Sep 21 2015
Remote monitoring and control has made it possible to adjust your home thermostat while traveling, set your DVR while running errands and use an app to make sure you closed the garage door.
Wake Electric's Sr. Serviceman Cory Lawrence installs Sensus' VantagePoint(TM) Lighting Control Solution at their new headquarters in Wake Forest, NC. It enables the utility to remotely monitor and control outdoor lights. (Photo: Business Wire)
The Sensus VantagePoint™ Lighting Control Solution has made it possible for Wake Electric Membership Corporation (Wake Electric) to remotely monitor and control outdoor lighting at their new headquarters in Wake Forest, North Carolina.
"With VantagePoint, we’re proactive, pinpointing problems before our customers even need to call,” said Don Bowman, manager of engineering at Wake Electric. “We can view all of our lights as well as monitor and address issues all from one stationary location.”
VantagePoint gives public service providers more control than ever before, with a lighting solution and module that fits into standard socket fixtures. The module identifies the type of light (legacy or LED) and adjusts to accommodate capabilities like flashing and dimming. Lighting, public safety and conservation can be addressed with the click of a button.
The lighting module offers users a full range of programmable control options, including dimming levels, alarm reporting for maintenance needs and lighting performance analytics. For example, utilities and other public service providers can use street and area lights to brighten public spaces or dim lights that are not needed. Then the Sensus FlexNet®communication network and lighting software lets users keep an eye on all those lights at once—from the comfort of a desk chair. With these control capabilities taking place remotely, Wake Electric can save money, conserve energy and improve customer service.
With its onboard metrology chipset, Sensus VantagePoint also helps public service providers manage power outages. Smart street and area lights can serve as bellwether meters and provide data on voltage, outages and overall power quality. The data can help Wake Electric enhance reliability by bringing power back to customers more quickly.
“These lights are a great source of information that will enable us to better monitor our coverage areas and better serve our customers,” said Bowman. “VantagePoint can immediately alert us to an outage in the network and allows us to respond quickly and notify customers that power restoration is underway.”
Smart lighting is a natural extension of Wake Electric’s ongoing partnership with Sensus for their Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), smart meters and data analytics. Since 2012, Wake Electric has used FlexNet to remotely manage their system and improve billing accuracy, system management and customer service. Lighting data is carried over the FlexNet communication system, a long-range radio network that serves as a dedicated and secure two-way communications highway and requires less infrastructure than competing solutions.