AOFS is designed to operate with existing farm power infrastructure, including solar panels, batteries, and inverters. The standard defines two levels of solar integration:

• Level 1 (Default / Minimal Integration)
  • Assumes solar or other renewable systems are already in place.
  • Field Controllers monitor battery voltage and current to enforce fail-safes and manage irrigation loads.
  • No direct control or dependency on panels, inverters, or charge controllers.
  • Ensures AOFS compliance without requiring changes to existing power setups.

• Level 2 (Optional / Integrated Monitoring)
  • Controllers can read solar generation metrics via standard protocols (e.g., Modbus, MQTT, RS485).
  • Irrigation schedules can adjust dynamically based on energy availability.
  • Enables advanced PUE optimization and analytics, while remaining hardware-agnostic.
  • Fully optional: farms can adopt this for energy efficiency improvements, but it is not required for AOFS compliance.

Guidelines:

• All AOFS-compliant deployments must implement Level 1 monitoring for battery voltage/current and fail-safe logic.
• Level 2 integration can be added if farms wish to optimize irrigation schedules based on solar energy availability.
• Optional AI or analytics modules may use Level 2 data, but core irrigation safety and operational compliance remain Level 1-centric.