What is IoT Energy Management?
It is a process that includes planning & management of your energy consumption patterns in commercial & industrial sectors. Consider a small example. You were at your house and you left with the lights and the AC switched on. Now, what if technology lets you switch off your products without involving your presence back to your house. That is the Internet of Things. Also, apart from the comfort think of the energy you saved in. The figure below shows a simple process as to how Energy Management using IoT is done.
Here’s what the application of IoT technology can do:
- reduce energy spending,
- minimize carbon emission,
- meet governmental restrictions,
- integrate green energy,
- optimize asset maintenance,
- automate processes,
- cut operational expenses,
- gain visibility to energy use,
- identify malfunctions in time and prevent them,
- effectively combat outages, accidents, blackouts,
- predict consumption and spending and plan accordingly.
How it’s done?
It all starts with the sensors that record information in real time. They connect (via the internet)to software systems that can analyze that data.
Sensors can be used to measure things like vibration, temperature, spikes in energy usage, or changes in voltage (among many other things). The sensors work around the clock to collect data. The software can organize and visualize that data to help operators identify things like:
- Faulty equipment
- Sources of inefficiency
- Opportunities to align energy production with demand
Some major Solutions
Like the above example, there are many solutions for the Energy Management using IoT. Some of the major ones include:
Smart Metering
Smart metering solution helps utilities to have a track of resources being distributed and consumed. The precise meter readings are acquired and uploaded in cloud. They can be accessed from anywhere.So precise energy accounting, demand forecasting and streamlining operations can be performed. Utilities/end-users can also get a vivid picture of I/O voltage and current, water flow, pressure and consumption pattern on the go. So be it power or water, you can have a count on it.
Smart Lighting
Using this you can remotely switch On/Off lights on a single touch from anywhere in the world. This solution has the capability to switch on a need basis via scheduled timing. Schedules can be single fixed schedules or multiple schedules. It is also possible to enable optimized switching through predefined schedules such as:
- Weather based
- Light intensity based
- Dimming during off-peak hours
Smart Diesel Generators
This method include controlling several diesel generators from a single place. Apart from that, the person can not only know about the fuel, security but also can review it’s efficiency. Generators can be located at different customer sites or locations which makes it challenging for the facility owners to monitor each asset.
With an IoT enabled Diesel Generator Monitoring Solution, facility managers or operations & maintenance team will get 24×7 remote asset control that will let them know in advance on maintenance needs, optimize site visits, monitor the running condition for billing, provide on-the-go switching access and visibility on the health parameters of the Diesel Generators across locations. The performance parameters of each generator can be individually tracked and analyzed using a single reporting system.
There are many other innovative solutions that exist in the market. My motive was to give the idea behind Energy Management with IoT. HAPPY LEARNING!
