Schneider Electric, the leader in the digital transformation of energy management and automation, today released EcoStruxure™ Power Monitoring Expert (PME), the latest award-winning ‘edge control’ software addition to its IoT-enabled EcoStruxure Power architecture and edge control portfolio. Designed to simplify management of complex power systems, PME provides the most complete insight into critical power networks and applications. PME collects and organizes data from across a facility’s network and presents actionable information via an intuitive web interface, improving information sharing among key stakeholders to ensure power is both reliable and efficient.
By taking advantage of the Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity and distributed intelligence, PME acts as the window into digitized power networks to protect people and assets while saving time and money. Its open architecture supports industry standard protocols and an expansive range of Schneider Electric and third-party devices. PME provides the industry’s most advanced capabilities with several new innovations, including:
• Power events analysis to quickly and easily uncover hidden trends and correlations to ensure an optimized network and competitive advantage
• Reinvented alarm management with smart events and alarms clustering for intuitive and powerful filtering, searching and categorization of events and alarms
• Breaker performance module to detect when protection settings have been changed and to analyze circuit breaker aging to enable proactive maintenance
• Continuous thermal monitoring to avoid electrical fires using wireless busbar temperature sensors
• Graphical timeline analysis tools that easily analyze events and alarms sequence, location and potential impact
• Energy analysis module to model and forecast energy usage, quantify savings, meet ISO50001 requirements and track energy performance indicators per ISO50006
• Advanced cybersecurity with Windows active directory and McAfee whitelisting, and compliance with IEC62443, allowing it to operate in the most demanding IT environments
• Multi-site support that enables role-based access to one or more sites with full time zone support
• The most advanced energy visualization and analysis • tools to calculate, model, forecast and track your main energy performance indicators (EnPIs)
Innovation with EcoStruxure
“EcoStruxure Power Monitoring Expert is part of our answer to the new energy future. As the power grid becomes more dynamic and complex, and regulations become more challenging, PME brings unique new capabilities that make it simpler to protect people and assets, keep operations running and save time and money”, said Ram Kaushik, offer manager, power management, Schneider Electric. “PME provides future-proof adaptability that modern power networks need. It connects to smart devices across your electrical system, untapping potential energy and massive possibilities to reduce energy costs and improve operational efficiency.”
EcoStruxure is Schneider Electric’s open, interoperable, IoT-enabled system architecture and platform. EcoStruxure delivers enhanced value around safety, reliability, efficiency, sustainability and connectivity for our customers. EcoStruxure leverages advancements in IoT, mobility, sensing, cloud, analytics and cybersecurity to deliver Innovation at Every Level. This includes Connected Products, Edge Control, and Apps, Analytics and Services. EcoStruxure has been deployed in 480,000+ sites, with the support of 20,000+ system integrators and developers, connecting over 1.6 million assets under management through 40+ digital services.
Significant enhancements for large and power-critical facilities
In large and critical buildings, uptime and reliability is paramount. For example, power quality issues can cause outages that cost as much as $1 million+ per day, while operations and maintenance costs can represent as much as 80 percent of the total lifecycle cost over a 50-year period. Plus, reliability ensures productivity and operational efficiency, so when equipped with the proper data and insight, facilities can realize new operational efficiencies, enabled by the innovation of PME.
One Schneider Electric customer, a major automotive manufacturer, installed a PME system that included advanced power quality meters for monitoring and troubleshooting power quality problems, helping to minimize downtime and reduce energy costs. The system paid for itself in two years, one full year ahead of schedule. These meters were superior in their ability to perform power quality and disturbance monitoring functions.
“Our customers can discover new levels of efficiency and create a competitive differentiation by leveraging the new capabilities afforded by our high-performance edge control software,” said Kaushik. “PME gives customers a powerful, innovative, power management software to work with, and enables safer, more reliable, efficient, and compliant power networks.”