In today’s world where facility staff managers and team members are wearing multiple hats, having information at your finger tips is a requirement. Even more so, having valuable information that can be acted up is even more critical. A typical facility can save from 10% to as much as 40% annually on energy costs by implementing a comprehensive energy action plan. And, while each facility will require an organized approach to recognize those savings, facilities first need to understand their power consumption, location of major loads, electric demand usage patterns, and associated costs.
Many companies today are developing energy management plans and actions requirements to address and limit their growing costs of energy. Part of these plans is the act of reducing energy consumption when peak demand levels are being reached or when electric rates are at their peaks. In order to do this facility operators need to have intelligent metering in place which is capable of recording and forecasting electrical usage in a real-time basis. Additionally, the responsible staff needs to know what these values are at any point in time and know what action to take. However, having someone sit at a computer screen or in front of meter panels to watch the energy levels increase and decrease is not a productive use of time or money. This is why it’s critical to have an intelligent system monitoring the various parts of the facility.
Utilizing the Encore Series ES230 DataNode’s along with the Encore Series Software, a facility can easily view their instantaneous, historic and predicted demand, energy consumption (as well as many other parameters), and associated costs at each point whenever they need. Additionally, the Dranetz Encore Series Software has built-in intelligence which proactively monitors any or all points identified, and has the ability to create alarm points based on an the plans requirements. This system proactively monitors present and predicted demand and usage levels, when the programmed threshold (limit) is exceeded, the Encore Series Software will send out alarm notifications to as many individuals as needed. These notifications can be in the form of email, pager, or the ever popular text message to a cell phone.
The Encore Series Software is a web enabled application that does not require the installation of any software on a local users computer. The system can be accessed from any web-enabled browser by multiple people simultaneously, and performs a variety of operations, including; data collection, data analysis, reporting, alarming, and remote setup of the equipment. With the Modbus driver installed the software can easily read data from any previously installed instrument that supports the Modbus protocol. Additionally, the software allows for easy expansion, including the addition of Power Quality instruments for more detailed analysis of power anomalies.