As described herein, the indication of the status of the PV system can be a variety of different indications. For instance, the indication can be a heartbeat or startup indication from inverter 140 as shown by indication 142a. As another example, indication 142b can be measured by sensor 150 and can be provided to controller 130. Examples of indication 142b include a vibration measurement, a voltage or current measurement, among other examples.

As described herein, in various embodiments, indication 142 of the status of the PV system can be received by circuitry 110 from inverter 140 as indication 142a, from sensor 150 within PV module 100a or circuitry 110, or from some other component outside of PV module 100a. For example, indication 142b can be measured by sensor 150 and provided to controller 130. For instance, sensor 150 can be configured to sense the PV module's and/or PV array's performance (e.g., voltage across the module, current through the module), vibration measurement, and/or temperature at one or more locations on the module or in the circuitry, among other examples. Note that such performance measurements can also be used for the BIT facility.

As another example, indication 142a can be received by controller 130 from a component outside of circuitry 110, such as from inverter 140 or some other component. For example, inverter 140 can provide an indication that is an explicit shutdown command or a heartbeat indication, among other examples.