Posts in category: Energy

Background:

In Cameroon, Africa, the base stations for its cellular network are partially fed by solar energy systems, particularly in areas that are difficult to access.

In 2011 RealiteQ provided systems for remote monitoring and control of cellular systems to South African company MTN, which is also active in Cameroon.

Project Description:

The project included 7 stations throughout Cameroon. Each station is divided into a number of solar arrays, each such array being controlled by a separate designated charging controller, with up to 10 controllers per station.

Each of them was connected, for station management technical reasons, each controller defined as being independent on the network, although they were all served by a single ICEX unit. In each ICEX, separate ports and separate drivers were defined for each controller, each ICEX serving five controllers.
The ICEX unit is used not just to coordinate communications, but also as a system gateway, with significant monetary savings in the initial investment.

Unique Capabilities:

The distinction of the RealiteQ solution is that it provides maintenance personnel with remote access to systems in out-of-the-way locations that are difficult to access physically. Each ICEX unit has the ability to serve a number of controllers, and the ICEX units serve both as a communications coordinators and as gateways. They work at high temperatures. Data is shared between network operators and the solar energy systems’ maintenance companies. In addition to remote monitoring, the interface was also used for calibrating the system and changing parameters.

Summary and Results:

The system operated under extreme climate and physical conditions, at very distant sites that require complex technological capabilities, all with relatively low investment (CAPEX) and off-site service (SaaS – Software as a service) that completely relieved the cellular company of the issue of maintenance.

Background:

The German company TBS is a virtual provider of energy that connects various generators throughout Germany to local power grids on the basis of designated contracts.

In order to operate these systems, the company needed real-time monitoring and control systems that enable it to send accurate data at predefined times (every minute, during the first ten seconds of the minute) to the purchasing electric company.

In the initial stage, Exor purchased the hardware from RealiteQ and supplied it to the customer, while TSB purchasing the service and software directly from RealiteQ.

Project Description:

In 2007 RealiteQ was asked to provide a solution to TSB, which at that time was entering the field of virtual power plants, and sought an advanced system for real-time monitoring and control.

The hardware was installed on the various generators and the software interfaced with the generator’s IO models, as well as through the RealiteQ portal and using Reali OPC software (OPC Server program) to their management software, which is connected to the power companies’ centers to which the electricity was provided from the generators.

Unique Capabilities:

The distinction of RealiteQ’s solution was its interface with the generator systems via concurrent local and IO communications, connection to external management software via the OPC interface.

This project showcased RealiteQ’s ability to broadcast data in real time, reliably, consistently and with high determination and precision (always in the first 10 seconds of each operating minute) – from a number of different sites at the same time, and through various cellular providers.

Summary and Results:

The system has been operating successfully for a decade, and at its height handled dozens of sites at the same time, depending on how many contracts and active generators TBS had