Railroad Primer

Photovoltaic Railroad Power Installations
… Morningstar’s Controllers Are Delivering Solar Success
ALL.DAT.RR.PRIMER.09/13.EN | Page 5 of 7
The TriStar MPPT controller is also the PV
industry’s only controller to use industry-
standard communication protocols and
interfaces—a perfect fit for railroad’s new
requirement to have their PV systems
support standards-based remote monitoring
capabilities. The TriStar MPPT controller
enables system monitoring and up to 200
days of data logging and uses the open
MODBUS™ protocol. It is also equipped
with an on-board RS-232 serial
communications port. Furthermore, the 60
Amp TriStar MPPT controller (model TS-
MPPT-60A) is EIA-485 and Ethernet-
equipped to enable open and flexible serial
communications and TCP/IP networking,
respectively.
The TriStar MPPT controller is manufactured in an ISO 9001 certified facility and meets several key
certification standards
, including:
• AREMA Compliant
• EMC Compliant (Immunity, Emissions and Safety)
• UL 1741 and CSA C22.2 No. 107.1-01 Listed
• FCC Class B Part 15 Compliant
• NEC Compliant
• CE, REACH and RoHS Certified
Sample Typical Power System Scenarios
• Railroad wayside power installations typically need to run fairly heavy loads using a 12V battery
system. E.g., a Defect Equipment Detection system could use 5 PV modules in Series to charge a 12V
battery. This application is easily enabled by Morningstar’s TS-MPPT-60A controller.
• Furthermore, if that system is located in a valley, where the PV array is only exposed to sun light for
a limited time (e.g., fewer than three hours per day) then the TS-MPPT-60A is the best choice. The
higher input voltage capacity of the TS-MPPT-60A enables the system installer to “wire up” the
power system to almost 100V input and to mount the PV array far up a hill—away from the valley
location –to a higher solar irradiance location. The TS-MPPT-60A offers the industry’s best
conversion efficiency (99%), which is especially useful in this lower output level scenario.