
the products
(07:25):
details that we have here.
Going back to the core product, as I
mentioned earlier,
initially, this was the intent
is
in the picture you see here, the Altamar
312 solar. So Schneider did have a solar
VFD in the past,
that we use for farming. It was in
low low horsepower ranges.
(07:47):
And the 3 20 solar is the upgrade
of the 3 12 solar that we used
to have before.
And, we just added so many more features.
The multi point power tracking, you used to
have to manually program that. Ours is just
automated, like, programmed into the VFD easily to
turn on and off during the switchover periods
of main power or solar power. So we've
(08:09):
just tremendously upgraded this and even increased the
range there. So you see here this assembly
on a NEMA 3R panel.
Obviously, all the
switches, relays. We have all the documentation here
to help our panel builders, integrators,
skids and OEMs and panels people to put
this together.
(08:31):
As I mentioned before,
there's the DC bus directly onto the VFD,
and then we can either do a a
filling a tank going straight to irrigation.
This was the previous technology that we had
here, Just to be, overly clear and helpful
on what that used to look like.
Now what is the next generation product? What's
(08:51):
the difference here?
Hopefully, you all recognize this. This is the
Altavar machine 320,
but it now has been built for Altavar
Solar 320. So you'll see that the dial
here looks like a sun.
You'll see the QR code to download the
data at the front of the VFD.
And we have all the ranges here available
(09:12):
for that. So it's gonna be on the
compact form
factor, specifically.
It's gonna go from single phase to a
230,
3 phase to a 230,
and the 3 phase 480 volts up to,
20 horsepower.
And the DC voltage ranges
are right here. This is kinda key to
know the DC voltage ranges,
(09:34):
because depending on, as we will see in
the next few slides, what that looks like,
that's really gonna dictate the current, maximum current
that we can put into the motor.
We have our 6 digital IOs, 3 analog
inputs, 1 digital output. So our traditional outputs
that we have with our Ultibar machine are
the same IOs that we have with the
Ultibar Solar 320.
(09:55):
We can do
synchronous and asynchronous motors, so induction and PM.
It's IP20,
mainly for panel build applications,
and,
as our conducted emissions or EMC standards as
well and protection.
Communication is here as well.
The modbus and CANopen are the standard, and
(10:17):
our optional
communication cards are here as well.
Another cool thing that we have on the
AltaVor 320
solar is that we also have integration into
the
Schneider EcoStruxure platform for remote monitoring. So for
those interested in that, we can also do
a deep dive later on to that. The
MPPT is a very important thing to know
(10:38):
anytime we're dealing with solar technology.
The multi point power tracking
and that is in the lingo of solar.
The specific
algorithm that graphs that DC bus and creates
it into useful power. Because obviously there's gonna
be some ranges, some switching, some irradiation
(10:59):
clouds,
different
types of,
conditions that will change that DC bus.
So that feature is really important to grab
that changing DC bus and create useful power
out into a pump, motor, fan, compressor.
Very important
here. I touched a little bit on the
dual supply changeover. This is another very cool
(11:21):
feature.
So it can switch from solar
to grid
and vice versa
through a manual switch, and we can go
through the circuitry in a bit. I don't
know how that looks like. You touched on
battery and and maybe solar generators, Sean. Those
are also things that we can switch over.
The important thing is the if we're going
to a grid or a main power, has
(11:41):
to be on for the switching to work
because that's what's powering the relays to do
that. Okay.
Mhmm.
It does have a tank liquid probe function,
so it'll fill up a tank.
The pump functions are here as well as
a pump curve,
anti jam,
dry monitoring,
flow estimation,
(12:02):
pulse counter, and volume counter. So for those
that need to
measure the volume per reset,
per day,
you can use a pulse counter which is
the device that pulses unless you know what
the flow is. So it's very, precise metering,
or you can use the flow estimation, which
is a rough estimate if you are
(12:24):
flowing water or not in a percentage error
range. So that's the difference there. And you
can use the volume counter to connect on
to both and and tag
the number of times that you reset. So
it could be half a year, a couple
months, or daily.
Going back to some of the cool functions
that we have here,
the ATB 320 has the safety functions. So,
for example, safe Torkov,
(12:46):
s s one, SLS. If you wanna have
some safety, somebody opens a panel or the
machine
and do a safe,
safety function. That's definitely available on the BFT
through
somu.
And we also have, which is a very
cool thing here, the ATV logic,
which is our unique embedded PLC on the
(13:07):
p l on the VFD that can create
custom logic for specific applications or functions.
So one of the things that we did
here for the Altar 3 20 solar
is we actually have a tested proven function
for a tank probe if it's flowing, if
it's not flowing,
if there's a dry run,
through a linking diode.
(13:28):
And as as I mentioned before, EcoStruxure compatibility
for remote
monitoring.
Here's some of our environmental protection features, up
to 50 C without D rating, 60 C
with D rating. And it has our altitude
curves
d rating as well for switching frequency,
pollution degree, chemical class, and mechanical class protection
(13:49):
on coating board essentially.
And all the way down to minus 10
c, which is important,
and, let me go back here. Yes.
Yeah. And and typically, you'll find that if
it's in an enclosure with electronics, it'll never
get below that and well, most of America.
I mean, you guys know where you need
a heater. Heaters are very inexpensive, but,
(14:09):
that's important to know. I'm sorry. Back to
you.
Yeah. Great point, Sean. So
obviously, that's something we would design specifically in
the panel for those cold climates and Mhmm.
Going back to the frame sizes,
from what we have on
single phase to
three phase,
these are our ranges.
(14:31):
This is really more informational for
those of our audience here to wanna take
a snapshot and and make sure that fits
in their panel.
Obviously, in in English,
hoping to update to metric once we do
our formal launch here.
And we're we're down a half horse all
the way up to 20 horsepower is the
range, if you guys didn't catch that earlier.
(14:53):
Good point there. Yes.
As far as accessories,
important accessories as the other VFDs, the line
and motor chokes.
Now a very unique cool thing here, when
we're grabbing our solar cell tying into the
DC bus,
there's not a lot of harmonics there because
we're actually using the power from the solar
cells.
So that's great way to avoid harmonics issues.
(15:16):
Going back to the mining example,
we even though this is specifically for our
20 horsepower machine, we do have an application
note for our Altavar 900 as well. They
can go, I believe, up to 400 horsepower.
So for some of these large mining applications,
imagine not having to deal with the harmonics
because you're tying directly into the DC bus.
(15:38):
Harmonics happen at the input of the VFD
caused by the switching from AC to DC,
and we're pretty much avoiding that by tying
directly from the solar cell, not damaging the
power from the grid. So just keep that
in mind. But for those who want that
do want the line motor chokes that is
available, the motor chokes are for the outputs.
We touched on our comm cards.
(15:59):
We do have the additional EMC
filtering
for a high speed, high Hertz radio frequency
filtering,
conformity kits for the EMC,
fan as accessories, mountain kits, and UL type
1 kits to my outside of machines.
People here that are familiar with Schneider Nomenclature,
the ATV 320c
(16:19):
is the same model number.
The range changes here,
and the 412 would be the identification
there. The difference between using a standard machine
VFD versus a solar VFD.
Now this is important here, especially when sizing
the solar cells. So there's a couple of
ways we can do this. We've provided a
solar sizer that can help with some general
(16:41):
solar
information.
The cut sheet that you have to make
sure we have the right number of rows
arrays to be able to power the pump
or the machine.
So this is the min and the max
range for the solar cells. So when we're
sizing for a pump fan motor, there's gonna
be 2 d ratings we're gonna take into
consideration.
The d rating of the solar cell itself
(17:04):
to make sure the DC bus power is
sent within that range and the derating of
the BFD, especially if it's outside. But for
a non derate application or within these ranges,
this is the max
output that we have available from the BFD
onto the FLA or the motor. So
for those that are experienced here, very important
that we size
(17:26):
by FLA.
And the FLA
of the VFD has to be equal or
higher than the motor, just as a friendly
reminder.
Traditional basic knowledge is just good to go
through that. Mhmm. Mhmm.
This goes up to
778 for the DC bus,
228,
403, and 404. So traditional DC bus ranges
(17:47):
really works with any or most solar cells
in the industry.
Okay. Going back to our story,
why did we come up with this product,
some of the cool things that we've talked
about, and the energy savings
that is still available here. It has our
green premium sustainability certification,
recyclable.
So we do have,
(18:08):
obviously, great great things in our business to
promote our green,
green solutions in everything from production
to end of life of the product and
recycling.
This goes back also to some of the
traditional applications that usually this comes up with,
which is ag, irrigation, sprinklers, etcetera.
(18:29):
I know we have a video here, Sean.
We we could certainly have the audience go
through it on their own time, but highly
recommend that they go through this very cool
video of the Altavar 320 solar.
Talks really about high level of what this
is, main features,
and,
some of the cool places where we can
apply it. As I mentioned before, global certifications
are here European, UL,
(18:52):
American,
RoHS compliance.
Very important to know that it has QL
both on the DC bus and the main
power.
And why do we come up with a
solar product? It's a very good question. So
globally,
20% of the crops are irrigated by solar
pumps.
Obviously, this is very unique for other countries.
(19:16):
And
globally,
just to be helpful here, this is a
global launch, and that's also why we launched
it. There's a 2.3 billion estimation of solar
pumping that's gonna grow to 5,000,000,000 in 2028.
We wanna be part of that growth. We
wanna be part of that sustainability story, and
that's why we're also launching that product here
in the US.
So, obviously, there's some key segments here, India
(19:39):
and and other countries where this is
very very important especially with our diesel applications.
I do think with our,
green initiatives that with this can also be
applied in the US market very streamlined over
here as well.
So the goal here is to help
the desalinationize some of these applications,
take advantage of our solar
arrays,
(19:59):
and obviously compare that versus the square footage
and availability to get power remotely. That that
really is the key here.
Before we jump into the functions,
specific things that we have on the VFD,
Sean, anything that, comes up to your mind
of the ATV 320 solar,
some applications,
why it's launched, or where else you think
this could be applicated in the industry?
(20:21):
No. I I really just think that, you
know, I keep coming back to only having
1 inverter.
You know, you're you're coming directly from the
solar panel into the drive,
so you're not inverting it for us with
a solar inverter
because every time you do that, you're losing
some power. Right? You're losing some efficiency.
So this just makes it clean. You go
right from the solar array to your
(20:43):
VFD. You're not going through an inverter and
then reconverting it later.
And, you know, because every time you converge
it, you lose lose a little bit. Right?
So that's that's really my thought here. And
that's why I love these remote applications. And
I'm sure there's more than I could think
of, but these remote applications where, you know,
you've you've always wanted to have a pump,
but, you know, a full blown,
you know, large battery system is very expensive.
(21:05):
And then converting that back to,
run a pump is also expensive, and this
is simplifying that panel. So those are that's
what's running through my mind right now. Let
me turn it back to you, Nick.
Okay. Great. Thanks, John. And we will go
through those diagrams just to be helpful with
the audience here on how to wire it
directly from the solar cell as well.
MPPT is key again for any solar application.
(21:27):
This is automated into our VFD. In our
previous 3 12 solar. You did have to
enter some parameters to be able to tune
it. That's,
we've really automated this with our VFD now.
To show the audio as an example of
how this works, this very cool algorithm.
So you see the solar cell here, the
useful power, the voltage. And on the right,
(21:48):
you have
the head and the flow, as well as
the power and the flow curve. So let's
run
the graph here as to how this looks
like with a changing
temperature,
er irradiation, or shaded solar array for the
audience.
So you see the cloud here, rasp onto
the solar cell, and it does reduce the
(22:08):
flow, follows the curve,
and the power.
So that's really what MPPT means.
For the audio audience here, we're seeing as
a cloud comes over the solar panel, you
know, the output the pump output is going
down
at proportional to the available power.
So that is, that's very cool. So you
(22:28):
can even power if you don't have full
sunlight.
You can even pump. Yeah.
And that's exactly right, Sean. Yes.
The other feature that we have here is
the global maximum PowerPoint tracking.
This one, we do need to enter 2
parameters,
but this is really to automate different clouding
(22:50):
seasons
times to make sure that even when shading
or
less sun for the next day versus the
previous,
there's an internal algorithm there that's gonna make
sure that our output power is gonna maintain
at the max of that shaded curve range.
So this is the global maximum power point
tracking.
This is really for something that we wanna
use for, more than just a daily use
(23:12):
of the MPPT.
It's seasonal use,
shaded use, different seasons. It essentially has the
algorithm embedded in there to change and and
attain maximum power during those switches and changes.
This is what the global MPPT would look
like.
Partial shading versus the full shading. Just to
zoom in.
Let's go into some of the cool features
(23:33):
that we have here. The VFD itself can
help you fill up a tank with a
tank liquid probe function.
So this is gonna help you detect if
the cap tank is full to run or
not run if it's not full, check the
status,
and it also can help detect
the probe
error. So we if you add some resistors
(23:55):
there per our diagram,
calibrate accordingly.
If there's an error with a probe, can
also alert there's,
an error with a probe, and we also
need to adjust and fix that. So to
make sure that we have the right, right
filling there. This is very key to avoid
having overflow or downtime
and be able to properly fill the tank.
I know there's quite a bit of details
(24:16):
here on the manual. Highly recommend we go
on the specifics there to go into the
IOs,
make sure that we have our
non inverter
diode to make sure that any switches changes,
there's no damage or power back to the
solar cell. That's very important.
So very key that when we're doing these
features applications,
we follow the instructions for the user manual.
(24:38):
They're they're specifically made for, the long term
use of this application and make sure that
all the devices are protected accordingly.
This is with more specifics here on the
tank look at probe assignment. So when the
tank is empty, when there's a probe error,
what the VFD and the pump should do
when the tank is full.
Low threshold, high threshold, all the configuration is
(24:58):
there and available.
The idea here, Sean, is that we have
this application as a standalone application.
There's no need to add any additional hardware.
You can do everything from the VFD and
the ATV 320 logic inside of the drive
and be able to essentially program,
configure, work,
and do some of these cool application features
for the AG and irrigation segments.
(25:20):
One of the things that we do want
to touch on is the dual supply changeover.
How we can switch from the solar to
the grid and
again could be battery power or some other
source of power. It looks like
quite a bit of a diagram,
but it's very important that we do follow
the instructions that we have here and the
diagram use of it.
Because what we are trying to do here
(25:42):
is the VFD itself will tell you when
you can switch over from solar back to
main power.
You have all the relay logic here from
connecting onto the DC bus itself,
and then the solar
main power as well
through the relays connecting back to the grid.
Essentially, what this does is if you try
to do a manual switch
(26:03):
when the VFD is not ready, as long
as you follow the instructions that we have
here, you will not be able to go
back into main or solar power unless the
VFD,
gives you the green light or allows you
to do the the switching.
So it's a manual switchover that we have
available.
Couple of important things, as I mentioned before,
the nonreversing diode and specific follow the instructions
(26:24):
on the installation manual to make sure that
we have the right use of this application.
Do you have a pre canned
assembly that has that in that? In other
words, drives and then the enclosure
with the switchover all wired up?
Yes. Yes. We're we're working on that actually,
Sean, to make sure that we have, specifically,
a bill of materials, the components, make sure
that the panel assembly has
(26:46):
the the correct yes. That that is something
that we will be,
adding to our launch. This is something that
we'll work on. Yes.
There's obviously more things that we can do
here. We can do some of the Boolean,
the reference switching,
work on preset
speeds. So there's a lot of very cool,
recommendations that we have on our installation manual,
in how to program through the logic, through
(27:08):
the VFD parameters,
and how to be able to switch between
references.
If we're using a PID loop,
all that will be available through the BFD.
Now, obviously, anytime when we go through the
DC bus solar, activate the MPPT,
and be able to switch into,
for example, main and PID and other sources
or programming within the BFD itself. So we
(27:31):
can get
extremely sophisticated, or we can keep the application
as simple as possible.
Back to your point,
we can create a specific bill of materials
for those that are interested in being part
of the prelaunch
and the development of this very cool technology.
This usually helps quite a bit to understand
what the VFD is doing or how it's
(27:51):
gonna operate between essentially a switching of main
power.
The queue is the flow.
These are our flow sources,
from solar to grid. The MPP gets activated
during the solar process,
where there's full sun into the array. It
gets shaded. That's when the VFD would create
and allow the switch over into the main,
(28:13):
main supply for emergency power and then back
to the VFD itself.
So as you see here on the bottom,
MPPT
is disabled, obviously, when we go back to
the main power source. So I think this
is more helpful for those that are more
visual as to how that, looks like.
Yeah. Basically, if the sun completely goes away,
we switch the main power.
If the sun comes back strong, we can
(28:34):
switch back to solar, which is great. And
that's the idea here. Yes. Yep. Another cool
thing that we have with a small
three twenty compact VFD
is having a pump curve in the VFD
itself.
Imagine being able to
get a rough idea of the flow, the
head, the power, how it's gonna operate.
And as long as we plug in that
(28:55):
pump curve, we can actually create a flow
estimation based off of that. So we add
our
5 points,
from the pump curve, program them onto the
VFD,
and it'll create a reasonably accurate flow estimation
of,
what the pump is there.
This completely eliminates the need for a flow
(29:16):
meter. But if you somehow do need to
be very precise,
the VFG can read a pulse counter and
be very precise into how much water we're
flowing and even use that for invoicing or
measuring purposes.
So this is another way we can use,
a volume counter. A volume counter
would either read from the VFD flow estimation
(29:39):
or from the pulse counter and let you
know how much daily or total volume and
flow you are getting based on the reset
that you program onto the VFD.
So going back to our very cool diagrams,
this is what it looks like.
The flow estimation on the bottom based off
the VFD itself, and then the pulse counter,
how to set that up, program, calibrate,
(30:01):
and do our volume counter on the right,
whether it's the daily counter or the reset
counter, with whatever we program onto their monthly,
yearly,
and be able to record the flow.
Antijon is also a very cool feature that
we have onto the Altavar 3 20 solar.
It essentially will go forward or reverse if
it, senses a
(30:22):
blockage on the impeller to be able to
flush that rag or,
pollutant back into the system.
Very important here that we put the minimum
speed on forward and reverse that we can
get from the pump manufacturer,
and we have the instructions on the installation
in user manual as well to make sure
that we do that properly.
This is really, the best way to program
(30:42):
this would be via through our
free software, the SoMove, where you can look
at the graph, the
forward, reverse, the acceleration, and program everything.
You can also program through the dials
or a,
rhmi,
the v w 3 a 111 y.
Dry run prevention is also something we have
(31:02):
in the VFD itself. So if there's a
lot of air, there's not enough,
water, we also prevent the pump from running
to make sure that we don't damage, the
motor. So this will help reduce downtime and
make sure that, the,
VFD and motor are protected for those circumstances.
Alright. So that's pretty much it for the
the features that we have available on the
(31:24):
VFD itself.
Heavily segmented towards pumps, ag, and irrigation.
If you wanna go here to some of
the selection and sizing, we can definitely go
through some of that. But before we run
into this on how to size the VFDs
in the solar,
Anything else you would like to add to
the conversation here, Sean, or any questions that
you have from some of the stuff that
we've gone through so far? No. I think
(31:45):
it's excellent. And I I would ask the
audience, what are your thoughts? Do you guys
have applications where you might use this on?
Do you
could you get away with no batteries in
your system? Would you do a a tie
in to the line power? I'd love to
hear what the audience is thinking at this
point, guys. Feel free to, you know, comment
wherever you're listening or watching, comment on the
(32:06):
show and let us know what your thoughts
because
you guys are out there in the field
doing this. I'm I'm I'm in here doing
the interview with Nick. So I'm really curious
to know what you guys are thinking. So
and let me, toss it back to you,
Nick. Yeah. Thanks, again Sean. It's
important to know that when you're working with
Schneider, when we're working together with our distribution
(32:27):
partners,
we're here throughout the whole process. We have
a solar sizer tool. We can do it
through our simplest
Excel spreadsheet. Here are some data. We also
have some very specific formulas to calculate the
number of solar array panels. Also, if we
have, let's say, not enough square footage on
the farm or or on the application itself,
(32:47):
let's please keep in mind that there's different
types of solar cells out there. There is
the
monolithic,
there's the photovoltaic,
and then,
I believe there's another one. But depending on
this specific type of solar cell that you're
using, that's gonna change the amount of,
real estate and square footage that your solar,
array is gonna land. So that's also important
(33:09):
to note.
We're gonna help you throughout that selection process.
With the cut sheets,
make sure you have enough area.
We have our experts
to help panel everything top to bottom to
make sure that this is a working application
for our customers.
And we finally got into this. I know
you we've touched quite a bit on
(33:29):
this is going from the cell or cell
DC bus directly onto the VFD.
Very clearly,
no need for another solar inverter. You can
actually put multiple,
solar VFDs on a solar array. And we
have the specific instructions on how to do
that, the protection fusing, the UL rating that
we have on that. It is a PV
(33:50):
SCCR,
very unique to that industry.
Again,
very important,
nonreversing
diode blockage here for the solar cell for
protection,
the distances that you need to make sure
that you have the right distance from the
plus and the minus.
And,
yeah, very important
to make sure that you're putting the plus
(34:10):
to the plus and the minus to the
minus and and not the other way around.
Yeah. I could see if you had a
very large solar array, this kind of common
bus topology would be so
efficient, you know, especially if you had multiple
pumps. Right?
So having multiple drives,
all on that same bus with the solar
panel makes a lot of sense.
(34:30):
Absolutely. Yes. And frankly, I think this is
just very unique,
very innovative.
And,
just
thinking about working with many of you on
putting some of these
green solutions together that just
get that useful power from the solar cell.
I just can't wait. Yeah. No. You know,
(34:50):
I noticed that the drives are interconnected with
an analog
Mhmm. And daisy chained together. Is that for
the MTTP
so they know what everybody else is doing?
So, yeah, we we have a couple of
of different things that we can program there.
We have the master slave function that we
can use, and
we also have,
(35:11):
a following function. So
the PBSA here feature is essentially mentioning
which pump to operate. So there's a couple
of different things we can do depending on
on on the need of the application. So
it's it's essentially to make sure that our
VFDs are communicating to each other and especially
if there's,
let's say,
a good way to think of it, a
pressure sensor where you have maybe the first
(35:32):
VFD running at 1st level. If, the pressure
sensor calls for demand, the second first and
second VFD turn on, and then the third
VFD will turn on. So there's
many things that we can do there connecting
the VFDs with each other. Yes.
Nice.
And
the ATV logic. So highly recommend that if
you haven't looked at my previous podcast, we're
going to some detail as to how to
(35:54):
do
ATV logic, these function blocks, the Boolean,
and, how to do some simple applications.
The goal here is that we do everything
from the BFD itself.
So all these arithmetic,
please take advantage of that.
If we do have time to proceed in,
Sean, I do have a sample that I
(36:14):
could share with the group here of what
we did with some of the Solr functions
and the LAD
so that we can alert operators depending on
the path how fast it's blinking, if it's
in a specific function, if it's running, if
it's stomp stopping, or if it's at fault.
So that's something that we did for the
HV logic for our customers here. The one
that used this for
tanks, pumps, and and irrigation. Yeah. If anybody's
(36:35):
listening, this is kinda like it looks like,
function blocks with, like, your standard gates inside
a lot of the blocks.
So it looks really cool. You get your
inputs. You get your outputs. You get, like,
where you can drop all the function blocks
on the grid. It looks very user friendly
as well how you're wiring everything together and,
you know, looping things around. So, I think
(36:55):
very intuitive for anybody out there's done any
type of function block programming.
And then going towards the end here, we'd
still have our safety functions available like we
do in our our Altiva r three twenty.
We wanna do this for machines, make sure
we have necessary safeties when opening panels to
turn,
the motor, the VFD, the pump off. We
have that available as well. Safe door cuff,
(37:17):
safe stop 1, SLS, the maximum speed,
car lock,
on the door.
If you use the 312 solar, we do
have some guidance here as to how to
go from the 312 to the 320.
Physical dimensions will be the same, IOs will
have some minor differences,
and we have the old versus the new
(37:38):
model number as well.
The other thing I would recommend Sean and
this is really towards the end of the
presentation just,
we're approaching the final slide here.
The getting started with Altivar Solaright TV 320,
that's another useful video I recommend for those
that have the VFD on hand, they want
to figure out how to go through some
of our parameters,
program via SoMove, how to put the motor
(38:00):
nameplate onto the VFD. This is a good
getting started instruction,
YouTube video that we have for our audience
here as well. Let me ask you a
question about SoMove. You said I think you
said it was free. Correct?
Oh, absolutely. Yes. So what do I need
to connect my laptop to the drive? The
because, you know, using the front of the
drive is you know, that's great and all.
(38:21):
But if there's a free software tool, I
think I would prefer to use that. But
as far as connectivity,
right, do I is there a cable I
need to buy from Schneider to go from
laptop to
the drive?
Yes. There is. And and that cable really,
Sean, is there for those that require admin
rights to, connect onto other devices. So it
helps, bypass some of that, correct,
(38:42):
and connect to the VFD. But you could
really use just standard,
Ethernet
cat cable to go into the VFD and
straight from your computer as well as unless
you have the right,
admin rights there. You can do that as
well. So move,
via the network.
There's just so many ways that we can
go into the, computer and the VFD. But
I highly recommend
(39:03):
simple applications. You have your programmer right in
front of the VFD
to use our specific cable. I'm happy to
add what that model is. It if you
Google,
so move cable, it is a long
model number.
Okay. And that is pretty much it, Sean.
I really appreciate you having me. We can
go through some final questions,
(39:24):
and I'm just tremendously excited to work on
some of these unique
applications
with our audience, our customers,
and do something different, in the industry out
there. I think this is gonna save a
lot of headaches with remote applications.
There's just so many ideas here for energy
savings,
portable machines,
you name it. I think there's just a
(39:45):
lot we can cover with this.
Yeah. Too. And I I know if you're
trying to cut your electric bill down and
you have solar, but you're like
you know, this this gives you a way
to say, look. Hey. If the sun is
shining bright, we can run these drives
off of the solar panels. And then, hey.
If the sun goes away, we can go
back across the line and use power. But,
no. I just there's all kinds of great
(40:06):
ideas. I can't wait to hear what our,
listeners have to say to chime in. I
know a lot of them are driving right
now or walking,
but, we love to hear you guys when
you, when you get back to wherever you
are and where you'll and where you can,
give us some feedback. And, of course,
you guys know how to find your local
Schneider Electric,
you know, representative. They're all over the world.
(40:26):
They're all over the place just like all
the major vendors are. But, Nick, I really
I'm excited to have you on. I think
I'm the first podcast you've come on to
talk about this. So thank you for not
only coming back, but for choosing The Automation
podcast to be where you kind of debut
the, the early launch of this. And, just
really appreciate you coming on.
Yeah. Absolutely. We're very excited that we did
(40:48):
our, our review here. This is really our
prelaunch presentation. And, yeah, many of your listeners,
this this will be the first time hearing
of our ATV 3 20 prelaunch. And,
there's not a lot of 3 20 solar
applications that have all these features and, certifications
on UL. So,
for those panel builders that were just waiting
for that UL, VFD that can do all
(41:09):
this, it's it. We have it. It's out
there. That's awesome. Alright, Sean. Really appreciate it.
Very excited that we spent some time together
and encourage you or the audience to please
do reach out and happy to help you
through this. Well, I hope you enjoyed that
episode, and I wanna thank Nick for coming
on the show and bringing us up to
speed on the Altavar Solar ATV 320.
(41:30):
I thought that was a really cool product.
I also think it was cool that Schneider
sponsored this episode so we could bring it
to you ad free. So if you see
your Schneider representative, please thank them for sponsoring
their appearance on our show and underwriting the
cost to edit it and put it all
together and publish it. That said, if you'd
like to get several of my hands on
(41:50):
videos that I do each week, q and
a's, testing, hands on,
then you can join my membership program for
just $2.50
a week or $10 a month on YouTube
or at the automation blog dot com. It's
a great way to get extra content
as well as support my work in those
areas as well as
if you know anybody who needs PLC, HMI,
(42:12):
or a skater training, please tell them all
about
my website, theautomationschool.com.
I'm also doing in person training as well.
And with all of that said, I would
just wanna thank you again for tuning in.
I wanna thank you for being a listener
or a viewer, and I just wanna wish
you all good health and happiness.
And until next time, my friends,
peace.
Welcome back to The Automation Podcast, the world's
number 1 industrial automation product and technology show.
Thanks to you, our audience
of highly skilled automation professionals.
Thank you for being a member of our
audience,
and thank you for tuning back in this
week. Now for those new to the show,
my name is Sean Tierney from Insights and
Automation,
and each week I invite a new vendor
(00:21):
to come out of the show to talk
to us about their products and technologies.
And during their presentation, I'll play the role
of the audience. I'll ask questions I think
you guys might have as well as questions
I have. And given that a quarter of
our audience listens to the show, but doesn't
watch it, just listens to it, I'll try
to call attention to any details in the
visuals that I think you listen only people
(00:43):
may wanna know about. Now with that said,
I wanna welcome Nick back to the show.
We got a very exciting product to talk
about. But, Nick, because some of the people
may not have caught your last appearance,
could you do, like, a quick little in,
intro on who you are? Yeah. Happy to
do that, Sean, and thanks for having me
back here again.
So I am, Nick Rausser, senior offer manager
(01:04):
for the Altavar Machinery and Building Solutions with
Schneider Electric.
And I am the launch manager for the
Altavar 3/20 solar products.
And that's what we're here to talk about,
this new innovative
solution for the industry that grabs power directly
from a solar cell
(01:25):
onto the DC bus of a VFD and
make it into useful power for a motor
pump compressor fan. Yeah. There are some great
videos Nick sent over to me, and I
was just watching them. I'm like, wow. This
is really cool. So, Nick, without further ado,
let me turn it back to you, and
let's jump in. Yeah. Yeah. Thanks again. So
let's let's go through this. Very excited to
talk about this.
And, it's, by the way, Sean, a prelaunch.
(01:47):
So a lot of this information is actually
not even
available online yet, but can certainly tell people
how to get the information from your customers.
So many of these links that I have
currently here, the majority are actually
internal.
So the only way to access these would
be there through, a Schneider salesperson
or, one of our Schneider distributors or channel
(02:07):
partners. So my recommendation,
for those that want to be
involved in the prelaunch and some of our
development to reach out to your Schneider
distributor.
Now because it's a prelaunch, does that mean
some of the things might change a little
bit between now and the formal launch?
I don't anticipate that, Sean. We we really
have a lot of the things set and
(02:28):
established. So it's more of the formalities of
getting the Ah, okay. Product,
commercialized in the US,
in terms of our internal systems. But as
far as certifications,
features,
stock,
and manuals, those are all up and running.
So Nice. Nice. Mhmm.
And, I mean, going back to this exciting
launch,
(02:49):
there's
many ways we can apply this product. So,
obviously, the first thing that may come to
mind is, solar pumps,
solar skids, and farming. So for some of
these remote applications,
that's the most traditional way of applying this
product. But there's just so many other things
we can do with this. Orbital compressor skids,
HVAC,
(03:09):
high velocity, low speed fans.
And it has an adjustable
source,
switchable source, I should say, between
the DC bus and the AC power. So
you can actually have both connected and have
them switch over. And, we'll go over through
that on how that looks like. So that
is one of the very cool features and
advantages that that we have here to showcase.
(03:32):
And beyond that, the manual switch over that
we have with that, some of the very
cool integrated pump functions that we have on
this very small
ATV 320 VFD. So for those familiar with
the Schneider ATV 320 product,
it's the same form factor as our compacts,
and we can go through the low horsepower
ranges, which we have available.
(03:53):
Since
this is a very cool offer going into
the DC bus of a VFD,
we essentially have 3 products where you can
do that.
What we're here to talk about is the
product that's specifically for solar applications.
So if you think about the irrigation,
golf courses,
fountains,
pools, residential,
(04:15):
There's just countless of applications that we can
think of or we can apply this in
our markets.
We'll go through some of the details as
to why we came out with this launch
and and the reasoning behind it and and
the growth and traditional aspects of it. But
if we wanna get creative,
talking about our decarbonization
goals, our, energy savings and
off grid, it's just a very cool technology,
(04:37):
something very unique. We have all the global
certifications,
UL on the DC bus portion,
UL on the main power. So for those
that want to create UL panels across the
board,
obviously, global centers to go with that, this
is just a great solution. So
before we jump into the technical product, anything
any questions that may come up before we
(04:59):
go into the, the core of, the horsepower
or the voltage and and the future, Sean,
that you can think of? No. I I
just thinking that, you know, and this is
I haven't seen any of the material yet,
and I always, that's one of my requirements
when somebody comes on because I wanna see
it for the first time like the audience.
And I'm just thinking this really simplifies
those
(05:19):
stand alone systems in the middle of nowhere
that,
you know, there's no power that's running to
it. Right? So I mean think of what
you would have to do with a solar
panel prior to this is you would have
to go to a battery typically. Right?
And you know what, what if you only
need the pump to go when the sun
is out. Right? Why do you have to
have all the cost and, you know, batteries
(05:40):
don't last forever and all these other things?
If we could take that solar power and
put it right to the DC bus of
the VFD,
then when the sun's out, we can be
pumping, and then when the sun goes away,
we can just stop. You know, we don't
we don't need all that other not to
say that that stuff isn't good. In some
applications, it'll be needed. Right? But it can
really bring down the the simplest of the
(06:01):
simple applications,
solar panel, VFD,
pumper motor. And I just love the simplicity
of that for for certain applications. Again, granted
it's not for everyone. And, so let me
just throw it back to you. That those
are kind of my initial thoughts.
And that's just a great point, Sean. I'm
very happy that you brought that up because,
the other day we were with our mining
(06:23):
team and they asked us they have a
solar farm and they have a solar inverter.
Well, guess what? We can apply this a
couple of different ways. With the VFD, you
don't really need the solar inverter because you're
using the inverter, the VFD, to make it
into useful power. So number 1,
yeah, just to be overly
helpful with how we're trying to apply this
and and there's no need for dual inverters.
(06:44):
But we can use the battery
backup or maybe a generator backup as a
backup. As you mentioned, maybe during the night,
if you wanna pump, switch it back to
that battery or generator, and during the day,
use the solar power.
So that's,
those are all valid and unique applications here.
So going back to the mining remote applications,
solar panels,
(07:05):
the end user may spend a couple 100
of 1,000 just to get power into a
remote situation.
Let we can start looking into alternative sources
of how to be able to power your
equipment. So that that's just a very compelling
story behind that.
But, without further ado, Sean, let's jump into
some of the technical features and, some of
the products
(07:25):
details that we have here.
Going back to the core product, as I
mentioned earlier,
initially, this was the intent
is
in the picture you see here, the Altamar
312 solar. So Schneider did have a solar
VFD in the past,
that we use for farming. It was in
low low horsepower ranges.
(07:47):
And the 3 20 solar is the upgrade
of the 3 12 solar that we used
to have before.
And, we just added so many more features.
The multi point power tracking, you used to
have to manually program that. Ours is just
automated, like, programmed into the VFD easily to
turn on and off during the switchover periods
of main power or solar power. So we've
(08:09):
just tremendously upgraded this and even increased the
range there. So you see here this assembly
on a NEMA 3R panel.
Obviously, all the
switches, relays. We have all the documentation here
to help our panel builders, integrators,
skids and OEMs and panels people to put
this together.
(08:31):
As I mentioned before,
there's the DC bus directly onto the VFD,
and then we can either do a a
filling a tank going straight to irrigation.
This was the previous technology that we had
here, Just to be, overly clear and helpful
on what that used to look like.
Now what is the next generation product? What's
(08:51):
the difference here?
Hopefully, you all recognize this. This is the
Altavar machine 320,
but it now has been built for Altavar
Solar 320. So you'll see that the dial
here looks like a sun.
You'll see the QR code to download the
data at the front of the VFD.
And we have all the ranges here available
(09:12):
for that. So it's gonna be on the
compact form
factor, specifically.
It's gonna go from single phase to a
230,
3 phase to a 230,
and the 3 phase 480 volts up to,
20 horsepower.
And the DC voltage ranges
are right here. This is kinda key to
know the DC voltage ranges,
(09:34):
because depending on, as we will see in
the next few slides, what that looks like,
that's really gonna dictate the current, maximum current
that we can put into the motor.
We have our 6 digital IOs, 3 analog
inputs, 1 digital output. So our traditional outputs
that we have with our Ultibar machine are
the same IOs that we have with the
Ultibar Solar 320.
(09:55):
We can do
synchronous and asynchronous motors, so induction and PM.
It's IP20,
mainly for panel build applications,
and,
as our conducted emissions or EMC standards as
well and protection.
Communication is here as well.
The modbus and CANopen are the standard, and
(10:17):
our optional
communication cards are here as well.
Another cool thing that we have on the
AltaVor 320
solar is that we also have integration into
the
Schneider EcoStruxure platform for remote monitoring. So for
those interested in that, we can also do
a deep dive later on to that. The
MPPT is a very important thing to know
(10:38):
anytime we're dealing with solar technology.
The multi point power tracking
and that is in the lingo of solar.
The specific
algorithm that graphs that DC bus and creates
it into useful power. Because obviously there's gonna
be some ranges, some switching, some irradiation
(10:59):
clouds,
different
types of,
conditions that will change that DC bus.
So that feature is really important to grab
that changing DC bus and create useful power
out into a pump, motor, fan, compressor.
Very important
here. I touched a little bit on the
dual supply changeover. This is another very cool
(11:21):
feature.
So it can switch from solar
to grid
and vice versa
through a manual switch, and we can go
through the circuitry in a bit. I don't
know how that looks like. You touched on
battery and and maybe solar generators, Sean. Those
are also things that we can switch over.
The important thing is the if we're going
to a grid or a main power, has
(11:41):
to be on for the switching to work
because that's what's powering the relays to do
that. Okay.
Mhmm.
It does have a tank liquid probe function,
so it'll fill up a tank.
The pump functions are here as well as
a pump curve,
anti jam,
dry monitoring,
flow estimation,
(12:02):
pulse counter, and volume counter. So for those
that need to
measure the volume per reset,
per day,
you can use a pulse counter which is
the device that pulses unless you know what
the flow is. So it's very, precise metering,
or you can use the flow estimation, which
is a rough estimate if you are
(12:24):
flowing water or not in a percentage error
range. So that's the difference there. And you
can use the volume counter to connect on
to both and and tag
the number of times that you reset. So
it could be half a year, a couple
months, or daily.
Going back to some of the cool functions
that we have here,
the ATB 320 has the safety functions. So,
for example, safe Torkov,
(12:46):
s s one, SLS. If you wanna have
some safety, somebody opens a panel or the
machine
and do a safe,
safety function. That's definitely available on the BFT
through
somu.
And we also have, which is a very
cool thing here, the ATV logic,
which is our unique embedded PLC on the
(13:07):
p l on the VFD that can create
custom logic for specific applications or functions.
So one of the things that we did
here for the Altar 3 20 solar
is we actually have a tested proven function
for a tank probe if it's flowing, if
it's not flowing,
if there's a dry run,
through a linking diode.
(13:28):
And as as I mentioned before, EcoStruxure compatibility
for remote
monitoring.
Here's some of our environmental protection features, up
to 50 C without D rating, 60 C
with D rating. And it has our altitude
curves
d rating as well for switching frequency,
pollution degree, chemical class, and mechanical class protection
(13:49):
on coating board essentially.
And all the way down to minus 10
c, which is important,
and, let me go back here. Yes.
Yeah. And and typically, you'll find that if
it's in an enclosure with electronics, it'll never
get below that and well, most of America.
I mean, you guys know where you need
a heater. Heaters are very inexpensive, but,
(14:09):
that's important to know. I'm sorry. Back to
you.
Yeah. Great point, Sean. So
obviously, that's something we would design specifically in
the panel for those cold climates and Mhmm.
Going back to the frame sizes,
from what we have on
single phase to
three phase,
these are our ranges.
(14:31):
This is really more informational for
those of our audience here to wanna take
a snapshot and and make sure that fits
in their panel.
Obviously, in in English,
hoping to update to metric once we do
our formal launch here.
And we're we're down a half horse all
the way up to 20 horsepower is the
range, if you guys didn't catch that earlier.
(14:53):
Good point there. Yes.
As far as accessories,
important accessories as the other VFDs, the line
and motor chokes.
Now a very unique cool thing here, when
we're grabbing our solar cell tying into the
DC bus,
there's not a lot of harmonics there because
we're actually using the power from the solar
cells.
So that's great way to avoid harmonics issues.
(15:16):
Going back to the mining example,
we even though this is specifically for our
20 horsepower machine, we do have an application
note for our Altavar 900 as well. They
can go, I believe, up to 400 horsepower.
So for some of these large mining applications,
imagine not having to deal with the harmonics
because you're tying directly into the DC bus.
(15:38):
Harmonics happen at the input of the VFD
caused by the switching from AC to DC,
and we're pretty much avoiding that by tying
directly from the solar cell, not damaging the
power from the grid. So just keep that
in mind. But for those who want that
do want the line motor chokes that is
available, the motor chokes are for the outputs.
We touched on our comm cards.
(15:59):
We do have the additional EMC
filtering
for a high speed, high Hertz radio frequency
filtering,
conformity kits for the EMC,
fan as accessories, mountain kits, and UL type
1 kits to my outside of machines.
People here that are familiar with Schneider Nomenclature,
the ATV 320c
(16:19):
is the same model number.
The range changes here,
and the 412 would be the identification
there. The difference between using a standard machine
VFD versus a solar VFD.
Now this is important here, especially when sizing
the solar cells. So there's a couple of
ways we can do this. We've provided a
solar sizer that can help with some general
(16:41):
solar
information.
The cut sheet that you have to make
sure we have the right number of rows
arrays to be able to power the pump
or the machine.
So this is the min and the max
range for the solar cells. So when we're
sizing for a pump fan motor, there's gonna
be 2 d ratings we're gonna take into
consideration.
The d rating of the solar cell itself
(17:04):
to make sure the DC bus power is
sent within that range and the derating of
the BFD, especially if it's outside. But for
a non derate application or within these ranges,
this is the max
output that we have available from the BFD
onto the FLA or the motor. So
for those that are experienced here, very important
that we size
(17:26):
by FLA.
And the FLA
of the VFD has to be equal or
higher than the motor, just as a friendly
reminder.
Traditional basic knowledge is just good to go
through that. Mhmm. Mhmm.
This goes up to
778 for the DC bus,
228,
403, and 404. So traditional DC bus ranges
(17:47):
really works with any or most solar cells
in the industry.
Okay. Going back to our story,
why did we come up with this product,
some of the cool things that we've talked
about, and the energy savings
that is still available here. It has our
green premium sustainability certification,
recyclable.
So we do have,
(18:08):
obviously, great great things in our business to
promote our green,
green solutions in everything from production
to end of life of the product and
recycling.
This goes back also to some of the
traditional applications that usually this comes up with,
which is ag, irrigation, sprinklers, etcetera.
(18:29):
I know we have a video here, Sean.
We we could certainly have the audience go
through it on their own time, but highly
recommend that they go through this very cool
video of the Altavar 320 solar.
Talks really about high level of what this
is, main features,
and,
some of the cool places where we can
apply it. As I mentioned before, global certifications
are here European, UL,
(18:52):
American,
RoHS compliance.
Very important to know that it has QL
both on the DC bus and the main
power.
And why do we come up with a
solar product? It's a very good question. So
globally,
20% of the crops are irrigated by solar
pumps.
Obviously, this is very unique for other countries.
(19:16):
And
globally,
just to be helpful here, this is a
global launch, and that's also why we launched
it. There's a 2.3 billion estimation of solar
pumping that's gonna grow to 5,000,000,000 in 2028.
We wanna be part of that growth. We
wanna be part of that sustainability story, and
that's why we're also launching that product here
in the US.
So, obviously, there's some key segments here, India
(19:39):
and and other countries where this is
very very important especially with our diesel applications.
I do think with our,
green initiatives that with this can also be
applied in the US market very streamlined over
here as well.
So the goal here is to help
the desalinationize some of these applications,
take advantage of our solar
arrays,
(19:59):
and obviously compare that versus the square footage
and availability to get power remotely. That that
really is the key here.
Before we jump into the functions,
specific things that we have on the VFD,
Sean, anything that, comes up to your mind
of the ATV 320 solar,
some applications,
why it's launched, or where else you think
this could be applicated in the industry?
(20:21):
No. I I really just think that, you
know, I keep coming back to only having
1 inverter.
You know, you're you're coming directly from the
solar panel into the drive,
so you're not inverting it for us with
a solar inverter
because every time you do that, you're losing
some power. Right? You're losing some efficiency.
So this just makes it clean. You go
right from the solar array to your
(20:43):
VFD. You're not going through an inverter and
then reconverting it later.
And, you know, because every time you converge
it, you lose lose a little bit. Right?
So that's that's really my thought here. And
that's why I love these remote applications. And
I'm sure there's more than I could think
of, but these remote applications where, you know,
you've you've always wanted to have a pump,
but, you know, a full blown,
you know, large battery system is very expensive.
(21:05):
And then converting that back to,
run a pump is also expensive, and this
is simplifying that panel. So those are that's
what's running through my mind right now. Let
me turn it back to you, Nick.
Okay. Great. Thanks, John. And we will go
through those diagrams just to be helpful with
the audience here on how to wire it
directly from the solar cell as well.
MPPT is key again for any solar application.
(21:27):
This is automated into our VFD. In our
previous 3 12 solar. You did have to
enter some parameters to be able to tune
it. That's,
we've really automated this with our VFD now.
To show the audio as an example of
how this works, this very cool algorithm.
So you see the solar cell here, the
useful power, the voltage. And on the right,
(21:48):
you have
the head and the flow, as well as
the power and the flow curve. So let's
run
the graph here as to how this looks
like with a changing
temperature,
er irradiation, or shaded solar array for the
audience.
So you see the cloud here, rasp onto
the solar cell, and it does reduce the
(22:08):
flow, follows the curve,
and the power.
So that's really what MPPT means.
For the audio audience here, we're seeing as
a cloud comes over the solar panel, you
know, the output the pump output is going
down
at proportional to the available power.
So that is, that's very cool. So you
(22:28):
can even power if you don't have full
sunlight.
You can even pump. Yeah.
And that's exactly right, Sean. Yes.
The other feature that we have here is
the global maximum PowerPoint tracking.
This one, we do need to enter 2
parameters,
but this is really to automate different clouding
(22:50):
seasons
times to make sure that even when shading
or
less sun for the next day versus the
previous,
there's an internal algorithm there that's gonna make
sure that our output power is gonna maintain
at the max of that shaded curve range.
So this is the global maximum power point
tracking.
This is really for something that we wanna
use for, more than just a daily use
(23:12):
of the MPPT.
It's seasonal use,
shaded use, different seasons. It essentially has the
algorithm embedded in there to change and and
attain maximum power during those switches and changes.
This is what the global MPPT would look
like.
Partial shading versus the full shading. Just to
zoom in.
Let's go into some of the cool features
(23:33):
that we have here. The VFD itself can
help you fill up a tank with a
tank liquid probe function.
So this is gonna help you detect if
the cap tank is full to run or
not run if it's not full, check the
status,
and it also can help detect
the probe
error. So we if you add some resistors
(23:55):
there per our diagram,
calibrate accordingly.
If there's an error with a probe, can
also alert there's,
an error with a probe, and we also
need to adjust and fix that. So to
make sure that we have the right, right
filling there. This is very key to avoid
having overflow or downtime
and be able to properly fill the tank.
I know there's quite a bit of details
(24:16):
here on the manual. Highly recommend we go
on the specifics there to go into the
IOs,
make sure that we have our
non inverter
diode to make sure that any switches changes,
there's no damage or power back to the
solar cell. That's very important.
So very key that when we're doing these
features applications,
we follow the instructions for the user manual.
(24:38):
They're they're specifically made for, the long term
use of this application and make sure that
all the devices are protected accordingly.
This is with more specifics here on the
tank look at probe assignment. So when the
tank is empty, when there's a probe error,
what the VFD and the pump should do
when the tank is full.
Low threshold, high threshold, all the configuration is
(24:58):
there and available.
The idea here, Sean, is that we have
this application as a standalone application.
There's no need to add any additional hardware.
You can do everything from the VFD and
the ATV 320 logic inside of the drive
and be able to essentially program,
configure, work,
and do some of these cool application features
for the AG and irrigation segments.
(25:20):
One of the things that we do want
to touch on is the dual supply changeover.
How we can switch from the solar to
the grid and
again could be battery power or some other
source of power. It looks like
quite a bit of a diagram,
but it's very important that we do follow
the instructions that we have here and the
diagram use of it.
Because what we are trying to do here
(25:42):
is the VFD itself will tell you when
you can switch over from solar back to
main power.
You have all the relay logic here from
connecting onto the DC bus itself,
and then the solar
main power as well
through the relays connecting back to the grid.
Essentially, what this does is if you try
to do a manual switch
(26:03):
when the VFD is not ready, as long
as you follow the instructions that we have
here, you will not be able to go
back into main or solar power unless the
VFD,
gives you the green light or allows you
to do the the switching.
So it's a manual switchover that we have
available.
Couple of important things, as I mentioned before,
the nonreversing diode and specific follow the instructions
(26:24):
on the installation manual to make sure that
we have the right use of this application.
Do you have a pre canned
assembly that has that in that? In other
words, drives and then the enclosure
with the switchover all wired up?
Yes. Yes. We're we're working on that actually,
Sean, to make sure that we have, specifically,
a bill of materials, the components, make sure
that the panel assembly has
(26:46):
the the correct yes. That that is something
that we will be,
adding to our launch. This is something that
we'll work on. Yes.
There's obviously more things that we can do
here. We can do some of the Boolean,
the reference switching,
work on preset
speeds. So there's a lot of very cool,
recommendations that we have on our installation manual,
in how to program through the logic, through
(27:08):
the VFD parameters,
and how to be able to switch between
references.
If we're using a PID loop,
all that will be available through the BFD.
Now, obviously, anytime when we go through the
DC bus solar, activate the MPPT,
and be able to switch into,
for example, main and PID and other sources
or programming within the BFD itself. So we
(27:31):
can get
extremely sophisticated, or we can keep the application
as simple as possible.
Back to your point,
we can create a specific bill of materials
for those that are interested in being part
of the prelaunch
and the development of this very cool technology.
This usually helps quite a bit to understand
what the VFD is doing or how it's
(27:51):
gonna operate between essentially a switching of main
power.
The queue is the flow.
These are our flow sources,
from solar to grid. The MPP gets activated
during the solar process,
where there's full sun into the array. It
gets shaded. That's when the VFD would create
and allow the switch over into the main,
(28:13):
main supply for emergency power and then back
to the VFD itself.
So as you see here on the bottom,
MPPT
is disabled, obviously, when we go back to
the main power source. So I think this
is more helpful for those that are more
visual as to how that, looks like.
Yeah. Basically, if the sun completely goes away,
we switch the main power.
If the sun comes back strong, we can
(28:34):
switch back to solar, which is great. And
that's the idea here. Yes. Yep. Another cool
thing that we have with a small
three twenty compact VFD
is having a pump curve in the VFD
itself.
Imagine being able to
get a rough idea of the flow, the
head, the power, how it's gonna operate.
And as long as we plug in that
(28:55):
pump curve, we can actually create a flow
estimation based off of that. So we add
our
5 points,
from the pump curve, program them onto the
VFD,
and it'll create a reasonably accurate flow estimation
of,
what the pump is there.
This completely eliminates the need for a flow
(29:16):
meter. But if you somehow do need to
be very precise,
the VFG can read a pulse counter and
be very precise into how much water we're
flowing and even use that for invoicing or
measuring purposes.
So this is another way we can use,
a volume counter. A volume counter
would either read from the VFD flow estimation
(29:39):
or from the pulse counter and let you
know how much daily or total volume and
flow you are getting based on the reset
that you program onto the VFD.
So going back to our very cool diagrams,
this is what it looks like.
The flow estimation on the bottom based off
the VFD itself, and then the pulse counter,
how to set that up, program, calibrate,
(30:01):
and do our volume counter on the right,
whether it's the daily counter or the reset
counter, with whatever we program onto their monthly,
yearly,
and be able to record the flow.
Antijon is also a very cool feature that
we have onto the Altavar 3 20 solar.
It essentially will go forward or reverse if
it, senses a
(30:22):
blockage on the impeller to be able to
flush that rag or,
pollutant back into the system.
Very important here that we put the minimum
speed on forward and reverse that we can
get from the pump manufacturer,
and we have the instructions on the installation
in user manual as well to make sure
that we do that properly.
This is really, the best way to program
(30:42):
this would be via through our
free software, the SoMove, where you can look
at the graph, the
forward, reverse, the acceleration, and program everything.
You can also program through the dials
or a,
rhmi,
the v w 3 a 111 y.
Dry run prevention is also something we have
(31:02):
in the VFD itself. So if there's a
lot of air, there's not enough,
water, we also prevent the pump from running
to make sure that we don't damage, the
motor. So this will help reduce downtime and
make sure that, the,
VFD and motor are protected for those circumstances.
Alright. So that's pretty much it for the
the features that we have available on the
(31:24):
VFD itself.
Heavily segmented towards pumps, ag, and irrigation.
If you wanna go here to some of
the selection and sizing, we can definitely go
through some of that. But before we run
into this on how to size the VFDs
in the solar,
Anything else you would like to add to
the conversation here, Sean, or any questions that
you have from some of the stuff that
we've gone through so far? No. I think
(31:45):
it's excellent. And I I would ask the
audience, what are your thoughts? Do you guys
have applications where you might use this on?
Do you
could you get away with no batteries in
your system? Would you do a a tie
in to the line power? I'd love to
hear what the audience is thinking at this
point, guys. Feel free to, you know, comment
wherever you're listening or watching, comment on the
(32:06):
show and let us know what your thoughts
because
you guys are out there in the field
doing this. I'm I'm I'm in here doing
the interview with Nick. So I'm really curious
to know what you guys are thinking. So
and let me, toss it back to you,
Nick. Yeah. Thanks, again Sean. It's
important to know that when you're working with
Schneider, when we're working together with our distribution
(32:27):
partners,
we're here throughout the whole process. We have
a solar sizer tool. We can do it
through our simplest
Excel spreadsheet. Here are some data. We also
have some very specific formulas to calculate the
number of solar array panels. Also, if we
have, let's say, not enough square footage on
the farm or or on the application itself,
(32:47):
let's please keep in mind that there's different
types of solar cells out there. There is
the
monolithic,
there's the photovoltaic,
and then,
I believe there's another one. But depending on
this specific type of solar cell that you're
using, that's gonna change the amount of,
real estate and square footage that your solar,
array is gonna land. So that's also important
(33:09):
to note.
We're gonna help you throughout that selection process.
With the cut sheets,
make sure you have enough area.
We have our experts
to help panel everything top to bottom to
make sure that this is a working application
for our customers.
And we finally got into this. I know
you we've touched quite a bit on
(33:29):
this is going from the cell or cell
DC bus directly onto the VFD.
Very clearly,
no need for another solar inverter. You can
actually put multiple,
solar VFDs on a solar array. And we
have the specific instructions on how to do
that, the protection fusing, the UL rating that
we have on that. It is a PV
(33:50):
SCCR,
very unique to that industry.
Again,
very important,
nonreversing
diode blockage here for the solar cell for
protection,
the distances that you need to make sure
that you have the right distance from the
plus and the minus.
And,
yeah, very important
to make sure that you're putting the plus
(34:10):
to the plus and the minus to the
minus and and not the other way around.
Yeah. I could see if you had a
very large solar array, this kind of common
bus topology would be so
efficient, you know, especially if you had multiple
pumps. Right?
So having multiple drives,
all on that same bus with the solar
panel makes a lot of sense.
(34:30):
Absolutely. Yes. And frankly, I think this is
just very unique,
very innovative.
And,
just
thinking about working with many of you on
putting some of these
green solutions together that just
get that useful power from the solar cell.
I just can't wait. Yeah. No. You know,
(34:50):
I noticed that the drives are interconnected with
an analog
Mhmm. And daisy chained together. Is that for
the MTTP
so they know what everybody else is doing?
So, yeah, we we have a couple of
of different things that we can program there.
We have the master slave function that we
can use, and
we also have,
(35:11):
a following function. So
the PBSA here feature is essentially mentioning
which pump to operate. So there's a couple
of different things we can do depending on
on on the need of the application. So
it's it's essentially to make sure that our
VFDs are communicating to each other and especially
if there's,
let's say,
a good way to think of it, a
pressure sensor where you have maybe the first
(35:32):
VFD running at 1st level. If, the pressure
sensor calls for demand, the second first and
second VFD turn on, and then the third
VFD will turn on. So there's
many things that we can do there connecting
the VFDs with each other. Yes.
Nice.
And
the ATV logic. So highly recommend that if
you haven't looked at my previous podcast, we're
going to some detail as to how to
(35:54):
do
ATV logic, these function blocks, the Boolean,
and, how to do some simple applications.
The goal here is that we do everything
from the BFD itself.
So all these arithmetic,
please take advantage of that.
If we do have time to proceed in,
Sean, I do have a sample that I
(36:14):
could share with the group here of what
we did with some of the Solr functions
and the LAD
so that we can alert operators depending on
the path how fast it's blinking, if it's
in a specific function, if it's running, if
it's stomp stopping, or if it's at fault.
So that's something that we did for the
HV logic for our customers here. The one
that used this for
tanks, pumps, and and irrigation. Yeah. If anybody's
(36:35):
listening, this is kinda like it looks like,
function blocks with, like, your standard gates inside
a lot of the blocks.
So it looks really cool. You get your
inputs. You get your outputs. You get, like,
where you can drop all the function blocks
on the grid. It looks very user friendly
as well how you're wiring everything together and,
you know, looping things around. So, I think
(36:55):
very intuitive for anybody out there's done any
type of function block programming.
And then going towards the end here, we'd
still have our safety functions available like we
do in our our Altiva r three twenty.
We wanna do this for machines, make sure
we have necessary safeties when opening panels to
turn,
the motor, the VFD, the pump off. We
have that available as well. Safe door cuff,
(37:17):
safe stop 1, SLS, the maximum speed,
car lock,
on the door.
If you use the 312 solar, we do
have some guidance here as to how to
go from the 312 to the 320.
Physical dimensions will be the same, IOs will
have some minor differences,
and we have the old versus the new
(37:38):
model number as well.
The other thing I would recommend Sean and
this is really towards the end of the
presentation just,
we're approaching the final slide here.
The getting started with Altivar Solaright TV 320,
that's another useful video I recommend for those
that have the VFD on hand, they want
to figure out how to go through some
of our parameters,
program via SoMove, how to put the motor
(38:00):
nameplate onto the VFD. This is a good
getting started instruction,
YouTube video that we have for our audience
here as well. Let me ask you a
question about SoMove. You said I think you
said it was free. Correct?
Oh, absolutely. Yes. So what do I need
to connect my laptop to the drive? The
because, you know, using the front of the
drive is you know, that's great and all.
(38:21):
But if there's a free software tool, I
think I would prefer to use that. But
as far as connectivity,
right, do I is there a cable I
need to buy from Schneider to go from
laptop to
the drive?
Yes. There is. And and that cable really,
Sean, is there for those that require admin
rights to, connect onto other devices. So it
helps, bypass some of that, correct,
(38:42):
and connect to the VFD. But you could
really use just standard,
Ethernet
cat cable to go into the VFD and
straight from your computer as well as unless
you have the right,
admin rights there. You can do that as
well. So move,
via the network.
There's just so many ways that we can
go into the, computer and the VFD. But
I highly recommend
(39:03):
simple applications. You have your programmer right in
front of the VFD
to use our specific cable. I'm happy to
add what that model is. It if you
Google,
so move cable, it is a long
model number.
Okay. And that is pretty much it, Sean.
I really appreciate you having me. We can
go through some final questions,
(39:24):
and I'm just tremendously excited to work on
some of these unique
applications
with our audience, our customers,
and do something different, in the industry out
there. I think this is gonna save a
lot of headaches with remote applications.
There's just so many ideas here for energy
savings,
portable machines,
you name it. I think there's just a
(39:45):
lot we can cover with this.
Yeah. Too. And I I know if you're
trying to cut your electric bill down and
you have solar, but you're like
you know, this this gives you a way
to say, look. Hey. If the sun is
shining bright, we can run these drives
off of the solar panels. And then, hey.
If the sun goes away, we can go
back across the line and use power. But,
no. I just there's all kinds of great
(40:06):
ideas. I can't wait to hear what our,
listeners have to say to chime in. I
know a lot of them are driving right
now or walking,
but, we love to hear you guys when
you, when you get back to wherever you
are and where you'll and where you can,
give us some feedback. And, of course,
you guys know how to find your local
Schneider Electric,
you know, representative. They're all over the world.
(40:26):
They're all over the place just like all
the major vendors are. But, Nick, I really
I'm excited to have you on. I think
I'm the first podcast you've come on to
talk about this. So thank you for not
only coming back, but for choosing The Automation
podcast to be where you kind of debut
the, the early launch of this. And, just
really appreciate you coming on.
Yeah. Absolutely. We're very excited that we did
(40:48):
our, our review here. This is really our
prelaunch presentation. And, yeah, many of your listeners,
this this will be the first time hearing
of our ATV 3 20 prelaunch. And,
there's not a lot of 3 20 solar
applications that have all these features and, certifications
on UL. So,
for those panel builders that were just waiting
for that UL, VFD that can do all
(41:09):
this, it's it. We have it. It's out
there. That's awesome. Alright, Sean. Really appreciate it.
Very excited that we spent some time together
and encourage you or the audience to please
do reach out and happy to help you
through this. Well, I hope you enjoyed that
episode, and I wanna thank Nick for coming
on the show and bringing us up to
speed on the Altavar Solar ATV 320.
(41:30):
I thought that was a really cool product.
I also think it was cool that Schneider
sponsored this episode so we could bring it
to you ad free. So if you see
your Schneider representative, please thank them for sponsoring
their appearance on our show and underwriting the
cost to edit it and put it all
together and publish it. That said, if you'd
like to get several of my hands on
(41:50):
videos that I do each week, q and
a's, testing, hands on,
then you can join my membership program for
just $2.50
a week or $10 a month on YouTube
or at the automation blog dot com. It's
a great way to get extra content
as well as support my work in those
areas as well as
if you know anybody who needs PLC, HMI,
(42:12):
or a skater training, please tell them all
about
my website, theautomationschool.com.
I'm also doing in person training as well.
And with all of that said, I would
just wanna thank you again for tuning in.
I wanna thank you for being a listener
or a viewer, and I just wanna wish
you all good health and happiness.
And until next time, my friends,
peace.
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