Very quietly, Opto22 has worked for the last couple of years on devices and software that will bridge the gap between standard process and discrete manufacturing automation and energy management.
Recently they introduced a new product-- an energy auditing device-- that can be used in nearly every industry and can be afforded by even relatively small manufacturing and distribution plants.
They aren't across the chasm yet from making these devices available commercially to the home and office space...but if you live in the San Diego area, you can already use Google's Energy Monitor to read devices like this and control the energy from your home from anywhere you are-- and see when your teenager leaves the lights and the TV on...
New Opto 22 Energy Monitoring Appliance Helps Customers Track and Reduce Energy Consumption
OptoEMU Sensor Combines Energy Monitoring and Data Integration to Business Systems
Temecula, CA - November 8, 2010 - Opto 22 has introduced the OptoEMU Sensor(tm)-the first component of Opto 22's packaged, networkable OptoEMU(tm) system-which lets small- to medium-sized commercial and industrial customers gather energy consumption data from their facilities' electrical panels, metering devices, and other equipment. The OptoEMU Sensor also provides easy-to-implement communications interfaces and data integration capabilities to instantly deliver the acquired energy data to enterprise business systems so it can be viewed, archived, and used to develop effective energy management strategies that reduce costs.
Designed for maintenance engineers, plant managers, business owners, energy consultants, and others looking for ways to better understand and reduce their facility's energy consumption, the OptoEMU system comprises two powerful hardware components-the OptoEMU Sensor and the upcoming OptoEMU Server.
The Sensor provides three distinct types of monitoring interfaces. First, it can directly connect to and measure the electrical loads of both individual power panels and subpanels, and key facility equipment, such as manufacturing machinery, pumps, motors, refrigeration systems, boilers, chillers, and HVAC units.
Next, to provide connectivity to existing monitoring devices and instrumentation (as well as larger Building Automation Systems [BAS] from manufacturers like Honeywell and Johnson Controls), the OptoEMU Sensor has serial and Ethernet interfaces and can monitor and communicate via the widely-used Modbus and BACnet protocols. Finally, the Sensor can monitor and accept pulses from utility meters and other sub-metering devices.
The Sensor can then send all acquired building data to online energy monitoring software portals-including Google PowerMeter(tm) and Pulse Energy's Pulse(tm)-for presentation and analysis, or to local databases for integration with business systems.
"As a comprehensive energy monitoring solution for commercial and industrial customers, and small- and medium-sized businesses, the OptoEMU Sensor offers each of the stakeholders of a business-facility and plant managers, executives, and occupants-a way to track, report, and visualize energy usage data," says Arun Sinha, Opto 22's Director of Business Development. "This, in turn, allows those facility and plant managers to correlate manufacturing energy usage with production volumes; business managers can enact procedural and operational changes that lower utility bills; and occupants become aware of how their behaviors affect energy consumption."
Because the OptoEMU Sensor is based on the same technology as Opto 22's popular SNAP PAC System, customers are able to easily deploy additional sensors at any time, or even expand their capabilities to gain equipment management and control functions simply by adding a few additional off-the-shelf components, thereby providing an easy way to participate in load curtailment and demand response programs.
The OptoEMU Sensor accomplishes all this by applying standard, well-understood information and communications technologies, such as analog, digital, and serial signal processing, and Ethernet, wireless LAN, and Internet network connectivity. This "standards-based" approach allows the Sensor to exist in a wide variety of industrial and business architectures and perform with the same power and reliability Opto 22 components are known for industry-wide.
The OptoEMU Sensor will be available December 2010, at a suggested cost of $1295.00 USD.
