Equipment, devices, and gateways

[Web app and mobile app]

Equipment, panelboards, and devices are used to represent your energy networks in the Energy Hub organization model. Gateways connect the real-world monitoring devices and equipment in your facility to Energy Hub.

Equipment in Energy Hub represents a real-world piece of equipment that is part of the electrical infrastructure of your facility. Equipment can be connected or non-connected. Connected equipment has communication capabilities and can be accessed directly by Energy Hub to retrieve information. Non-connected equipment needs external monitoring devices to provide the measurement data needed by Energy Hub. Examples of equipment include transformers, switchgear, breakers, uninterruptible power sources, motors, and motor drives.

A panelboard in Energy Hub represents a real-world electrical enclosure in your facility that divides a power feed into circuits with protective fuses and circuit breakers. Energy Hub automatically creates panelboards when you add a new gateway, such as Site Server or Panel Server, based on the device configuration of the gateway. You can also create panelboards manually.

Panelboards have linked devices that monitor the supply and load circuits of the panelboard. You can manually link devices or rearrange devices that have been linked automatically. For Energy Hub to interpret the measurement data for a panelboard correctly, you need to assign the context for the linked devices as either main (incoming) devices or feeder (outgoing) devices.

NOTES:
  • You can use panelboards for monitoring water and gas. Just add water or gas monitoring devices to a panelboard and assign each a context of mains (incoming) or feeder (outgoing). To track unmetered water and gas consumption, add one or more virtual devices to the panelboard.
  • You can add a device to only one panelboard. This means the same device cannot be used as a feeder (outgoing) for one panelboard and as a mains (incoming) for another.

A device in Energy Hub represents a real-world monitoring device that provides measurement data for electricity, water, or gas consumption and supply in your facility. Devices can be discrete, such as power or water meters, or they can be integrated into equipment. For a list of supported devices in Energy Hub, see Device and gateway support.

NOTES:
  • It can take 15 - 20 minutes after connecting a new device to a gateway until device data is available in Energy Hub.
  • Energy Hub only provides a subset of all the measurements that are available on a monitoring device.

In Energy Hub, a virtual device is a software component that can monitor the unmetered load for a panelboard. Unmetered load is the difference between the incoming energy and the metered outgoing energy for a panelboard (mains – feeders). You can add one or more virtual devices to a panelboard and allocate a percentage of the unmetered load to them. To identify the type of load that is represented by a virtual device, you assign an energy usage type to the virtual device. The workflow for assigning an energy usage type to a virtual device is the same as for a physical device. For example, you could assign a usage type of Lighting (interior) to a virtual device to represent an unmetered lighting load. Virtual devices provide energy and demand but no voltage, current, status, or other measurements.

NOTES:
  • To accurately identify the unmetered load for a panelboard, all incoming supplies must be monitored and designated as main (incoming) devices.
  • A virtual device calculates unmetered loads using available incomer and feeder data. If data for an incomer or feeder is missing, such as due to communication loss, that incomer or feeder is excluded from the calculation. At least one incomer must have data for the virtual device to perform its calculations.
  • You can use virtual devices to monitor water and gas by adding one or more virtual devices to a water or gas monitoring panelboard.

A gateway connects your facility's equipment and monitoring devices to Energy Hub. It is a communication device that sends configuration and measurement data from these devices to Energy Hub. Gateways are installed locally and connect to monitoring devices via communication networks, while accessing Energy Hub through internet-connected IT networks.

Configuration data

When a gateway is first added to Energy Hub, device information such as the device name and energy usage types is imported. Any changes made to this information on the gateway afterward will not be updated in Energy Hub. Similarly, when a monitoring device is added to a gateway for the first time, its configuration is imported, but later changes will not be reflected in Energy Hub. If a device is removed from a gateway, it will not be deleted in Energy Hub because historical data for the device is stored. Additionally, no configuration information is sent from Energy Hub to the gateway.

Measurement data

Gateways like Panel Server Advanced (PAS800) or Panel Server Universal (PAS600) can log measurement data locally, creating a buffer if they get disconnected from Energy Hub. When the connection is restored, the buffered data is sent to Energy Hub. The maximum buffering period depends on the number of connected devices and the measurements logged for each device. For example, a PAS800 system with 30 devices logging 160 measurements per device every 10 minutes can buffer data for nearly 3 years.

NOTE: For data recorded before the gateway was connected, Energy Hub uploads up to one month (for PAS600) or three months (for PAS800) of historical data. This feature is available for Panel Servers with firmware version 1.9 or higher. Older versions will not upload any pre-existing historical data when connected to Energy Hub.

For a list of supported gateways in Energy Hub, see Device and gateway support.

You can perform the following configuration and management tasks:

Equipment

  • Add equipment
  • Edit equipment

Panelboards

  • Add panelboards
  • Edit panelboards
  • Delete panelboards
  • Assign device context for panelboards
  • Unassign device context for panelboards

Devices

  • Edit devices

Virtual devices

  • Add virtual devices
  • Edit virtual devices
  • Delete virtual devices
  • View virtual device details

Gateways

  • Add gateways
  • Edit gateways
  • Delete gateways

For step-by-step instructions on configuring and managing equipment, devices, and gateways, see organization model tasks.