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Smarter Solar Tracking. Fewer Controllers. Total Visibility

Industry: Agriculture, IIoT / Cloud

Noga Control Systems Delivers a Cloud-Enabled, Multi-Axis Solar Control Platform for Baran Energy with UniStream Cloud-inside PLCs.

Summary

Using UniStream® Cloud-inside PLC controllers and UniCloud, Unitronics’ end-to-end IIoT platform, Noga Control Systems delivered a turnkey solar tracking solution for Baran Group, Energy Division.

The new architecture replaces a complex multi-PLC design—where each motor axis was controlled by a dedicated controller—with a single UniStream PLC per site that manages all axes of motion in a synchronized, intelligent manner.

Through UniCloud dashboards and secure remote connectivity, Baran Energy can now monitor, maintain, and optimize multiple solar installations remotely—significantly reducing on-site service requirements, lowering maintenance costs, and improving system availability.

The Companies

Noga Control Systems

Founded in 2006, Noga Control Systems is a process-automation specialist delivering full lifecycle automation solutions—from field instrumentation and control system architecture to turnkey implementation and enterprise integration.

The company has extensive experience across biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, desalination, solvent extraction, industrial waste treatment, metallurgy, pulp & paper, and advanced R&D facilities. Noga is particularly recognized for SCADA systems designed to maximize situational awareness, uptime, and advanced control performance.

Baran Group – Energy Division

Baran Group’s Energy Division develops and deploys advanced solar energy solutions, including solar tracker systems designed to maximize photovoltaic energy yield across diverse environmental conditions.

The Challenge: A Distributed Architecture That Couldn’t Scale

Baran’s system for solar tracking and management compromised too many controllers, too much complexity.

To maximize solar energy production, panels must continuously align with the sun’s position. Solar trackers—either single-axis (East-West rotation) or dual-axis (East-West and North-South movement)—improve yield significantly compared to fixed installations.

However, environmental conditions complicate control requirements:

Wind uplift protection requires flat or low-slope positioning
High ambient temperatures may require heat-dissipation positioning
Synchronized multi-axis motion must be reliable and precise

In Baran Energy’s existing architecture, each axis of motion for each panel was controlled by its own separate PLC and motor assembly.

As installations expanded, this approach led to:

A large number of controllers per site
Complex wiring and panel design
Increased hardware and commissioning costs
No centralized visibility into system health
A reactive maintenance model that required frequent on-site service
The architecture did not scale efficiently—each new installation replicated the same complexity.

Baran Energy needed a fundamental architectural shift: a streamlined, intelligent control platform that would reduce hardware, improve coordination, and enable secure remote access across multiple sites.

The Solution: One Powerful PLC. Complete Control

Noga Control Systems partnered with their local Unitronics distributor, R.D.T., and selected UniStream Cloud-inside PLC controllers as the foundation of the new solar tracking platform.

Key Advantages

A single UniStream PLC now:

Controls all solar tracker motion axes per installation
Synchronizes multiple motors intelligently
Implements storm-stow and thermal protection logic
Provides a virtual HMI for local and remote operation
Connects directly to UniCloud for centralized monitoring and maintenance

By consolidating motion control into one powerful platform, Noga eliminated the need for numerous independent controllers—dramatically simplifying the system.

Weather-Driven Intelligence with REST API

Modern solar tracking requires more than mechanical motion—it requires environmental awareness.

Using UniStream’s native REST API capability, the PLC retrieves real-time weather data from external meteorological services via secure HTTPS, parses the JSON internally, and automatically adjusts panel positioning.

During high-wind events, the system moves panels into a protective flat position without operator intervention.

The tracker doesn’t just follow the sun—it responds to real-world conditions in real time.

Built-In Cloud Connectivity. No Gateways Required.

Because UniStream Cloud-inside PLCs include built-in secure cloud connectivity, no external gateway hardware or communication configuration is required to connect to UniCloud. Noga opted to add a Unitronics UCR router to provide an additional encrypted communication layer; UCR routers also enable users to integrate any device that supports Modbus into a UniCloud system.

UniCloud’s pre-designed dashboards, provided at no extra charge, combined with its simple dashboard editor enables users to easily design proprietary dashboards tailored to their exact application needs.

Through UniCloud, Baran Energy can now:

Monitor multiple solar sites from a single dashboard
Receive real-time alarms and system notifications
Access systems remotely and securely
Perform remote diagnostics and parameter updates
Reduce downtime and service costs
Eliminate routine site visits for adjustments

In addition, Noga developed both desktop and mobile applications to enable intuitive remote monitoring and operation.

Benefits

With UniStream Cloud-inside PLCs and UniCloud, Noga Control Systems consolidated control, integrated real-time environmental data, and enabled remote management.

Baran Energy’s new solar tracking solution is:

Easier to maintain
Faster to scale
More reliable in operation
Better aligned with long-term growth

For solar energy operators seeking higher yield, lower maintenance, and secure IIoT visibility, UniStream provides a unified control platform capable of managing complex multi-axis motion with enterprise-level connectivity.

Nir Angel, COO of Noga, had this to say:
“This combined solution—UniStream PLCs and the UniCloud IIoT platform—provides us with full control, operational stability, and the ability to grow with confidence.
And that’s exactly what our customers need.”