Analytical Instrumentation & Environmental Monitoring


Intelligent energy management solution

May 2010 Analytical Instrumentation & Environmental Monitoring

Schneider Electric has announced the début of its EcoStruxure solution architecture, an approach which unites its expertise in power, data centres, process and machines, building control and physical security to enable intelligent energy management solutions for customers seeking to optimise energy efficiencies across multiple domains of their business.

“Uncoordinated component-level attempts to solve energy management issues by different corporate functions without a comprehensive plan can inhibit a company’s ability to meet efficiency goals,” says Schneider Electric South Africa’s Derain Pillay. “By providing our customers with clear and comprehensive reference architectures across key environments and applications, we intend to reduce inefficiencies and increase a company’s ability to make invisible energy waste both visible and actionable.”

Capacity constraints, efficiency losses due to poor system design, lack of standardisation, low adoption of renewable energy and implementation conflicts between broad and local energy policies are some of the factors that contribute to the ongoing energy obstacles that companies face. With EcoStruxure, Schneider Electric is able to leverage its competencies to deliver solutions at all levels of energy utilisation.

EcoStruxure – the two main principles

Firstly, EcoStruxure is based on a comprehensive portfolio of purpose specific applications in five domains of expertise that are essential to solve the energy equation:

1. Power – complete power management solutions for facilities, plant and large site operations that enable efficient, safe and reliable electrical distribution.

2. Data centres – APC by Schneider Electric’s InfraStruXure architecture for data centres uses a modular, scalable approach to optimise power and cooling utilisation and mitigate inefficiencies from overbuilding.

3. Process and Machines – automation solutions dedicated to industrial and infrastructure companies or machine builders which focus on flexibility, scalability, performance and ease of use.

4. Building Control – management solutions that focus on reducing installation and operational costs while enhancing end-users comfort through real-time temperature, lighting and shutter control.

5. Physical Security – architectures include access control, intrusion detection and video surveillance to minimise costs and efficiency while providing comprehensive risk analysis.

Secondly, EcoStruxure is able to connect these five domains of expertise within an open and flexible technology ecosystem that relies on the use of IP and web services, allowing purpose specific applications to connect whenever needed, at the right level.

According to Pillay, Schneider Electric’s vision for EcoStruxure is simple – develop and deploy an integrated architecture that ties together its five key domains of expertise to make energy safe, reliable, efficient, productive and green. “What customers need are the connecting solutions that create an intelligent energy management system across all application areas – Schneider is building that architecture.”

With EcoStruxure, businesses can anticipate better results and improvements in operations through systematic energy visibility and real-time control of any energy usage. It is also possible, for example, to embed video surveillance in applications, to enhance safety while cutting operating costs. Resource wastage of all forms – from electricity and water to mechanical and human – can be captured and mitigated to achieve improved efficiency.

For more information contact Isabel Mwale, Schneider Electric, +27 (0)11 254 6400, [email protected], www.schneider-electric.co.za



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