This post provides an overview of the mechanisms available to move data from metering systems to the Wattics cloud-based dashboard.
- Are you an end customer with a pre-existing metering infrastructure and looking for a user-friendly interface to (re)-start managing energy and achieve maximum savings at minimum effort?
- Are you an energy professional or ESCo trying to find a reliable platform to manage multiple energy conservation projects and move your company ahead of competition?
- Are you a metering company looking for a modern cloud-based energy management solution to offer to your customers and beat the competition with a clear differentiator?
The Wattics cloud-based energy management platform delivers effective energy management, thanks to intuitive features tailored to real-world energy projects’ requirements.
A key element to the success of our platform in delivering actionable energy insights to our customers and partners is the ability to integrate data streams from a variety of data collection systems, files and repositories. The Wattics cloud-based platform supports a portfolio of data integration mechanisms, and ensures that all data collected at our customers’ sites is seamlessly incorporated with industry-standard communication interfaces.
YOU HAVE AN ON-SITE AUTOMATED DATA COLLECTION SYSTEM (ENERGY MONITORING SYSTEM, BMS, PLC, DCIM, ERP), AND YOU WANT THE DATA TO APPEAR AND BE MANAGEABLE WITHIN YOUR WATTICS CLOUD DASHBOARD
Integration of data from (pre-existing) energy monitoring systems, BMS, PLC or DCIM, will, in most occasions, happen via periodic push of .csv files from the system controller to our FTP servers. Most legacy system controllers support FTP Push mechanisms, making existing measurements immediately available for online analysis and reporting within our cloud dashboard, without the need for additional hardware requirements.
Step 1: Request your Wattics FTP credentials
Wattics will provide FTP credentials such as follows, which will be used to receive and store your data over time:
Host: ftp-collector.wattics.com Username: wattics_123 Password: ADE94bgK
Step 2: Configure your data collection system controller to periodically push .csv files to our FTP servers
The FTP credentials must be used to configure the built-in FTP Push mechanism of your existing system controller. System controllers’ user interfaces vary, so we can’t give you precise steps as to the FTP Push configuration. We will be happy to help you figure it out if it proves complicated.
As soon as the system controller is configured and starts uploading data to our FTP servers, let us know by emailing [email protected]. We will run our software to do a health check and make sure the data is coming in correctly.
Step 3: Provide data points’ information through the Wattics Monitoring Setup form
Next step will be for us to know what we’re getting in terms of points monitored, hierarchy between points, and units. This will allow us to process the data received via FTP, and to replicate your local monitoring set up within our online dashboard with the correct labels and organisation (e.g. we want to know that file abc.csv contains power measurements for Compressor 1, that Compressor 1 is fed from Board 1 which power measurements are in file def.csv, etc). With this information, we will be able to configure our Wattics Data Parser software to parse successive .csv files received by FTP for automated integration within our cloud platform. Please contact us to get a copy of our Wattics Monitoring Setup form.
Step 4: Receive your Wattics dashboard credentials and visualise your periodically updated data
Assuming everything is in order, we will then send you an email with log-in credentials for our cloud dashboard if you don’t already have an account with us, or we will add the new points monitored to your existing dashboard account.
Alternative for the case that your devices do not provide an FTP Push mechanism: Install our Wattics Data Collection software to access your data locally and push it to Wattics online platform
The Wattics Data Collection software will need to be installed on the system controller itself or on a machine with direct connection to the system controller, so it can access data via direct connection to its database or via industry-standard protocols:
- MySQL/MS-SQL connection (data is read from the system controller’s local SQL/MySQL database, typical for energy monitoring and BMS systems);
- Modbus RTU and TCP connection (data is read from the system controller’s internal Modbus registers, typical for meters and PLCs);
- OPC connection (data is read from the system controller’s internal OPC registers, typical for DCIMs);
- Much more…
Once read out, data is pushed to our Wattics platform via secure HTTPs communication.
YOU DON’T KNOW IF YOUR IT DEPARTMENT WILL ALLOW DATA COLLECTED ON SITE TO BE INTEGRATED TO THE WATTICS CLOUD PLATFORM
Wattics IT requirements for seamless integration of data from pre-existing data collections systems will depend on whether:
- Your data collection system is already connected to the external Internet
- Your IT department has proxy/firewall restrictions in place
In general, the IT arrangements required for data integration are as follows:
- Live Internet point for the data collection system;
- System Settings log-in credentials available for you to configure FTP Push using the provided Wattics FTP credentials;
- System Database login credentials available for use by Wattics Data Collection software to read data out;
- Authorisation to let Wattics install software on the data collection system (or onto a machine connected to the data collection system via the internal LAN);
- Configuration of the IT firewall to allow the system to send data to Wattics FTP server or Wattics HTTP interface.
We recommend that you run these IT requirements with your IT department, and we’re here to assist you should you need further information.
YOU HAVE PLENTY OF ENERGY DATA ON FILES YOU WANT TO INPUT TO YOUR WATTICS CLOUD DASHBOARD (BILL READINGS, UTILITY .CSV READINGS, MANUAL METER READINGS, ETC)
The Wattics cloud dashboard is designed to let users integrate data manually, so that historical data and readings taken by hand on-site are combined with measurements gathered through automated data collection systems.
Typically, as with all systems, power measurements must be assigned to an entity, such as a piece of equipment or a location. Say you have in your possession a .csv file that you downloaded from your Supplier’s website, which contains the Utility kWh readings of your premises for each 15mn of the past 3 years. You will want such readings to be integrated and appear under your organisation’s entity. Same if you have a record of manual meter readings taken from the water meter monitoring the supply of the kitchen area. You will want to manual readings to be integrated and appear below the kitchen entity within your Wattics dashboard.
The Wattics cloud dashboard offers two built-in tools to let users manually upload energy readings:
CSV Uploader
Create a new monitored entity within your Wattics cloud dashboard, and manually upload readings over time. You may download interval readings from your Supplier’s website or request readings directly from your territory’s metered data provider, and upload the .csv files to your cloud dashboard using the Wattics CSV Upload tool. If the procedure is repeated multiple times with overlapping data, Wattics software will automatically discard existing entries.
Manual Logger
Create a new monitored entity within your Wattics cloud dashboard, and manually add new readings over time. You may add your bill consumption every month (m3, day/night kWh, etc), or less/more frequent readings if you have on-site meters with display.
YOUR ENERGY DATA IS ALREADY AVAILABLE ONLINE
In some instances, your energy data is already available online within a 3rd party server, e.g. online data repository. If access is possible and credentials are provided (they must be requested from your service provider), Wattics will likely be able to collect data from that online server through the server’s web interface and push it to the Wattics platform for visualisation within your online cloud dashboard.
Third party systems and interfaces vary widely in nature and numbers, so we can’t guarantee that integration is possible and that we have integrated the same system in the past. We will be happy to have a look and get back to you with a quotation should a bespoke data integration software be necessary.
YOU ARE A TECHNOLOGY COMPANY AND HAVE RESOURCES TO MODIFY YOUR PROPRIETARY DATA COLLECTION SOFTWARE TO PUSH DATA TO THE WATTICS PLATFORM
Companies offering data collection systems such as meter and BMS manufacturers, and companies having been provided with customised data collection systems in the past, will have resources to adapt their software systems to interface more efficiently with our Wattics platform. Data upload via HTTP POST, typically as a form of REST calls with packets in JSON or XML representation is popular for modern real-time data acquisition and analysis.
Wattics Data Collection API provides an encrypted and secure HTTPS interface to receive data in various formats. Third party systems and interfaces vary in terms of data being transmitted, so please get in touch with us so we can work with you on technical details and define an integration plan.
YOU DON’T HAVE ANY DATA COLLECTION SYSTEM AND WANT WATTICS TO MONITOR YOUR ORGANISATION
Give us a call and tell us about your requirements. We are eager to help you manage your energy and achieve the same services and savings as our existing customers. We work with a variety of partners and offer a full range of turnkey solutions for end-users and ESCo partners, from metering equipment to online measurement & verification tools, so we are confident we can provide or refer to a solution that will suit your particular need.
WHAT’S NEXT TO GET STARTED?
Get in touch with us to discuss pricing and technical details, we’ll be happy to discuss with you subscription fees, JSON format, upload frequency, security and any other questions you may have.
