Let's Talk About the Weather

with Matthew Berwind, Scientist at Fraunhofer ISE The combination of agriculture and solar energy elements ranks among my favourite PV applications. Thus, going to Agrivoltaics World Conference was a no-brainer for me. Luckily, I could convince the excellent Matthew Berwind to join me for this episode of OTT CAST. Agrivoltaics, or Agri-PV includes a wide range of concepts. Whether it's sheep between module rows or valuable fruit crop protected by overhead installations; the potential of lever...

with Craig Plaatjes, Global Product Manager at OTT HydroMet It's that time of the year - Intersolar is opening its gates and people from all over the world gather in Munich to present and explore the latest developments, trends, and build networks within the solar energy industry. Before packing their bags for Europe's biggest PV event, our host Martin Maly, Sales Manager for Central & Eastern Europe, sat down with Craig Plaatjes, Global Product Manager, to look at some recent market repo...

With Matteo Baricchio, Hesan Ziar (both Researchers at TU Delft), and Marc Korevaar, Scientist at OTT HydroMet PV modules generate the largest amount of electricity when directly exposed to the sun. In theory, using two-axis trackers would maximize the yield. For obvious economic reasons, a fixed installation towards the south is the more popular setup. But it is not the power output alone, that counts in the end, as power prices differ a lot throughout the day. They are low at noon, when the...

With Sajad Badalkhani, Service & Technical Support Manager at OTT HydroMet Food for geeks! Most measurement instruments are either analog or smart. This applies to our Kipp & Zonen portfolio for solar irradiance monitoring, too. But which one to choose for which application? In this episode of OTT CAST, we welcome Sajad Badalkhani, an experienced technical expert for solar monitoring instruments. We discuss the technical differences between analog and smart sensors and who they are ...

With Dr. Stephan Treuke, Coordinator River Basin Management at Emschergenossenschaft The river Emscher in Western Germany has a turbulent history. Within one century, it turned from a leisurely meandering stream to Europe’s dirtiest river and, most recently, to a restored recreation area. In this episode of OTT CAST, we discuss the history and the challenges of the double transformation that the Emscher went through. Our guest is Dr. Stephan Treuke of the Emschergenossenschaft, the organiza...

With Marc Korevaar, Scientist, and Sajad Badalkhani, Technical Support & Services, both OTT HydroMet Dirty PV modules generate less energy than clean ones. This phenomenon called “soiling” sums up to losses of several billion dollars every year. Cleaning increases efficiency, but comes at a cost, too. So, finding the right cleaning schedule and method is key to a higher profitability. In this episode of OTT CAST, we discuss the different sources of soiling and how it is impacting solar e...

With Victor Cassella and Sasha Ivans, Meteorologists at OTT HydroMet As a developer and manufacturer of hydrological and meteorological monitoring solutions, at OTT HydroMet we know a thing or two about collecting and evaluating atmospheric data. That’s why Victor Cassella and Sasha Ivans, two of our experienced meteorologists at OTT HydroMet, strongly supported this year’s AMS Annual Meeting’s incorporated statement: “Full, open, and timely access to data is critical to the advancement of at...

With Laura Goodfellow and Frank Zokoll, Transportation Weather Monitoring Experts Railway traffic is the backbone of both business and individual transport. Keeping the flow safe and on time is a challenge, especially due to the fact that railways are prone to inclement weather. Strong winds, snowfall, floods, heat, freezing switches, and platforms … rail network operators have a lot to consider to ensure safe train traffic. Many of these meteorological phenomena occur in unique areas, thus ...

With Robin Guy, Senior Service Engineer The Scottish Islands are, undoubtedly, a beautiful part of the world. Amid awesome cliffs, green valleys, and wild beaches, the main means of transport are the ferries bringing people and cars from one island to another. To ensure safe ferry traffic, the landing stages are equipped with environmental monitoring instruments for water and weather measurements. Ferry captains rely on accurate information on water level, wind, and further weather parameter...

With Francois Laurent, Sales Manager France, and Marin Dimitrov, Business Development Manager Eastern Europe What a show it was! In May 2022, the solar industry has come together in Munich to celebrate its unbroken growth around the globe. In this episode of OTT CAST, we share the learnings and topics that were discussed at the OTT HydroMet booth. While some regions, such as Eastern Europe are starting to catch up building a solar energy infrastructure, established players are investigating...

With Laura Goodfellow and Frank Zokoll, Business Development Managers Road Weather, and Steven Marks, Sales Manager Road Weather Low visibility is a major root cause for traffic accidents and thus a significant safety risk. Meteorological phenomena as fog, snow and, in desert areas, sandstorms are very dynamic and often limited to a small area. Monitoring those events close to the road and adapting traffic flow with Variable Message Signs (VMS) accordingly can save lives. In this episode, thr...

With Paulien Adema, Sales Director Europe, Udo Kronmüller, Sales Engineer & Tobias Weil, Business Development Manager Western Europe Starting with uncertain expectations, Intersolar Europe has turned into an overwhelming success. Although Covid-19 and its effects still pose challenges, the solar industry looks ahead optimistically. The OTT HydroMet booth proved to be a magnet for visitors, who showed great interest for the company’s environmental monitoring solutions. In our latest episod...

With Tobias Weil, Business Development Manager & Dieter Knauss, Teamleader Research Meteorology To make meteorological measurements comparable, the World Meteorological Organization WMO establishes guidelines for atmospheric parameters. These are covered by WMO-No. 8 for highest precision meteorological monitoring. However, for many applications like road weather monitoring, smart cities and others, meeting scientific standards is not necessary. In this episode, we explain the less popul...