Echelon Corp. has added new products to its grid modernization portfolio designed specifically for delta-wired distribution networks. Echelon now has a full suite of products available for utilities, in Norway and other countries, that offers more deployment options and supports governmental mandates for smart grids and smart metering. These new Echelon devices are based on the Open Smart Grid Protocol (OSGP), which is one of the leading open-standard protocol for smart grids in Europe.
Echelon's open-standard and multi-use smart grid products for delta networks, which deliver Networked Energy Services (NES) capabilities, now include:
- MTR 1020 Delta Single Phase Smart Meter/Sensor
- MTR 3020 Delta Poly Phase Smart Meter/Sensor
- MTR 3520 Delta CT Smart Meter/Sensor
- DCN 1120/1220 Delta Data Concentrator
One of the first utilities to use these products will be Fortum Norway. As previously announced, Fortum will be deploying Echelon's smart metering system for its 100,000 electricity customers in Norway.
The new Echelon products build on features of the company's existing NES products, but developed and tuned precisely for the unique needs of a delta distribution network. They include features such as voltage monitoring; a dual-disconnect switch for single-phase meters; support for a ground-fault-detection alarm feature; support for billable load profiles; expanded M-Bus reads; and the ability to identify broken medium voltage lines and zero-fault conditions. The new Echelon smart meters offer a variety of PLC and RF-based home area network (HAN) technologies, which are designed to support the Smart Energy Profile 2.0 standard for in-home devices and applications.
As with all NES products, these smart meters and data concentrators are all compliant with OSGP, which offers utilities interoperability along with unrivaled reliability and availability greater than 99.7%. The new products further enhance Echelon's market-leading portfolio, which includes a full range of Echelon smart meters, HAN communication options, data concentrators and system software, in addition to a broad range of partner-developed devices and applications that plug into the Echelon Grid Modernization infrastructure and architecture.
