TBox remote telemetry units (RTU) from Ovarro support CO2 reductions in Australian schools
The Australian Government has introduced new measures to educate the nation’s students about green initiatives. By providing schools with grants for photovoltaic (PV) systems, solar hot water systems and rainwater storage, the government hopes to make environmental responsibility a key part of education and early years’ learning. Here, Matthew Hawkridge, chief technology officer at Ovarro, explains how this initiative is helping Australia deliver 300,000 tonnes of CO2 abatement and why remote telemetry units (RTUs) are crucial to making it happen.
The government’s Solar for Schools programme is funding the installation of solar panels in schools primarily for education purposes. The solar systems are connected to each school’s main grid, to provide green power and reduce the building’s carbon footprint for a positive effect on the environment.
In addition, the systems will be connected to a cloud-based monitoring system. This means data from the solar panels can be accessed by students and local communities. Remote telemetry units (RTUs) will play a crucial role here because they are flexible and are designed to collect data from multiple sources and share that data with several recipients.
The Solar for Schools programme has various requirements for the data. First, it will be used by students to help learn how solar panels supply their energy needs, even on cloudy days. Second, there will be the option for local communities to engage in the learning experience too and discover the effectiveness of solar panels. Third, the schools need to monitor the continual safe operation of the equipment. Lastly, the government will use the data to track the resulting CO2 reductions.
To satisfy all these demands, TBox RTUs from Ovarro were chosen to gather the data. The TBox is a complete supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system in a single site controller. It is ideal for collating data from many sources, analysing the available information and reporting results to various recipients in multiple formats.
The ability of TBox RTUs to satisfy different end users is a key reason why it was chosen for the Solar for Schools project. Users of the system will require different data sets, and for these to be presented in different ways.
The TBox also offers ease-of-use. Novice users — such as students — can securely access data relating to the real-time monitoring and control of the schools’ solar systems. Meanwhile, stakeholders can use the RTUs for logging, communication, alarming inputs/outputs (I/Os) and presenting the data to others. So far, Ovarro’s TBox RTUs have been installed at 200 sites as approved data collection devices for the Solar for Schools programme.
By using the technology, students can immerse themselves in the power of green technologies including solar. The Australian Government, meanwhile, can ensure environmental responsibility stays at the heart of its curriculum.
To learn more about how Ovarro’s TBox RTUs support remote automation and monitoring of critical assets, visit its website: https://ovarro.com/en/europe/solutions/monitoring–control-devices/rtus/tbox
