Company Information
At West Marine, the goal is to make your boating more fun.
Boats have always had the power to inspire people. They have been
the impetus behind countless songs, paintings, works of literature and early retirements.
West Marine's founder and chairman, Randy Repass took his own passion for boating,
channeled it into a prosperous business and revolutionized the way people shop for
boating supplies.
West Marine is now possibly the most respected name in water recreation products
with over 400 retails stores nation wide.
For more information, please visit
West Marine Corporate Website
Monitoring System
In May of 2003, West Marine completed their first grid tied rooftop solar system.
Placed on-top of their Santa Cruz store, it was at the time, the largest photovoltaic
installation in Santa Cruz county. West Marine wanted to monitor the system to:
- Confirm production of electricity.
- Advertise and promote the green aspects of their business
through both a website with live data feeds,
West Marine Solar Website
, and through a live data kiosk located at the front of the West Marine store so customers can
‘see’ the photovoltaic system.
The system installer, Independent Energy Systems, wanted to monitor the system to:
- Confirm the day to day system performance.
- Confirm the expected monthly output.
- Advertise their successful installations
The rMeter web-based monitoring system monitors building load, PV production, and solar irradiation.
The system is linked to an existing rMeter weather station located a mile away.
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Photo of Kiosk
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This kiosk is located at the front of the Santa Cruz West Marine store so customers can ‘see’ the photovoltaic system that is on the roof.
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This data logger connects with rMeter servers via an internet connection. Data is sent to our servers every 15 minutes.
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Photo of Datalogger
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