Columbia Weather Systems

Extreme summer weather conditions, frequent power disruptions due to aging infrastructure, and distance from the main power grid put the Chemehuevi Tribe community near Lake Havasu, Arizona community at risk. To mitigate this issue, a microgrid system was installed at the Community Center, which serves as an emergency response cooling center during power disruptions. The microgrid integrates the Solar 2 Capricorn FLX Weather Station with solar panels, battery storage, advanced data analytics, and smart energy management controls. Mounted on the carport: The Solar 2 Capricorn FLX Weather Station includes sensors for wind speed and direction, barometric pressure, temperature and humidity in a radiation shield, solar radiation, and solar panel temp. This system also includes the optional tipping bucket rain gauge. Alfredo Martinez-Morales, Managing Director of the Southern California Research Initiative for Solar Energy, said the weather station “helps monitor some of the data that is imp...

The University of Minnesota Solar Vehicle Team is racing “EOS II” in the 2019 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge with the help of the Magellan MX500™ Weather Station mounted on their lead vehicle. The real-time weather data is used to optimize speed and energy consumption. Good luck to the team – we’re cheering you on from Oregon! Click here if video is not shown . Watch  the full vehicle wrap video from Wrap City Graphics here .

Cleanspark, a microgrid company with controls for distributed energy resource management systems, uses a Solar 2 Weather Station from Columbia Weather Systems to give context to their performance metrics. They use weather-corrected solar generation data, based on measured irradiance from the weather station, versus modeled irradiance when calculating actual performance versus modeled for contractual obligations. Additionally, weather data “will be the basis of certain alarm conditions as well as reporting,” according to Bryan Huber, chief operations officer. “Weather information is highly useful for load and production forecasting.” Based on the CWS’s flagship Capricorn model, the Solar 2 Weather Station includes barometric pressure, mechanical wind speed and direction sensors, and temperature and humidity sensors housed in a radiation shield, in addition to panel temperature and solar radiation sensors. Individual sensors allow for optimal sensor placement. A custom sensor c...

We received a visit from the University of Minnesota Solar Vehicle Project Team on their way home from the American Solar Challenge which finished in Bend, Oregon. Columbia Weather donated a Magellan MX500™ weather station to the project. The weather station is mounted on the lead vehicle (See video above) and is used for strategy data. Met data is correlated with course info and car data to optimize speed and energy consumption. Racing in the Cruiser Class of Multi-Occupancy Vehicles, UMNSVP placed first in the Formula Sun Grand Prix (a track-based qualifier) and second in the ASC. Congratulations and thanks for stopping by!