Multiple System and Multiple MATE Applications
(Read about WattPlot's Single MATE solutions here)

WattPlot™ MultiMATE™

The WattPlot™ MultiMATE™ product is a specially licensed version of the WattPlot™ PRO product, which allows you to monitor an OutBack system with multiple MATEs, all on one screen.  It allows devices from different MATEs to be combined into one reporting set, and has special enhancements for MATE commands to be directed to specific MATEs or all MATES, etc.  WattPlot MultiMATE provides the same level of detailed logging, automated response, and reporting available from the WattPlot PRO version (for systems with a single MATE).

While MultiMATE was designed to be used with a single complex OutBack system, many users have successfully used the product to monitor multiple OutBack systems on one screen, using one MultiMATE license, including systems with different battery bank nominal voltages and different communication types.  While there is no specific limit to the number of MATEs that can be monitored in this way, the level of detail and screen space make it a less practical solution for a large number of MATEs - for larger numbers of MATEs, the WattPlot™ CheckMATE&trade product is recommended.

Click here to read about the standard Wattplot features which are also available in WattPlot MultiMATE.

Click here for WattPlot MultiMATE order and pricing information.

WattPlot™ CheckMATE™

The WattPlot™ CheckMATE™ product (shown above) is the newest addition to the WattPlot suite of monitoring products, and is designed to monitor a large number of OutBack installations.  It has a sophisticated user interface, allowing you to instantly see the status of over 100 installations, showing you their operational status, power production, current trends, and any alerts or notifications.

The CheckMATE product logs less detail about each system than the standard WattPlot monitor program, and is designed for industry clients who need to monitor and confirm that a large number of systems are operational and in good health.  For each system (daily) WattPlot CheckMATE stores: Battery Min and Max, Total Power IN and OUT, and Monitoring Hours.  It also stores all alerts and log entries.  The output is in CSV and TXT files, much like the standard WattPlot Monthly Summaries and event logs.

System detail is available by drilling-down into specific system data, including performance statistics, communication parameters, system devices, and FLEXnet DC monitor data (if available).

Activity Logging

The primary purpose of WattPlot CheckMATE is to confirm the operation of a large number of OutBack systems in real-time.  While running, it displays the present wattage values in and out of the system and the battery voltage.  There are 3 major wattage types tracked (by system): Wattage IN from all charge controller devices (power made), wattage IN from all inverter devices (power bought), and wattage OUT from all inverter devices (power used).  If any system includes a FLEXnet DC monitor, CheckMATE can show the values currently accumulated by that device, including battery temperature and state-of-charge.  In addition, the program logs the total power in and out, the minimum and maximum battery voltage, and any alerts encountered for later retrieval and comparisons.  These saved values are stored in a a non-proprietary Comma-Separated Value (.CSV) format that can opened directly by any major spreadsheet program.

Bar Charts

The lower half of the main WattPlot CheckMATE display is composed of bar charts.  These charts show the state of every system being monitored.  (The chart and bar widths are variable to accommodate over 100 systems.)  Previous values for any bar chart are indicated in gray, giving the user an immediate indication of trends and data rising or falling.  The battery voltage chart is relative, allowing systems of varying nominal voltage to be indicated on the same chart.  Hovering over any particular bar gives the system name and precise value being charted.

Alert Logging

WattPlot CheckMATE displays all current alerts such as errors (red) or warnings (yellow) on the main screen, sorted by occurence and priority.  Alerts are also logged by system and across all systems for later review.

Information Sharing

Like all applications in the WattPlot suite, CheckMATE can either connect directly to OutBack MATEs (via Serial or TCP/IP connections) or it can piggy-back on to the MATE data stream being monitored by another WattPlot program.  This means that you can be monitoring a system with the full functionality and detail of a regular WattPlot program, and also include that system in the CheckMATE monitoring.

Some Differences from MultiMATE

WattPlot MultiMATE (like WattPlot and WattPlot PRO) monitors and logs data every second and stores all values by OutBack device.  WattPlot CheckMATE's data capture frequency varies, based on the number of systems being monitored, and ranges from once-per-second to once-per-minute.  CheckMATE stores summarized data by system, using either calculated values or (if available and selected) values accumulated by OutBack devices.

For more information, see our WattPlot page or contact us.