Our Solar Lighting Technology Partner
Why we recommend Steca
Steca history and development
The company has been on a constant road to success since it was founded in 1976. What started as a battery systems assembly company, has already developed into a significant professional electronics supplier by 1980.
In 1990, the company starts its own product lines in cable technology and solar electronics. The company continues gradually expanding into a full-service electronics service provider.
In 2000 Steca extends its development and production site up to 10,000 square metres. Beside the development and production of electronic components, the focus is on the complete assembly of devices. With the expansion of the solar division to include the grid-feed inverter product line, Steca offers a complete product range for solar energy systems.
The construction of Factory II in 2005 increases the production area in Memmingen by 3,500 square metres; in 2006 the production site in Bulgaria is opened with an area of 5,000 square Metres. With the commissioning of Factory III in Memmingen, the area of the production site for the complete assembly of devices is expanded by a further 3,500 square metres. Plans for the construction of another factory in Memmingen are paving the way for a successful future.
Steca in figures
Number of component groups produced per year: 3.8 millions
Number of component groups supplied daily: 18,000
Number of component group types produced per year: 3,000
Number of production orders continuously being processed: 600
Number of components fitted onto printed circuit boards per hour: 50,000
Number of components fitted per year on average: 230 millions
Number of employees in 1976: 3
Number of employees in 2008: 600
Planned number of employees for 2010: 650
How does Steca's state of charge determination work?
Steca's algorithm for determining a battery's state of charge is a combination of various methods which ensure that the SOC is calculated accurately enough and delivers reliable, stable values over a long period of time. Furthermore, attention is paid to making a calculation method which can be carried out simply and at a low cost in various solar charge controllers.
Years of experience in the research and development of battery state of charge algorithms has led to an auto-adaptive 'fuzzy logic' algorithm. This includes the age and usage history of the battery in the calculation as well as the other important parameters. The battery voltage and its currents and the temperature are constantly measured as accurately as possible by the solar charge controller. During a learning phase, the solar charge controller estimates the state of charge on the basis of experience values. At the same time, the controller monitors the behaviour of the battery and adjusts various parameters to the current system. The learning phase lasts for a few cycles.
The advantage of this method is that it makes it possible to respond dynamically to the requirements of the system and individually adjust the battery maintenance to the requirements of every individual system. This feature explains the high performance and reliability of the Steca battery state of charge algorithm. At the same time, this algorithm guarantees optimum battery maintenance, which is reflected in the long service life of the battery. In addition, the user benefits from the fact that the battery's current state of charge can be displayed, which means the user constantly has optimal control over the system.
For more information visit www.stecasolar.com.
