END USER: SOLASYNERGI
INDUSTRY: ENERGY
SOLUTIONS: IGNITION & CIRRUS LINK MQTT WITH SPARKPLUG B
INTEGRATION PARTNER: SARYX ENGINEERING GROUP
PROJECT SUMMARY
SolaSynergi’s solar hybrid projects are diverse and located in different areas, often involving advanced technology. In most instances, their clients lack on-site technical staff to maintain or troubleshoot these assets. This situation prompted SolaSynergi to develop a method for remote management and maintenance of the assets.
PROBLEM
Addressing the challenge of supporting clients at remote sites, where deploying permanent technical staff is unfeasible, involves overcoming their reluctance to invest in complex technology outside their expertise. The varied locations of these projects often need more reliable internet and limited bandwidth, complicating fault diagnosis, settings adjustments, and system commissioning. Communication hardware reliability and minimising data loss are crucial for effective reporting.
Despite its advantages, Thingsboard was initially abandoned due to its widget-based complexity, limitations in navigation, and the high technical demand for creating specific data displays, alongside difficulties in data querying. Additionally, safeguarding the cybersecurity of customer assets is paramount, requiring stringent protective measures.
Solution
SolaSynergi sought a cost-effective, scalable, and cloud-based hardware-agnostic system that could accept late data due to internet failures at customer sites. Their solution was to implement a system with a template feature allowing for rapid deployment across sites by substituting tags specifically for each customer, which could update autonomously across sites. Ignition emerged as a capable platform meeting all these requirements.
Solasynergi Loggers are edge devices that run a Linux-based system with an application developed by Saryx Engineering Group. They are equipped with interfaces for various technologies, including IEC68150, DNP3, Modbus RTU, Modbus TCP, and HTTP.
These devices schedule and transfer data to the server, utilising MQTT telemetry technology for reliable data delivery and store-forward capabilities in case of internet outages. Packaged into templates with Sparkplug B, data is received by the Mosquitto MQTT server, processed by the Cirrus Link MQTT engine, and then presented to the Ignition SCADA system with placeholder tags for swift site-specific screen deployment.
value & Results
SolaSynergi successfully implemented the Ignition platform to revolutionise its client site monitoring capabilities. The platform facilitates seamless monitoring across multiple sites, significantly improving navigation and data display through customisable projects and templates.
Notably, data management is streamlined, allowing for separate storage and easy access specific to each site, directly addressing initial concerns over site remoteness and technological barriers. The introduction of mobile accessibility via the Ignition mobile app further amplifies the platform’s utility, enabling on-the-go monitoring and ensuring that clients can effortlessly interact with their data anywhere, anytime.
This advancement represents a significant leap in SolaSynergi’s ability to deliver a user-friendly, reliable, and efficient monitoring service that circumvents the limitations posed by diverse and challenging project locations.
Watch the full webinar on the SolaSynergi story, click here to watch.
PROJECT SCOPE
Tags: 30073
Screens: 27 Templates, 10 different screens per client
Clients: 8
Alarms: 5316
Devices used: 8 – SolaSynergi Logger, Linux, Node-red, MQTT (sparkplug-B)
Architectures used: IIoT
Databases used: 9, PostgreSQL
Historical data logged: 2035638695, 5880
