Patent ID: 8300439

Claim:
A power generating system comprising: a first array of two or more solar cell modules, each module comprising an inverter and a photovoltaic (PV) laminate, said PV laminate including a plurality of electrically interconnected solar cells for generating a DC power output, and said inverter electrically connected to said PV laminate for converting said DC power output to an AC power output: an AC power bus extending between said modules and connected to said inverter of each module for collecting the AC power output of said first array of modules; and a junction box electrically connected to said AC power bus; wherein said inverter is configured to: sense selected parameters from the group consisting of DC voltage, DC current, AC voltage, AC current, cumulative energy, inverter temperature, PV laminate temperature, and solar cell temperature; digitize said sensed parameters, and transmit sensed parameters data over said AC power bus to said junction box; and wherein said junction box is configured to: receive and store sensed parameters data transmitted by said inverters over said AC power bus; analyze said stored parameters data on a module basis and an array basis and store the results of the analysis; and transmit said digitized sensed parameters data and/or the results of said analysis to a remote receiver.