Background
The facility manager of a University Campus in Hong Kong was looking for a quick and cost effective metering solution to integrate the Energy data from scattered locations within the campus for consumption monitoring, cost allocation and energy saving purpose.
Project Scope
The University Campus has more than 30 buildings occupying a site of 60-hectare located in the northern part of Hong Kong. This project was using LoRaWAN meters for monitoring the consumption data in 21 buildings with more than 350 monitoring points scattered throughout the Campus. Loads of up to 1600A were required for sub-metering where the metering data was pushed to a Cloud Storage via a LoRaWAN network and then subsequently displayed locally in a BMS (Building Management System) or EMS (Energy Management System).
Challenge
Tight schedule, limited budget and scattered metering locations were critical considerations in this project. Wireless technology could be one cost effective solution which would help reduce the implementation time as well as lower the installation cost for sub-metering scattered locations. LoRaWAN technology is suitable for rural or indoor applications due to its Long-Range transmission capability with excellent penetration characteristics.
Solution
PMC-350-C is a 3-Phase Energy Meter using the LoRaWAN technology for Long-Range wireless communication. PMC-350-C monitors consumption data as well as key electrical parameters and pushes its data autonomously to the nearest LoRaWAN Gateway.
PMC-350-C is compact and can be easily installed into new and existing buildings without the need for any additional cabling. By connecting to a private LoRaWAN wireless network (built with any 3rd-party LoRaWAN compliant Gateway), the meters are able to transmit the consumption and real-time data at pre-determined intervals wirelessly over a maximum distance of 5 km to a registered LoRaWAN Gateway, where the data is subsequently pushed to the LoRaWAN Network Server on the cloud for storage and further processing. The client’s Application Server, such as a BMS or EMS can retrieve the metering data continuously from the Network Server on the Cloud. This architecture would save the cost and effort for maintaining a local server for data storage. The energy and real-time information can then be served over a fully customizable and user-friendly dashboard, which allows the client to perform data analysis easily, quickly and clearly for Billing or Energy Usage Analysis.
Conclusion
CET’s LoRaWAN Metering Solution plays a pivotal role in lowering the installation cost, reducing the project deployment time and improving the overall performance and efficiency. Additional cost saving is realized by not having to maintain a local Database Server for data storage or purchase monthly subscriptions for a SIM-based wireless network. A Smart Campus-Wide Wireless Energy Management Solution can be delivered in a relatively short time with reduced cost and minimal disruption to the client’s existing network, hence maximizing the project’s Return-On-Investment and the client’s satisfaction.
