Posted to News on 29th Mar 2012, 00:00
Analyse energy consumption to reduce costs
The OptoEMU from Opto 22 is an energy monitoring unit that measures the electrical energy usage in your facility and then delivers that data to online software applications using your existing wired or wireless network. It gives you the detailed, real-time data you need to analyse energy consumption and reduce costs. Most recently, Opto 22 has expanded the communications and integration capability of the device, making it even easier to manage energy usage using the hardware, interfaces, protocols and databases you know and prefer.
>The enhancements to the device include Modbus/TCP and OPC industrial protocol support, Microsoft SQL Server and Access integration, and a new Microsoft .NET developer toolkit. The addition of OPC support means that the device can communicate with any OPC client. This means, for example, that plant managers and industrial automation personnel can connect to and visualise their energy data using popular SCADA and HMI software packages.
>In addition to its new communications features, the OptoEMU sensor also offers easier integration with Opto 22's SNAP PAC system for industrial control, including the ability to visualise real-time energy data with the free PAC Display HMI software package. Sensor data can also be integrated into any PAC Control program for complete facility energy management.
>Developers who wish to build their own applications for visualising data from the sensor can use the free Microsoft .NET toolkit to do so. The sensor communicates using OptoMMP - and open, Opto 22-developed protocol wrapped into a managed code library that offers programmers an easy way to add energy data to both new and existing applications.
>Additionally, IT_departments can use Opto 22's OptoDataLink software to post their energy data directly into Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Access, MySQL and other databases. This new option complements the OptoEMU's ability to deliver data to web-based applications like Google PowerMeter and Pulse Energy's Pulse, and provides yet another way to aggregate data in a central repository where it can be used to quickly understand energy usage, pinpoint problems and reduce costs.
>As an idea of the effectiveness of the technology, Opto22, the company used the technology within its own manufacturing plant as part of its energy management efforts. The sobering data gathered by the system made the company more conscious of its daily energy use and provided the motivation to change behaviours and change wasteful practices, sometimes within mere minutes of reviewing the data.
>The newfound visibility provided by the energy monitoring system opened Opto 22's eyes to its uneconomical use of power. Once enough energy consumption data had been aggregated, this new awareness provided the impetus for the adoption of more energy efficient strategies and later the decision to automate or control specific systems and process in order to temper consumption and use power in a more efficient way. Significantly, these automation and control capabilities were incorporated into the existing energy monitoring system. The net result of these measures was that Opto22 cut its energy consumption by 27%.
