News

Connecting Low-Voltage Networks to the IoT

April 24, 2016 by Jeff Shepard

ABB is connecting electrical plants to the Internet of things, services and people to transform how industry monitors, manages and optimizes its energy costs and power loads. Ekip SmartVision increases reliability and can boost energy savings by up to 30 percent. Ekip SmartVision combines the connectivity and sensing capabilities of ABB Emax 2 circuit breakers with a cloud platform to deliver actionable information for advanced energy management, remote supervision and diagnostics services. Power consumption, costs and electrical behavior are continuously monitored and analyzed, making it easier and faster to implement energy management strategies.

An optimized energy management strategy can reduce peak power consumption and deliver savings on electricity bills of up to 20%, depending on local tariffs. An additional 10% saving is possible through efficiency improvement actions, enabled by monitoring and benchmarking energy demand and costs.

The Ekip SmartVision connects with the Emax 2 circuit breaker, leveraging its in-built intelligence and connectivity. Emax 2 is connected to devices installed in the electrical system – such as further circuit breakers, arc guards and multimeters - which become sensors able to measure and share data. Ekip SmartVision gathers all the data through the cloud platform and provides information to enable analysis and decision making by the people running a facility.

“ABB is the first to offer cloud-based connection to a facility’s circuit breakers to support advanced monitoring and energy management. This is another step forward in ABB’s innovation strategy to integrate the Internet of Things, Services and People into the devices, technologies and processes that companies use every day. In line with our Next Level strategy we are drawing on our deep understanding of power to support customers to significantly improve the efficiency of their electrical systems,” said Tarak Mehta, president of ABB’s Electrification Products division.

Ekip SmartVision provides direct supervision of electrical assets across even the most complex electrical installations. With automatic alerts, immediate access to documentation from multiple devices and remote diagnostic functions, also maintenance becomes simpler than ever before. Due to its cloud-based architecture, Ekip SmartVision works from anywhere via a smart phone, tablet, or PC.