In September 2013, EKO Instruments participated again in the 17th annual National Pyrheliometer Comparison held at NREL in Golden, Colorado. EKO has participated for the last 3 years using as new MS-56 fast response pyrheliometer coupled with our STR-22G sun tracker. The NPC was attended by over 30 scientist in the are of solar radiation measurement. In the variety of instruments from several institutions such as NOAA, Sandia National Labs, FSCC, NASA, JRC-ISPRA and others.

EKO Instruments' participates both IPC at Davos, Switzerland to assure that its calibrations are traceable to WRR. In addition, participation in NPC assures that our standards are maintained and but our instruments are traceable to the WRR and NREL. It was interesting to see that many of the participants utilized EKO STR-22G sun trackers for this event.

In addition, the first intercomparison of spectroradiometer was held at NREL. EKO's WISER system consisting of our MS-710 and MS-712 spectroradiometers performed excellently compared to NREL's calibration standards. Our WISER system is now being utilized in the US at NIST, NREL, Sandia National Labs and other institutions and organizations and fast becoming a base instrument for the study of climate, meteorology, renewable energy and materials.

The new SRF-02 All-sky camera is a fully automatic imaging system that captures images of the total sky. The camera consists of a new advanced auto exposure digital camera with a 2M pixel resolution in a weatherproof housing. A 180° field of view optic provides the possibility to make high quality color pictures of the sky. The system allows making pictures with automated normal exposure time and under-exposure time. This unique method allows analysis of the sky and cloudiness under full sun light conditions without the need for a shading device.

The All Sky camera is available in two different versions (with air pump + drying cartridge and built in drying cartridge). The drying cartridge version is advised to be used at remote sites with limited power facilities and accommodation to stall the airpump inside a building. Additionally a sun screen can be applied to extend the operating temperature range of the camera.

The new ML-01 Si-sensor is the link between the reference cell and broadband thermopile pyranometer. Compared to the reference sensors it has a proper cosine response and it is compact. Furthermore, the ML-01 benefits from the same characteristics as a PV module (response time, spectral and temperature response). 

The ML-01 is an industrial grade solar sensor specially made for performance ratio measurements as well as for applications in meteorology, agricultural and environmental studies.

In times where renewables are capable to cover more than half of Germany’s electrical energy demand, the pressure on cost savings for photovoltaic power production increases steadily.

The increasing demand in renewables induced a temporal overcapacity of PV modules but also lead to a more mature PV market. Nowadays, PV power plants are considered reliable and durable power plants. New concepts in electrical energy distribution and storage facilities further increase the attractiveness of PV systems.

The average solar radiation intensity for most regions in Europe and other continents has been evaluated in great detail. This facilitates the planning and installation of large PV systems considerably. However, in less explored areas around the world the potential of PV is less evident, even though many locations seem to be very well suited for PV plant installations.

And some of these regions might become electrified for the first time. Especially for large PV power plants an on-site assessment of solar radiation conditions has to be made prior to the installation. For such an assessment, measurements of the solar radiation and meteorological quantities have to be done for a quite long time, typically one year.

For solar resource assessments and for other high-demand application requiring solar radiation and meteorological measurement solutions, EKO Instruments provides Solar Monitoring Stations, so-called SMS’s, which are configured according to any requirements in solar applications. The flexible SMS’s can be equipped with all kind of sensors, ranging from small radiation sensors to secondary standard pyranometers and DNI sensors, including sun trackers. They can be expanded with spectral radiometers, compact weather stations, all-sky camera’s, data loggers, etc., all configured and programmed as required by the customer.

The fully turn-key Solar Monitoring Stations are very convenient to use, simple to assemble, and they are more affordable that you might think. Our high-quality production standard, built on Japanese tradition of thorough manufacturing, is completed by an competent after-sales support and a 2 years product warranty.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us for technical information, brochures, and of course an individual discussion of your requirements.

Go to SMS product page 

The new EKO Ami Solar Park is opened!

In March of this year EKO Instruments Co., Ltd. accomplished the construction of the EKO Ami Solar Park in Ami Town of the Ibaragi Prefecture, Japan. The opening ceremony on April 12^th was attended by many guests, including Mr. Fujio Amada who is the mayor of Ami Town and many students of the local primary school.

A total of 3,188 PV panels are installed on about 16,000 square meters, having an electrical power production capacity of approximately 721,000kW. This energy is enough to provide electricity for about 200 households.

The EKO Ami Solar Park was not only built to generate sustainable energy but also to verify and test the performance of PV panels. Currently EKO compares the performance of six different solar panels, including single-crystalline silicon, multi-crystalline silicon and CIS types. The measurements are performed with the new PV monitoring and meteorological observation systems developed by EKO Instruments.

With the Ami Solar Park, EKO strengthens is commitment to more sustainable energy production, to environmental protection and education for the people in Ami Town and the Ibaragi Prefecture.

The new MS-01 and MS-02 handheld solar irradiance meters are the perfect tools for solar photovoltaic (Solar PV) and solar thermal installers to conduct comprehensive solar pv site surveys. The MS-02 also includes a data logging facility with USB interface for data download to a PC. This allows for irradiance and temperature to be recorded at user-defined intervals over a number of hours or days, the collected data can then be downloaded to a PC for analysis of for inclusion in solar installation reports.

These high specification irradiance meters simply and quickly measure irradiance, displaying the information in either W/m2 or BTU/hr-ft2, making them ideal for both solar photovoltaic (Solar PV) and solar thermal applications.

The use of a photovoltaic reference cell, provides a more representative measurement of solar energy and greater accuracy and repeatability compared to irradiance meters which use simple photo diode detectors. The MS-01 and MS-02 irradiance meters both incorporate a display hold feature, which enables the user to easily capture readings in difficult locations.

Both MS-01 and MS-02 can be combined with the MP-01 PV Installation tester. MS-02 features wireless connectivity (solar link) to measure and store real-time irradiance measurements, ambient temperature and PV module temperature measurement results simultaneously while electrical tests being conducted. Results can be downloaded from the MP-01 to PC.