The immense importance of electricity in manufacturing and commercial processes, combined with its increasingly volatile prices, means that to gain insights into energy consumption more than relying solely on a building's overall electricity meter readings or even periodic manual readings of individual internal meters is required. GridMate and GridLink devices offer solutions for automatic, remote, and frequent readings of electricity consumption and monitoring many other related power grid parameters.
Although these two devices' basic functionality and applications are very similar, each is optimised for its purpose with corresponding advantages.
The primary application of GridMate (see image 1) is the detailed monitoring of individual electricity consumers or sub-circuits.
In industrial and commercial facilities, there is often a need to monitor a large number of individual electricity consumers closely. Whether it is multiple high-power compressors in a factory, individual floors or even rooms in a hotel, servers in a data center, or countless other examples, valuable insights can be gained from monitoring these electricity consumptions separately rather than relying on the building's overall electricity meter.
GridMate allows this data to be read remotely and transmitted to a centralised repository every 5 minutes for further analysis. The device ensures this data transmission using the industry-standard LoRaWAN network. This low-frequency radio data transmission network uses a specialised protocol that provides a long transmission distance and resistance to interference. Thus, it is possible to avoid the unnecessary costs of installing cables for meter readings while ensuring data collection from a large area or in an environment complicated by radio communications.
A LoRaWAN network can be easily set up by installing LoRaWAN gateways. Although similar in size and installation complexity to a regular WiFi router, these devices provide much better signal transmission distance and stability than 2.4GHz and higher-frequency wireless networks. Such a LoRaWAN network created in a facility allows data collection from various other LoRaWAN sensors without additional costs.
GridMate devices are suitable for high installation density due to their economic costs and compact size - they are only 22.5mm wide and mount on a standard DIN rail, making it easy to install many measuring points.
GridLink's advantage (see image 2) is its more detailed insight into the power grid and high time resolution.
In cases where GridMate’s 5-minute data upload frequency is insufficient, the GridLink has the data upload frequency of 5 seconds. Such frequent measurements can monitor changes in consumption for highly dynamic loads and power quality parameters, such as voltage fluctuations or current peaks.
This power grid quality monitoring functionality is complemented by GridLink's more detailed measurements of voltage level fluctuations, showing short overvoltage periods and voltage dips. Detailed insights into current disturbances are also possible with the total harmonic distortion (THD) measurement. THD allows capturing current components not adequately represented by the classical power factor measurement, as these current components do not correspond to the fundamental frequency of the alternating current but are formed by higher harmonic frequencies.
Regarding installation, although the GridLink device is significantly larger than GridMate, its casing has an IP65 protection rating, allowing it to be installed unprotected, including outdoors.
Each GridLink device contains a built-in mobile internet modem with its SIM card to ensure the transmission of frequent measurements. Thus, high-volume wireless data transmission is possible without the need to install a LoRaWAN gateway, but the costs are higher than for the GridMate solution.
Both GridMate and GridLink provide accurate and regular data on electricity consumption, which is essential in industrial and commercial facilities where it is necessary to monitor individual electricity consumers. GridMate is suitable for economical and dense installations, while GridLink provides higher data accuracy and more detailed power grid quality measurements.
If you are interested in installing our products and want to optimise your company's electricity consumption, contact us by phone (+371 26 451 114) or email (info@advangrid.com). We will be happy to assist you!
The text was written by Viesturs Siliņš
