Wind Energy

Lufft USA announced the addition of MODBUS to its list of communication standards

Lufft USA announced that its complete ‘WS’ line of weather stations are now available with MODBUS data protocol in addition to SDI12, ASCII, UMB, NMEA and Analog. Lufft presented the WS along with the VENTUS 240 W heated ultrasonic anemometer with digital/analog communication at the American Wind Energy Association Exhibition in May, 2010 and will again be at the Small and Community Wind Power Conference Dec 7-9 in Portland Oregon and at the American Meteorological Society Conference In Seattle, WA Jan 23-27 2011.

MODBUS allows for communication between many devices connected to the same network, for example a system that measures temperature and humidity and communicates the results directly to a computer or programmable logic controller or PLC. MODBUS is often used to connect a supervisory computer, sensor or group of sensors with a remote terminal unit (RTU) in supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems.

Sensors that communicate via MODBUS are commonly used in renewable energy, building automation and other industrial processes. Lufft USA believes that the addition of this common method of industrial communication to its list of digital protocols will allow Lufft weather stations to measure climate parameters with any industrial project.

Lufft is a manufacturer of high quality German weather monitoring equipment operating for the last 125 years. The highly regarded WS series of compact weather stations by Lufft are unrivaled in price to performance ratio. Lufft WS sensors are now compatible with most any model of Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) with RS485 interface that communicates via MODBUS data stream.

The compact and efficient weather stations also can be configured via ASCII digital language, SDI-12, UMB, NMEA or analog. WS200-WS600 and VENTUS/V200A ultrasonic anemometer models are designed with different levels of functionality to meet specific weather monitoring needs of any application. The top-of-the-range model, the WS600, measures temperature, humidity, precipitation, air pressure, wind direction and wind speed.

The robust VENTUS model is ideal for wind turbine applications as it includes a 240W heater for use in cold weather climates. All models are covered to protect from the elements and can be integrated into any building control system.

Lufft sensors are recommended for solar energy, wind power and building automation applications. Monitoring the climate of a building accurately has been shown to increase its efficency thereby using less resources for heating, cooling, and lighting.

www.lufftusa.com/