Global Solar Energy
Data Collection and Integration Solution: A Case Study
Authored by: Amadeus Consulting
September 30, 2010
Situation
About Global Solar
In 1996, Global Solar Energy debuted onto the solar energy scene, and has since evolved into the only manufacturer in full-scale production of CIGS (Copper Indium Gallium DiSelenide) PV cells on a flexible substrate. Global Solar's high-quality solar technology is incorporated into a range of products from its foldable Flex Portable Solar Chargers, offering everyone from outdoors enthusiasts to commuters to military applications a solution to charge their tools, to solar panels in traditional arrays around the globe, to the burgeoning technologies surrounding building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) and the infinite array of possibilities therein.
Global Solar is dedicated to constantly improving the efficiency of its solar cells and overall manufacturing process. Global Solar achieved 10% average solar cell efficiency-the first CIGS company to reach this milestone in a production environment.
Global Solar first started manufacturing small, thin film flex portable modules for retail and continued this line for several years. While the company still supports this product line, the volume was not enough to support the overhead that it took to develop the thin film technologies. Three years ago, Global Solar partnered with German company Solon, and Solon pointed Global Solar into the direction of power grids, including large scale grid power fields. As a leading innovator in the solar energy market, Global Solar renewed its strategy to include the rooftop market as its thin-film solar is incredibly lightweight and flexible. Overall, Global Solar is staying nimble in order to be able to evolve quickly and stay competitive as the solar market is evolving quickly.
Business Challenge: Islands of Data
Greg Gustin is the Industrial Engineer/Database Manager at Global Solar. His job is critical for the company to strategize its projections with data to support future business plans. A decade ago, Greg started a custom SQL server database to collect information and as a result, he naturally evolved into the role as database manager. This custom database became known as the Global Solar Production System (GSPS). GSPS is what the field operators' interface with quite often. An operator interfaces with GSPS at least 3 times a run, and a run is about every 5-20 hours.
Global Solar wanted to track all the data that came off the solar equipment, which on average generates 40-50 data points every five or six seconds. Prior to the GSPS in-house database, thousands of text files were generated with "islands" of data in different parts of the network. Greg Gustin knew he had a lot of success with GSPS eliminating paper tracking, and wanted to build a similar system to deal with the massive level of data the equipment generates. Greg originally explored using the GSPS system to track equipment data, but ended up with performance issues. GSPS was too slow to run large queries without bogging down the more than 100 frequent daily users.
It quickly became apparent that Global Solar would need to develop a standalone and independent application that could handle running large queries of data without performance issues. Greg investigated several other development partners, but other development partners wanted to outsource the project. Global Solar is sensitive about data privacy, and wanted a software development company with a track record of successful long-term engagements. "We knew Amadeus Consulting has a good reputation, and that its developers are familiar with working with proprietary data," said Greg. "We knew we would be able to build a relationship with Amadeus Consulting."
Solution
Amadeus Consulting built the custom database application for Global Solar, named the Flare Application, to receive production data from multiple machines and collate the data into a central repository in the back-end application. A front-end Windows® application then reads metadata from the back-end application and presents users with a variety of filtering and data selection options to build their own custom reports. Much of the data generated on any given equipment type during a production run (temperatures, pressures, thicknesses, compositions, power readings, etc.) is critical and needs to be stored, managed, and analyzed. Flare brings all this data into one database where massive, complex queries can be ran without disturbance to other critical company operations in the GSPS system.
"The real advantage is not only bringing data together in one place but linking it by web position," Greg says. "Now we have a system where there is one set of data for each position and it links data together in a way to easily query all that massive data with an intuitive user interface." Flare can quickly run queries with over 500 variables that are tracked in the system. The system runs through these variables and correlates variables such as pressures and temperatures to product performance.
This system also allows for advanced reporting capabilities. Amadeus Consulting utilized SQL Server Integration Services to take disparate data types and bring the data together and reuse it for enhanced efficiency. LINQ was also used to create custom reports across data. The result was a working application for increased functionality and an efficient reporting system to quickly identify whether machines are running correctly and flag any suspect data.
Results
The Flare application handles hundreds of thousands of records very quickly, which greatly contributes to increased efficiency. While difficult to calculate an exact return on investment, Greg Gustin and Global Solar definitely see the value of the custom database application. By setting up and automating its equipment databases, Global Solar saves the cost of at least one full time engineer, worth roughly $75,000 a year. More benefits that can be partially attributed to Flare include increased performance and yield, as well as easier reporting abilities for better planning.
Since implementing the system, Global Solar received smoother output and positive feedback. Originally designed for any engineer or technologist that wanted to use the Flare system, Global Solar was surprised to find that there were four or five super users whom everyone goes to with a request. Now, Greg spends less of his day training people on the system when revisions are made and users need to be notified.
Of the challenges in implementation, Greg remarked, "Among the core group I had very positive feedback. We had a hard time implementing Flare at first, but this is typical of any kind of enterprise custom software."
The Flare application has since seen many iterations and enhancements as Amadeus Consulting and Global Solar continue their successful engagement. "I think you could say the enhancements are invaluable because our company grows so fast we have to be flexible," Greg mentioned. "We have new products and new variables all the time. That is just the way this works, a scientist comes up with a new variable they want to track, making the newest thing the most urgent thing." These changes are very important to keep the Flare Application nimble, allowing Global Solar to stay on the leading edge of the rapidly changing landscape of the solar energy market.