Your situation

The system is fine until you need to look at it

Systems on 4G you cannot reach
An off-grid system or a rural site is on 4G, behind CGNAT. That is carrier-grade NAT: the site shares a public address with many others, so nothing can be forwarded to it. The only way to look at the inverter is a visit.
A fault that answers ping
A tripped inverter still answers ping. Nothing tells you it has stopped producing until the customer's bill does.
Every visit is a long drive
A site visit to find that a logger has hung, or that a battery was fine after all, costs you a day.
The maker's portal shows the maker's devices
Each inverter maker has its own portal. The 4G router, the switch and the cameras on the same site are in none of them.

What changes

Each inverter asked how it is, over Modbus, read-only

A Relayant box, or the software agent on a Teltonika router, sits on the site's network and dials out. It reads the SunSpec map, or one register you choose, and does not write.

  • An inverter fault is reported in the inverter's own terms, and raises an alert by email, Slack or Microsoft Teams.
  • A device that stops answering altogether is told apart from one that answers but reports a fault.
  • Every device on the site's network can be watched: the router, the switch, a camera, not only the inverter.
  • The box reconnects by itself after a power or internet drop, with nobody on site.

What stays the same

The maker's own portal. The box runs beside it, not instead of it: it checks that the inverter answers and reads its status. The maker's portal keeps its own data.

The inverter's settings. Modbus checks read; the box does not write.

The 4G router. Nothing is opened or forwarded on it.

A check on every device, every minute The Relayant box sends a check to the camera, the recorder and the controller in turn. The camera and recorder answer. The controller does not, so the box checks again, and when it still does not answer an alert is sent. Relayant box Relayantbox Camera Recorder Controller A check every minute Alert sent
Every minute the box checks each device its own way, such as inverters and batteries over Modbus, read-only. A device that stops answering raises an alert.

The features that matter most

What a solar installer uses

Modbus checks

SunSpec, or one holding or input register mapped to ok, warning or fault. Needs a recent box update at the site; the portal says so.

Read more

Alerts

Email, Slack, Microsoft Teams and webhooks, with an Acknowledge link. A warning keeps the device online; a fault raises an alert.

Read more

The box, or the agent, on 4G

A box behind the 4G router, or the software agent on a larger Teltonika router, with one less thing to power.

Read more

How it fits

It fits beside what the maker already gives you

Beside the maker's portal
Keep the maker's portal for production figures and history. The portal alerts you when the inverter faults or the site drops off the network.
The register you choose
For a device without a SunSpec map, name one register and the values that mean ok, warning and fault.
Remote access when you need it
Give the inverter's own port a Relayant address, reachable only from the addresses you list. Look at it from the office instead of driving.
The 4G site's data
The box's own traffic is currently a few megabytes a day. Measure it on your first sites.

A day with Relayant

What a solar installer's day looks like

An example, not a customer's story.

  1. Morning

    An inverter at a rural site reports a fault over Modbus. The alert reaches you by email with the reason in the inverter's words, and you acknowledge it from the email.

  2. Late morning

    You connect to the inverter through its Relayant address from the office, using the maker's own tool, instead of driving out.

  3. Afternoon

    A battery at another site stops answering altogether. The box tells a device that has gone from one that is faulting, so you know what you are driving to.

  4. The first of the month

    The site's report lists every incident of the month, ready for the customer.

Which plan

Relay + Alerts, per box at a live site

Modbus checks are in every plan; the alerts, webhooks, acknowledge links and monthly reports are in Relay + Alerts. A software agent counts as a box. See the plans.

Tell us what is at the site, how it connects and what you want to be told.