Columbia Weather Systems

When the University of Minnesota Solar Vehicle Project was looking for a weather station to help them compete in the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge, they contacted Columbia Weather Systems. A Magellan MX500™ Weather Station was mounted on a support vehicle to provide met data to help optimize power for the solar-powered, cruiser-class car dubbed “Eos II.” Besides speed, cruiser-class vehicles focus on practicality and number of people in the car. Gearing up for the race, electrical technical advisor Spencer Berglund related, “We’ve been test driving a lot for the past few days and have been using your weather station for gathering accurate power to drive data for our car. We will also be using it every day on the race.” The U of M Solar Vehicle Project is a student-administered, designed, and built project that teaches members about engineering and management in a complete product development environment. The diverse design and construction challenges help further the school’...

A panel temperature sensor is now available for Capricorn 2000EX Weather Stations or any CWS Weather Station using our Weather MicroServer . This specialized sensor was developed for a weather station application monitoring solar panel arrays. photo by David Watts Jr. Solar panel temperature affects maximum power output - generally, the warmer the solar panel, the less power it can produce. In an industry that focuses on energy efficiency, panel temperature is a critical parameter to monitor relative to performance.