Control, from the cabinet to your phone
The new generation of the Bridges Sun comes with a control system designed together with the machine: the cabinet on every tracker, the SunBridges platform and the Sun Bridges app.
The sun, calculated for each site
For every installation we calculate where the sun will be at that spot, at any moment of the year. The cabinet knows it in advance and moves the plane to where the sun will be, without having to look for it. The drawing shows the path of the sun over L’Aquila on the longest and shortest days of the year, and at the equinoxes.
A day in the life of the tracker
If the network goes down, the tracker keeps following the sun: the network is there to see it and command it.
Azimuth 108°, elevation 30°
Before sunrise
The tracker turns east and waits for the sun.
Azimuth 180°, elevation 52°
During the day
It follows the sun in azimuth and elevation, with small continuous movements.
Azimuth 30°, elevation 30°
After sunset
It goes back to its resting position and gets ready for the next day.
The pointing sensor
At the top of the tracker, in a box with a solar filter, an optical sensor looks at the sun and measures how far the plane is off axis, in azimuth and elevation. It reveals anomalies, such as a stuck axis or a shifted structure, and corrects the pointing within set limits. Every correction is recorded on the platform, with the time and the degrees.
The sensor sees the sun when the plane is facing it. In winter, with the sun very low, the plane stays at its maximum tilt and the sun leaves the sensor’s field of view. Under a cloudy sky the sensor cannot see the sun, and the tracker follows the calculated path.
SunBridges, the platform
All the trackers of a plant on one page, from a computer or a phone, with nothing to install.
For plant owners
- Current power, on a gauge, and production for today, the month and the year.
- Where the energy goes at any moment: to the loads, to the grid or to the battery.
- The path of the sun over the plant, with production so far.
- Every tracker on the layout and on the map of the field.
- Read only: no commands, nothing to get wrong. We take care of any fault.
For plant operators
- Alarms with the cause and what to do, and alerts by email or Telegram even when nobody has the page open.
- Commands for each tracker: stop, homing, position, automatic or manual mode.
- Position history and a log of who did what, which cannot be deleted.
- People and roles: anyone who can move a machine signs in with a password and an authenticator code.
The Sun Bridges app
On iPhone and Android, in Italian and English. Owners see their plant; operators see the status of every plant, the alarms and the Stop button. Notifications, Face ID or fingerprint sign-in, a widget with today’s production and the latest status even offline.
Production, from the inverters
The platform reads power and production from the plant’s inverters, through their manufacturer’s portal, and shows them next to the status of the trackers: you can tell right away whether a drop is due to the sky or to a machine.