System Integration

Building Systems Out Of Components

EnergySolve are electrical contractors based in Port Macquarie NSW.

Have you ever needed this to talk to that ? Or wished multiple bespoke components could be collectively monitored and orchestrated into a cohesive system ?

Integration serves to couple multiple components together in order to co-ordinate their operation and leverage the resultant broader feature set.

Integration is typically achieved via one of the four methods depicted below and these have generally evolved over time from mechanical through to software in more modern systems.

All methods of integration involve one or more interfaces between components, some form of effective signalling via those interfaces and a logic function operating on these signals.

Electrical Integration & Control

Electrical integration & control is relatively mature and quite common, therefore reliable and typically cost effective. An example is an external event occuring such as a microswitch / start button closing a circuit, or a timer crossing a threshold. This change in state results in a voltage being applied to a control wire which operates one or more other electrical devices, automating multiple sequences of state change and ultimately implementing the desired logical functionality across various scenarios, termed 'ladder logic'.

Common examples in residential installations are integrating daylight or motion sensors with lighting systems, and using timers / relays to control certain loads such as hot water systems and pool pumps.

Commercial and industrial sites typically require automation to maximise & maintain productivity and/or service level agreements, and employ more advanced and complex control & supervisory systems, often using now legacy technology such as PLCs / SCADA with resultant limitations in flexibility and vendor choice.

EnergySolve are able to identify & validate your functional requirements then design & implement an appropriate electrical integration & control solution in a safe, compliant and autonomous manner. Modifications and/or upgrades to existing instances of electrical integration & control are also available.

Software Integration

The development of the Internet of Things has delivered rapid software programmability, access to volumes of operational data and global integration scale to the physical world.

Software integration & IoT is an exciting field and a core focus of EnergySolve. The broad applicability due to myriad sensors & actuators, plus truly flexible solution programmability represent a powerful and modern implementation of the classical adage 'in order to manage first you need to monitor'.

Infrastructure management in support of maximising efficiency is the ultimate goal of any level of integration and IoT encompasses 4 distinct functional layers. Each layer abstracts a specific function and summarises detail up to the next layer. Data acquisition and control logic are embedded in the lower layers for reduced overheads & latency, whilst the upper layers provide aggregation & storage of historical data plus interfaces for users & other software platforms.

EnergySolve IoT Products & Services

With an extensive background in technology and system integration, custom electronics and software code combine naturally to create powerful hardware products for deployment on sites requiring advanced monitoring and flexible integration & automation.

The EnergySolve LogicBox is a micro-sized IoT hardware platform designed to interface with multiple electrical, mechanical, chemical & environmental objects and retrieve operational data in real-time for high-performance monitoring and responsive asset management.

A schematic of a LogicBox deployed to control a storage hot water system. The software logic monitors tank temperature & solar power levels every 15 minutes, diverting excess power when available and tank temperature is low.

A watchdog routine also monitors for a low threshold on tank temperature and boosts as needed to maintain service.

The EnergySolve Data Battery is a hosted database and web-based analytics software platform, storing historical data from multiple LogicBoxes deployed in the field.

Access is managed via a simple monthly subscription model and each LogicBox includes 3 months' free Data Battery access.

Subscribed users are able to easily view the current status of all monitored objects and drill down into historical data to gain insights into previous operational conditions and also identify long-term trends.

Would your site benefit from advanced object monitoring, or custom integration & control of multiple autonomous elements ? Contact us today to discuss your integration requirements.