On the road to ‘zero net energy’ facilities, CABA notes a number of game changers. At the root of these is interconnectivity.
As noted in the previous chapter, digitization is embedding smart sensors and intelligence at every level of low and medium voltage power distribution.
This enables deep access to real time and historical energy consumption and power conditions. Connectivity is the next important part of the story.
It gives operations and maintenance teams the wide reach they need to the very ‘edge’ of the power distribution network, across an entire facility or beyond.
It’s real-time access to data and control from wherever they are. For example, a smartphone or tablet app can engage control actions from a safe distance from a circuit breaker, while also acting as a direct portal to expert services when needed.
The newest smart meters and smart trip units offer a number of communication options. Some support multiple, simultaneous connections to upstream information and automation systems.
This can also be used to create redundant – i.e. parallel – communication links for added resilience in critical applications.
In addition, communication gateways can provide further data collection, recording, routing, and user access options. Many offer on-board web servers with data accessible through any web browser.
Device data can be automatically stored in a cloud-based repository that’s accessible throughout the lifetime of the installation, supporting a simpler and more thorough approach to asset management.
Smart devices and gateways are the nucleus of the new trend in smart panels.
The choices made in designing a power distribution communication network will be based on balancing performance against cost. Where simpler energy measurements are needed at high numbers of dispersed end-load points, wireless meters may be a good choice.
The IoT Institute concurs, “New generations of wireless, IP-enabled meters that simplify the process of logging and transmitting data to building management systems could slash associated cabling infrastructure costs and ultimately lower the expense of collecting and managing submeter data.” At critical power distribution points where intensive power quality monitoring, logging, alarming, or control functions are executed, a direct connection to a building’s Ethernet backbone will increase speed and data throughput. This would also typically be the case where smart panels are used to meter a large number of concentrated circuits.
Power system design is made easier by new, standardized specifications for smart devices, as well as industry-standard communication networks and protocols.
The development of modularized components and ‘plug-in’ connectivity is also making it simpler and faster for panel builders and integrators to configure, customize, and upgrade smart panels and switchboards as required. It can also reduce or eliminate interruptions for a facility when scaling up their power system.
The flexibility and extensibility of such networks allow all important energy assets to be included. This includes emerging distributed energy resources (DER), which analysts estimate will proliferate “three times faster than central station generation between 2015-2019 in the US.” For example, onsite solar generation and energy storage can be carefully monitored and coordinated to maximize their value in providing cost reductions and emergency power backup. Increasing numbers of electric vehicle charging stations can be metered and their charging regimes scheduled for lower electricity rate periods.
And while combined heat and power systems have traditionally been the domain of industrial sites, the commercial sector is expected to host more than half of new capacity in the future.
These systems can be accurately metered and controlled to ensure they operate at peak efficiency. Ultimately, large numbers of smart devices keep watch over all of the energy assets of a facility, or even across an entire portfolio of buildings. Two-way communication connects downstream devices with upstream operations software.
New cloud-based applications continuously upload and aggregate power infrastructure data, while smartphone-ready digital logbooks track equipment and maintenance activity.
Power network data is transformed into actionable insights, with information and alarms shared with facility personnel as well as a service partner. This enables the partner to provide regular consultation and recommendations to the facility team, based on energy, operations and advanced analytic reports provided from the system.
Applications catering to the new energy ‘prosumer’ take into account real-time operational data from business processes and DER assets, as well as weather prediction and energy pricing. From these inputs, decisions can be made regarding the optimal way to manage onsite energy production and consumption.
These cloud-hosted solutions are accessed through PCs and mobile devices by facility personnel and contractors. This new ‘energy cloud’ taps into even greater value by enabling information sharing and collaboration between all parties.
It keeps everyone engaged with the smart distribution network, making sure they immediately receive and quickly respond to equipment alarms, helping avoid failures and downtime.
At the next level of integration, interoperability between power management systems and building management systems (BMS) can further streamline workflows and catalyze collaboration. Data can be shared between systems or power management capabilities can be embedded directly into the BMS platform.
This helps put occupant comfort and energy efficiency in proper, balanced context while enabling facility staff to gain a wider operational perspective from a single interface.
With all of these new connections between smart devices, panels, systems, and the cloud, the threat of cyber-attacks have become a growing concern both inside and outside of the buildings industry.
To ensure this, many manufacturers now follow a disciplined process that includes providing security training to developers, adhering to security regulations, conducting threat modeling and architectural reviews, ensuring secure code practices, and executing extensive security testing.
Schneider Electric also provides partners and customers with full documentation, secure deployment instructions, security lifecycle services, and responsive assistance and support when incidents and vulnerabilities are reported.
With your operations team well-armed to stay on top of real-time conditions, new analytic tools will help proactively investigate ways to further optimize reliability, efficiency, and sustainability.
1. Remote breaker control. A breaker trips in a building’s power network. The facility manager can immediately see which breaker it was, in which piece of equipment, why it tripped, and a complete history of the breaker’s power consumption. Armed with this information, the dispatched electrician will be more likely to fix the equipment in one trip.
If an overload caused the trip, the facility manager can reset the breaker from his/her office after loads have been redistributed to other breakers to remove the danger of another overload, and nonessential equipment has been shut down that the breaker is protecting.
2. Preventative maintenance. Metered data from smart panels improves asset management by helping predict when equipment maintenance may be needed.
It also indicates when electrical loads need to be redistributed or rebalanced to help prevent overloads and downtime from occurring. Facility managers can see if a particular breaker has tripped more than once, helping find and fix the problem to prevent it from reoccurring.
