Smarter distribution boards with Acti9 Powertag - from Schneider Electric

[@bryceonyoutube]

One of my mates works for Schneider Electric in their Energy Monitoring Services in Scotland and he monitors the energy from these devices remotely for major clients and can provide much more accurate usage to enable businesses to save money on their commercial energy bills! So it may cost a fortune to get these installed in large commercial installs but they do save clients thousands of pounds as they can use this data to dispute overcharging!

[@efixx]

Wise words Bryce - There is good opportunities for everyone in the electrical supply chain for measuring and implementing energy management.

[@paultipton743]

I can see this being a good thing in large manufacturing factories and Hotels where each room could be monitored an guests charged for how much energy they use plugging in their devices

[@mathman0101]

Power usage is one example but power quality analysis is even more significant to dig deeper on power quality analysis, leakage currents, transients, swells, sags and impacts of that on operational efficiency of equipment. It’s all about the mathematics of signal extraction and Analysis. The challenges is to see these voltage current, power factor signals at shorter and shorter signal time periods and here I am talking about nano-second level approaching speed of light. It’s even more of a big deal in communication and data networks where signal corruption can be very costly indeed.

[@philipmoore591]

This is going down the route of Building Energy Management Systems. I like it at a specific circuit level and it clearly has a use on sites that do not have an existing BEMS

[@GeeTheBuilder]

Before I say what I say, I love stuff like this. I’m a geek who has written 100’s of thousands of lines of real-time software in my career. And electrical/electronic stuff like this is right up my street. But…. This is all part of this pervasive push by governments that “energy” is limited and a scarce resource. IT IS NOT!! It’s 2022 and (electrical) energy should be so cheap as to not need metering. Energy is abundant in the universe and we have the tech in 2022 to producing (almost) limitless energy for everyone. People should be using MORE energy, not less. Politicians are the problem. They have failed to invest in electrical energy production for decades and decades. Rant over 😁

[@haroon420]

We can make limitless energy by harvesting humans. They showed how it’s done in the Matrix….🤦🏽‍♂️

[@9plusinstalaciones]

Interesting System, i'm moving over more and more to Schneider, used their protections since they absorbed Merlin Gerin, now i'm looking at their boards, the Pragma range is awesome for a more commercial environment, and the new Schneider New Unica Studio are really nice and very modern.

[@efixx]

Pragma range - what wizardry is this you have overseas?

[@9plusinstalaciones]

@@efixx Good morning, I'll send you a link to your Instagram page.

[@stephenharrison7479]

Hope we get to see something similar power monitoring wise in domestic RCBO's soon (esp. the AFDD versions, might help justify the cost a bit). Surely they already have CT's and micro-controllers built in, just add a bit of BLE magic and you're away....

[@efixx]

Watch this space 😉

[@dantheman22002]

Great Video as always. Looks like a awesome little product, Had the perfect place for those. In a large warehouse, could have used them to control the switching the lights. could have monitored the energy consumption. and when not in use have them switched off. would be good if Schneider created some training material on there website for designers.

[@efixx]

Great application - we think the training exists somewhere - we will try to dig out a link.

[@seandempsey7351]

All very well until some one nicks your laptop or the hard drive becomes corrupt or some berk knocks your cup of coffee over your lap top . Interesting bit of kit though Ok for large commercial installations , can’t see it being much use in domestic installations. Great video very interesting as always Guy’s 👍👍👍👍❤️

[@johnwaby4321]

Looks very impressive 👍👍

[@RichardArblaster]

Great looking system 😎

[@efixx]

Welcome back Richard

[@RichardArblaster]

@efixx Thank you ❤️

[@joekeo318]

Very good infomation thanks. I just installed a smart life smart plug for the bedroom tv pc etc its app does energy managment thing with charts and on off timers in app also. If I nod off at night Just connect to WiFi and Google if you like also. 👍

[@efixx]

Thanks for sharing

[@switchgearsknowledge8669]

Great we r using in Dubai

[@huberthirwa8738]

Keep it up guys Helpfull review

[@votown1003]

Can you set a timer for the contactor to be on and off through the app?

[@eoincampbell3135]

You mentioned this can be incorporated into a EMS/BMS system, have you got more info on this and how this interfaces with those systems. Can I just connect this to my EMS system and away we go? Thanks!

[@LewisSmallwood]

I know it's an old one, but do these Acti9 PowerTags fit the newer Easy9 RCBO range?

[@Dog-whisperer7494]

Would this not be for specialist electricians to install? Not your every day spark and what about testing and inspection? No point in a domestic installation . Another great video from the eFix team

[@efixx]

It’s aimed at larger installs and a good opportunity to add some specialism to an electrical business.

[@mathman0101]

@@efixx it will feed back to residential settings it will be needed as when we move to EV, island mode and proliferation of smart devices.

[@gregw7429]

Epic! Thanks 😊

[@jamesmoon5632]

Looks good!! Only issue would be price and will this software and hardware be available in 5/10 years if not then not very good eco wise..

[@sygad1]

would love to see a dosmetic version of this

[@kiers1970]

Me too but I'm lysdexic.

[@davidsharp9166]

Could be interesting. But only use I can see is very large domestic use and Commercial. Possibly for home automation if they can be controlled via a universal standard Only question I have is what happens on a network loss?

[@efixx]

The system would usually be feeding in to a top level BMS system which would gather the data. Good question on the data network loss - we will explore that.

[@tomcardale5596]

Shame they're not MID compliant so you can't use them for billing purposes.

[@haroon420]

Can this be used in residential environments? Is it worth it? I recently got a new Hager consumer board installed in my home, with all the circuits on Hager RCBOs. Can this work?

[@ELECTRICLIFE4U]

👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@Joe-nf5ow]

great video sir! can i ask , did the power tag need wifi to be connected? and what is the range? thank you very much

[@efixx]

The tabs connect wirelessly to the concentrator which has a wired network connection.

[@philedwards4505]

No issues with CAT5/6 in the distribution board ?

[@Thats_Mr_Random_Person_to_you]

Yh I was thinking mainly about the shielding and screening for the Ethernet. I suppose if careful you could ensure the cable is not routed near AC, and you use a fully sheilded S/FTP cat6 with a ferrite bead or two for additional screening.

[@efixx]

Good question Phil - you would need to specify a data cable rated to the same voltage as the panel > 400v - something like this - lapplimited.lappgroup.com/products/online-catalogue/data-communication-systems-for-ethernet-technology/industrial-ethernet-cat5-5e/cables-for-fixed-installation/etherline-cat5e.html?format=pdf

[@efixx]

Interference shouldn’t be a huge issue Owen. Mainly because data rates are low as the devices don’t continuously send energy data they poll every 30 seconds.

[@Thats_Mr_Random_Person_to_you]

@@efixx also just thinking induced transients, that said ETH is galvanically isolated with magentics inside the switch gear so that should all be ok. Probably still a 'best practice' to use a high grade a cat5/6 cable as possible (shielding wise) in a dense CU. But as you say, low polling data rate does give a large scope for getting away with less at a pinch. Useful product for those environments that would benefit from this (heck I'm just a tech nerd 🤓 so would - given an unlimited budget! - have it in my house if I could!!!!!)

[@nickbuckle646]

Interesting presentation. What do you guys think of the trend for trying to make 3 phase Distribution Boards obsessively neat by cable tieing the Phase, Neutral and Earth conductors tight in their respective bunches. I was thinking heat build up could be a problem. I am coming across it more and more when making alterations which can be a real pain having to cut all the ties to find a core buried in the mass.

[@brianwood5220]

Looks great.But, does the cost of installing this system not out-way the potential savings? Thanks for the demo as always.

[@efixx]

Thanks, Brian - You would be amazed at how much money can be saved by just monitoring and targeting small incremental improvements in energy efficiency. Doing week to week or month to month comparisons can identify kit which is left, misbehaving or needs replacement. I once worked in a factory with lots of clean rooms. By monitoring the power you could tell when the air filters needed changing - *Gordon.

[@brianwood5220]

@@efixx Thanks Gordon, i never imagined it could be such great amounts saved. Plus give you information indicating when things like a filter needs changing. It may well be worth the cost of install. But you have to be talking big money to cover a site with multiple DB's. I guess the savings must be worth it though and as a nation we are doing our best to reduce energy use and cut emissions. Well done Schneider.

[@efixx]

These tags are easy to fit so you may selectively deploy them in a focussed area and then move them once the project is complete.

[@lewisbarlow2088]

Is there a way of getting these devices to talk to a indusoft scada package ?

[@efixx]

The PowerTag link supports modbus commands so thus should enable them to talk to Scada systems.

[@kiers1970]

I had to buy a schneider mcb today. 20 sheets with the VAT....

[@paultipton743]

I enquired about a square D Qoe type B mcb today as I had one fail which Schneider took over, I was quoted £290

[@fajarsetyawan8890]

great video sir,,,but how to record the energy using powertag web?

[@pauliesmagic]

Hi guys what is the model number of the link ??

[@villehietala9677]

So, Schneider has come up with a product line that does pretty much exactly the same thing as Chinese "smart-sockets". And its only 30 times more expensive.

[@efixx]

We haven’t seen a Chinese smart socket which will fit directly to a 63A four pole MCB.

[@ColinRichardson]

I am not sure about that quote. Just because someone can measure to 14 inches, doesn't mean some people can manage it. ;-)