Long Range Mesh Network For Solar Tracking

RIIM (Radiocrafts Industrial IP Mesh) is a long-range Sub-GHz mesh network designed for industrial IoT applications.

In solar tracking systems, RIIM can provide wireless communication between tracker controllers and the central control system, enabling commands, monitoring data and operational information to be exchanged across the solar field without extensive communication cabling.

A single RIIM network can efficiently support up to 700 solar trackers.

Actual network design and traffic requirements should be considered when determining the appropriate number of trackers per network.

RIIM is designed for large, utility-scale deployments.

Radiocrafts’ Technology Selections Guide For Solar Tracking describes RIIM networks covering solar fields of up to 40 × 40 km squared with a single gateway, with multiple RIIM networks able to operate alongside each other when even larger installations need to be covered.

Actual radio range depends on factors including terrain, antenna placement, interference and network topology.

Sub-GHz radios can provide longer range and better object penetration characteristics than higher-frequency alternatives in many outdoor environments.

This is particularly useful in solar installations, where trackers, metal structures, terrain and other obstacles can create challenging radio conditions.

Radiocrafts’ field tests have noted better penetration around tracker structures and reduced effects from panel reflections compared with 2.4 GHz solutions.

RIIM uses a mesh network architecture in which devices can communicate by transferring the data from one tracker to another until it reaches the gateway rather than depending exclusively on a direct connection to the gateway.

This allows the network topology to use alternative communication paths when appropriate, helping provide robust connectivity across large and challenging installations.

If the connection with one tracker is lost, the network automatically finds an alternate path through another tracker to send data. This allows time to troubleshoot the issue while not losing data collection efficiency.

Yes.

RIIM’s combination of Sub-GHz communication and mesh networking makes it particularly suited to installations where terrain, tracker structures or other obstacles can prevent every device from having a direct line of sight to the gateway.

Radiocrafts has also tested RIIM in large-scale solar tracker installations under non-line-of-sight and uneven-terrain conditions. Watch our YouTube video on these tests.

RIIM is designed to support low-latency industrial communication, although actual latency depends on network configuration, number of hops, packet loss and traffic.

In RIIM’s single-channel CSMA mode, we document approximately 40 ms latency per hop as a general figure.

RIIM can also be configured differently depending on whether an application prioritizes latency, throughput or other network characteristics.

RIIM’s low-latency communication can be used to rapidly distribute information and commands across tracker networks.

In a Radiocrafts wind-sensor demonstration, RIIM was used to move panels toward a safe/stow position within approximately one second after detecting strong wind. Check out the demonstration in this YouTube video.

Actual system response will also depend on the tracker controller, network design and mechanical system.

Yes.

RIIM supports bidirectional IP-based communication and can be configured according to the traffic requirements of the application. This allows a solar tracking network to exchange tracker commands, status information, sensor information, configuration data and other operational data.

Network traffic should be planned appropriately for very large deployments because available RF capacity is shared between devices.

RIIM has a 99.99% or higher wireless communication delivery rate. Mesh networking, Sub-GHz propagation, automatic retransmission and channel hopping mechanisms, are used to support reliable communication across industrial networks.

Yes.

Large installations can be divided into multiple RIIM networks. RIIM networks can be deployed alongside each other to cover enormous solar installations which operate beyond the area practical for a single network.

This allows very large sites to be divided into manageable network segments.

In addition, RIIM networks do not interfere with another since every node has a PAN ID and are therefore pre-configured to join a certain network. The data traffic from one network will not interfere with the data traffic of another network, allowing for reliable and highly scalable networks.