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Zigbee and Solar Panels??

Robert Crane
Prodigy 10 points
Other Parts Discussed in Thread: CC2530, CC2500, CC2591

Is Zigbee the "right" communication solution for a solar panel application where the panels are mounted on a rooftop and the Zigbee gateway is inside a building up to 3 stories with

unknown building and roofing materials?  I was looking to use CC2530 all in one zigbee chip with up to 255 nodes to gateway sytem.  Would this be reliable solution?  Also, how does weather effect Zigbee signal propagation?

Thanks,

 

  • 0
    TI__Expert 4435 points

    Robert,

    We have sold several of our radios into this type of applicaiton.   Some are zigbee while others our radios with customer prioritory networks, using the CC2500 series.    In terms of relaibility it depends upon the range you must reach.   It is easy to add repeaters or power amps  if a particular applicaiton has problems communciate due to interferences.   So robustness comes down to distance between units, selection of antenna and how much power you have between TX and RX units     Its much like a sprinkler system if you have over coverage everything stays green.  

    As long as the antennas don't get covered with snow or ice they should do find in a rainy evniroment.   But once again this depends upon signal strength and placement range of units.   TI development kits offer you a simple way to build a minature system and determine some of your concerns.  Since there are so many senarios I would suggest your next step is to invest in one of these systems use enough EV boards to create a number nodes to satisfy a simple test trial.  

    Once you tested the conditions and belcome familiar with the units you can better engineer design for all these conditions.

    Regards

  • 0
    TI__Expert 6995 points

    Hi Robert,

    Topolgy-wise, I would recommend that you use CC2530+CC2591 in the gateway and one of the units on the roof. As long as the distance between the panels of the roof is reasonable, you should be fine with just the CC2530 the panels. The ZigBee protocol with its self-healing mesh capabilities is ideal for solar panel deployments, even at very large scale.

    One of the advantages of the CC2530 in this type of application is that it is designed for 125C operation. That ensures that you will have a well functioning system even if you have to seal the electronics in a box on a hot roof.

    Peder