When it snows, should I remove the snow from the solar panels on my tracker?
No, you don't need to wipe the snow off your panels. Usually when it's snowing, there is no sunshine so if the snow is covering your solar panels you will not lose any energy production. Once the sun comes out, it eventually heats up the dark solar panels and the snow melts off. Sometimes, if it is really cold outside, the snow will not melt off. In this case, you are welcome to brush the snow off your solar panels, but don't worry if you don't feel like doing it. Solar energy production is the lowest in the winter and the kilowatt hours missed will be minimal.
What is the little white box attached to my computer?
The little white box is a mini-computer called a UCC that connects to your tracker via a radio. It takes data from the tracker and sends it through your internet hookup to a server at AllEarth Renewables. This data is then used to create your online Energy Production Report.
My tracker was just installed and I plugged in the UCC (white box), but there’s no production data on the Energy Production Report.
Energy Production Reports are generated once a day late at night. You will need to wait a maximum of 24 hours before any data shows up on your Energy Production Report.
I checked my tracker’s production meter and the production data on the website is different than what I calculated for the day.
Some sites have difficult environments for radio communications. If your tracker is particularly far from your house or the signal has to travel through trees, radio communications can be hindered. Additionally, if your UCC is placed on a side of the house not facing the tracker, radio communications might not be ideal. If this is the case, your UCC may only collect data once a day and you might have only partial numbers for the day depending on when the data is recovered. Check the website again the next day to verify that the production number was updated. You can also try moving the UCC to a different location closer to the trackers.
My Energy Production Report was working fine but suddenly it stopped updating.
Verify that the cables on the UCC are all solidly connected including the power cable, ethernet cable, and USB cable to the radio. Verify that the ethernet cable is connected solidly to your router or switch. Check the lights on the UCC and verify that there is a solid blue light and where the ethernet connection is made, there are green and yellow lights flashing intermittently.
If the lights on the UCC are out and you’ve verified all of the cables, please contact AllEarth Renewables at 802-872-9600 or info@allearthrenewables.com or submit a Service Request on our website. Specify in the subject “UCC setup problem - UCC non-functioning”.
I need to disconnect the UCC to rearrange my network hardware. Will I lose any data?
You will not lose any data if you disconnect your UCC. The tracker holds on to data until it receives acknowledgement from the server that it received the data. The tracker can hold up to one year of data without being unloaded. We do request that you keep the UCC connected whenever possible so that we can diagnose problems with your tracker or provide software updates. Also, your online Energy Production Report will not be updated if your UCC is disconnected.
Do I need to leave the UCC on all the time?
The UCC does not need to be on all of the time. However, your Energy Production Report will not be regularly updated with the UCC disconnected and AllEarth Renewables will not be able to respond as rapidly to any issues your tracker may have. The UCC draws between 2.4 and 3.6 watts which means that it will consume between .06 kWh and .09 kWh per day. Total consumption for the year is between 21 and 32 kWh. If you wish to reduce this consumption, a plug in timer available at most hardware stores is a good option.
I’ve setup my UCC according to the instructions and it’s been a few days, but I still have no Energy Production Report and the tracker is working fine.
Verify that the cables on the UCC are all solidly connected including the power cable, ethernet cable, and USB cable to the radio. Verify that the ethernet cable is connected securely to your router or switch. Check the lights on the UCC and verify that where the ethernet connection is made, there are green and a yellow lights flashing intermittently.
Check the blue light on your UCC. Is it solid? If the blue light is flashing, it may mean that your tracker is having a hard time connecting to the UCC through the radio. If your tracker is a long way from your house or separated from your house by trees, it may have a hard time connecting. Additionally, if your UCC is placed on the opposite side of your house from the tracker, it will have a hard time connecting. The best location for the UCC is a spot in your house where you can see your tracker, or at least see in its direction. If your router is not setup to permit this, you may need to run a long ethernet wire or purchase a network adapter kit, such as Netgear XETB100, which extends internet access to any power outlet.
If you’ve tried all of these options and nothing improves, please contact AllEarth Renewables at 802-872-9600 or info@allearthrenewables.com or submit a Service Request on our website. Specify in the subject “UCC setup problem - Poor UCC to tracker communications”.
On the Energy Production Report, I enter my Site ID # and I can see the data, but when I check out the map, it does not show the correct location of my tracker.
Sometimes the GPS coordinates of our Williston manufacturing facility are inadvertently sent to the server in place of your site's actual coordinates and it takes the system a few days to update the data. This does not affect energy production or tracking as the tracker uses the latest coordinates in its azimuth calculation. After a few days, if the tracker is still being mapped in Williston, please contact AllEarth Renewables, via phone or email or submit a Service Request on the website. Specify in the subject “Tracker GPS coordinates are wrong”.
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