User's Manual
Table Of Contents
- Revision History
- Safety and Hazard Symbols
- Warnings
- Other Symbols
- Warranty
- Introduction
- Unpacking
- Installation and Setup
- Commissioning
- Operation
- Power Supply
- The Home Screen
- Home Screen Display Options
- Setup Options
- Setup Menu
- Using the USB Port
- Sunny Data Control
- Figure 1-29 Guide to SDC Overview Screen
- Figure 1-30 Sunny Data Control Settings Window
- Figure 1-31 Current Plant Tree Window with Measuring Channels
- Figure 1-32 Fading in Devices
- Figure 1-33 Arrangement of the Device Windows
- Figure 1-34 Example of One Window per Device
- Figure 1-35 Channel Selection Window
- Troubleshooting
- Specifications
Operation Sunny Beam Manual
14
Operation
Power Supply
The Sunny Beam operates off of the pair of AA batteries inside the unit. These batteries are
recharged by the solar cell on the back of the Sunny Beam, or via the USB port with a powered
USB hub or special USB wall-charger.
Power Level Indication
The power level of the internal batteries is displayed on the home screen in the form of a small
battery cell icon. At 3.30 V the icon indicates “full” and at 2.50 V the icon indicates “empty”.
If the battery voltage falls below 2.60 V, the “P” in the word Power on the display begins to
blink signifying low battery. The Sunny Beam will continue to operate when the “P” is blinking.
If the battery voltage drops below 2.50 V, the Sunny Beam will shut down. The display will
remain blank, but every 10 seconds the Sunny Beam wakes up and checks the battery voltage.
Once sufficient power is available the Sunny Beam will restart automatically.
Recharging the Batteries
The internal batteries are typically kept charged by the solar cell on the back of the Sunny
Beam. For best results, the Sunny Beam should be located where the solar cell will be exposed
to sunlight. If the location of the Sunny Beam is not exposed to sunlight, anticipate placing the
Sunny Beam in direct sunlight from time to time to recharge the batteries.
The batteries may also be charged via the USB port. To charge the batteries via the USB port,
connect the USB cable supplied with the Sunny Beam to the USB port on the side of the unit.
The USB cable then needs to be connected to a USB power source such as a powered USB hub
or the optional USB power supply available from your SMA dealer. Once connected, the
Sunny Beam will display the USB symbol on the display and charge the internal batteries as
needed.
The Home Screen
The Home Screen is what the Sunny Beam will display under normal operating conditions.
There are several options that the Sunny Beam can be set to display on this screen. The Home
Screen can display in text:
• Total power output of the plant and individual inverters
• Percentage of P-Limit
• Device Type of inverters
• Serial Number of inverters
• Earnings in desired currency
• CO2 Saved
• Date and time