What does WattPlots truncation compensation do?
When the founder of greenHouse Computers first introduced Truncation Compensation for the greenMonitor Renewable Energy Monitor software in 2007, she did more than just add 0.5 (or 0.05) to each and every value. She calculated the most likely true value, based on recent system performance.
Just adding 0.5 amps (or 0.05 amps for certain charge controllers) or 0.5 volts, isn’t the answer. Statistically, just adding half a unit only reduces the error by 50%. There are ways to calculate the probability of a more accurate value, and that’s what the greenMonitor Renewable Energy Monitor software does.
When you’re looking for monitoring software, go to the source, not to the copycat.
The amperage reported by the MATE from many OutBack devices is truncated to the integer value below the actual value. This means, for example, that all actual values between 3.00 and 3.99 amps would be reported as 3 amps, resulting (on average) in reported amperage and wattage values well below the real world values. WattPlot can compensate for this by adding 0.5 Amps to appropriate reported values when devices are in relevant operating modes, resulting in more accurate power summaries. Note that to balance MATE display compatibility with data accuracy, WattPlot displays a mix of reported Amps (as reported by the MATE) and adjusted values (as calculated internally when truncation compensation is turned on). The Snapshot bars for individual devices at the top of the display show reported Amps. The Snapshot bars for reporting sets show adjusted values. The wattage values in the pen-plots and in the power summary spreadsheets are all based on the adjusted values. The following table shows
