Maximum monitoring capabilities.
First answer the test question: “Which of the proposed options best characterizes the frequency with which you use your energy consumption monitoring system?”.
A. Almost every day. For me, this system is a useful tool that helps me do my job efficiently.
B. At least once a week or once a month for regular reporting and troubleshooting of energy systems.
C. Only in cases where problems arise that require detailed clarification of the reasons for their occurrence.
D. Almost never. I don’t even know if this system can be of any use to me.
If answer D is selected, then you are not alone. It is quite common for industrial and commercial customers to pay for systems to monitor energy consumption, but then fail to take advantage of their potential. Common reasons for such cases:
– staff reductions resulted in too few workers to worry about the quality of the energy supply and control of its consumption;
– the person who knew how to use this system left the company;
– the staff were not well trained, to use the system and use it for economic effect.
Regardless of your organization’s actual situation, there are several steps that can help breathe new life into your existing energy management system. Any of these measures can be positive, but short-term! affect the efficiency of energy systems and associated costs. To achieve maximum long-term results, these measures should be part of an ongoing energy management program (see EPA Energy Management Guidelines).
Many advances in technology for monitoring energy consumption simplify the maintenance of such systems and reduce the cost of updating them. In addition, these systems are easier to use and often provide ready-made answers rather than raw, unprocessed data. It is this positive factor that reduces the requirements for the level of experience of operators of these systems.
You can take advantage of these advances by cheaply (or freely) upgrading your current systems to save your investment. Here are some examples.
Using network software
Are you still using legacy client/server architecture? Then you need to move on to monitoring energy consumption based on network technologies! Network systems provide secure access to information received by these systems from any personal computer connected to the network using a standard browser program. That is, those who need this information can easily access it. For example, the accounting department can view monthly energy consumption reports without the need to train employees to use special software. Additionally, there is no need to purchase, install, or maintain software for remote clients.
Improving communications infrastructure
Ethernet networks are becoming the de facto standard for industrial communication systems. ARC Advisory Group predicts that the average annual growth rate of the global industrial Ethernet network market in the next 5 years will be 51.4%. Existing daisy chain systems of energy tracking devices can be connected to Ethernet networks via industrial Ethernet gateways. Simply connect the gateway to your existing local Ethernet network, provide power (some gateway device models can be powered directly through the Ethernet network), and connect the daisy chain system to the gateway’s serial port. Some Ethernet gateways can also function as web servers, allowing you to view historical and newly acquired data (including trend graphs and interval values) from daisy chain systems in real time. Other features of these systems are the ability to collect and transmit information via email and/or ftp protocols, as well as the ability to send warning messages to specified email addresses.
Updating the firmware of measuring devices
If the measuring devices used are not too old, then they have the ability to update the used firmware by downloading its new versions from the network. To take advantage of the latest capabilities of your measuring devices, you must download and install the latest firmware version on them. Below are examples of some of the latest technologies in digital energy monitoring. Contact the manufacturers of the measuring devices you use to find out the latest capabilities of the models of measuring devices you use (see also section “Updating Device Firmware”).
Automatic notification of emergency situations
No one to monitor the warnings displayed on the computer screen? But these notifications can be sent to a pager, cell phone, PDA, or to your email address. In most cases, such messages can be generated and transmitted by personal computer software. In some cases, network gateways or monitoring devices themselves connected to Ethernet networks can do this.
Functions for automatic report generation
Using the latest software to monitor energy consumption, generate reports on energy usage, network load, power quality, etc. no longer requires large labor costs. You can define and customize the reporting form and set the schedule on which these reports will be generated, and the program will automatically generate these reports and save them on the central computer for later viewing. A browser program is all that is needed to view and print these reports on networked systems. Updated versions of energy monitoring software allow these reports to be automatically sent to predefined email lists in a variety of formats, including PDF. Examples of this use of tracking software would be shift energy reports generated nightly and sent to the department manager’s energy management email address, or monthly energy cost reports generated and sent to the accounting department email address.
General analysis of the data obtained
To supplement the tools for creating reports and analyzing the information received, you should consider using additional specialized software for general analysis of the received data. Such software provides many opportunities to complement the functions of existing software when creating standards and determining zero levels used to control the operation of utility systems throughout a building or complex of buildings. It can also be used to analyze the performance of utility systems and perform other functions related to the creation and implementation of an integrated energy management program.
Investments in personnel training
The initial purpose of formal staff training is to develop the skills needed to use the system and the information it provides. This is exactly what is needed to manage energy supply, control its quality and, accordingly, the cost of paying for consumed energy. Some of these skills are acquired through self-study or on-the-job training. But experience shows that managers who invest in staff training at specially held master classes are more prepared to use the system and use it on an ongoing basis, rather than occasionally.
The staff training program must include practical training courses in well-equipped training facilities. Training should only be provided by experienced instructors who can answer any questions. The training course should include a general but comprehensive introduction to the system, as well as specific courses on, for example, system installation, troubleshooting, software operation, power quality control, energy management and professional reporting.
Outsourcing
In cases where staff reductions and expanded responsibilities do not allow sufficient time to devote to energy quality and energy control, contact your system manufacturer to see if they offer additional services. If so, the system can automatically send the data over the Internet to a remote host computer, which stores the received information on secure servers. Stored data includes power quality information, energy management reports, graphs and warning messages. Users receive passwords to log in and instantly access this data through a browser.
In addition, managers receive daily reports by e-mail on the status of the system, allowing them to identify problems in a timely manner without going to the central server.
Once the system is created, you can easily connect additional components to it, and in particular tools for specialized distribution of costs and creation of energy bills, and for analysis of the quality of energy supply by specialist engineers.
Updating device firmware. To benefit from the latest features in energy management, you can download the latest firmware versions for your measurement equipment online. Below are examples of some of the latest technologies in digital energy monitoring.
Location of the problem area This feature allows you to determine with a high degree of confidence which side of the circuit the problem area is located in relation to the measuring device .
Issuing a warning message, including sending it by email.This function allows you to immediately notify the operator of problems so that they can be quickly resolved. It is also possible to create a job to send targeted messages, thereby ensuring that the right workers are notified in a timely manner.
Voltage Fluctuation Measurement With this function, you can measure voltage fluctuations in accordance with IEEE and IEC standards. .
General report on the quality of energy supply.This function makes it possible to combine data with various parameters into a single common index, the value of which will become a standard of the overall level of quality of power supply at the point where measurements are taken.
General report. Using this function, you can create a general report on energy consumption, which will reflect trends and graphs of changes in the values of various parameters.
VVGEP consumption measurement. I/O points are used to collect, analyze and summarize data from other sensors and measuring devices (flow of water, air, gas, electricity, steam). The data obtained is used for analysis and general reporting, as well as to optimize overall total energy consumption.
Jim Giordano
Marketing Specialist, Schneider Electric Power Monitoring and Control Group (USA)
Based on materials from the journal Consulting-Specifying Engineer (Reed Business Information)