Solar Manager software is designed to run on a Linux / Apache / PHP server.  The software is built using Perl and PHP.  Currently our build runs on Mandriva Linux.  Mandriva is a long standing, stable linux distribution that we have used in application like this for years.  Running linux gives us a stable, light weight platform to build on.

What it does:
The application consists of a task that collects data from the solar power system hardware and logs it into a database.  While it scans it checks for alarms or abnormal conditions and will send alert e-mail or text messages.  Then it has a web based application interface that allows the user to view this data and change settings from a web browser.  Users can view current data in a overview or detail screen, view graphs of historical data, view weather conditions and more from the web interface.  All web interface pages are protected with a user login, only allowing authenticated users to view the site.

Solar Manger connects to hardware using either the serial port on Outback Power Systems "MATE", or connects to PLC hardware either through a serial or ethernet connection.  These settings are easily configured on the managers settings screen.  Once the hardware is configured no other configuration is necessary unless hardware is changed.

Solar Manager can be viewed locally on the pc, on the local network, or remotely over the internet from anywhere.  This gives the user the ability to monitor the health of the system when away, and be notified if problems occur.

Temperature Monitor:
Temperature Monitoring is also directly integrated into the software.  Solar Manager supports up to 4 external temperature sensors.  The sensors connect to each other using standard cat5 cable, so they can be easily located anywhere.  The temperature sensor network then connects to the pc using a serial to ethernet converter, where Solar Manager reads the data.  Temperature monitoring is not required for operation of Solar Manager.