To build a power plant-scale solar field, Georgia Power required integration of a full spectrum of utility-grade photovoltaic power generation equipment including inverters, trackers, soiling monitoring stations, meteorological stations, substation power meters, and relays into a single SCADA system. The team at Georgia Power also required technology that their maintenance and operations groups would be familiar with for ensured long-term operational support.

• Allen-Bradley CompactLogix
• Prosoft Modbus TCP Module forCompactLogix
• Allen-Bradley Micro820
• FactoryTalk View SE Servers / Clients
• FactoryTalk Historian
• Moxa MGate Modbus TCP – Modbus

A full Allen-Bradley / Rockwell Software package was implemented, including a CompactLogix PLC acting as the plant master controller, Micro series PLCs acting as local data concentrators, a distributed FactoryTalk View SE HMI system for plant monitoring and control, and a FactoryTalk Historian for data collection. The plant master controller collects data from all of the Micro820 PLCs via Ethernet\IP, as well as gathering soiling, meteorological, tracker, and substation data from devices throughout the plant via Modbus TCP using its in-rack Prosoft Modbus TCP modules.

The resulting SCADA system connected all components of the solar field, providing an intuitive interface through which it was possible to interact with equipment from a variety of manufacturers in one seamless graphical environment. The system requires minimal training while still allowing maximum effectiveness for operation, control, and troubleshooting of the plant.