Palace Group

Thought Leadership » Energy in Buildings

Energy Saving Solutions

A cost-effective way in achieving optimal energy consumption in Green Buildings, in addition to a renewable energy component that would contribute to savings, is effective energy consumption management.  The current, and generally accepted, way ahead in addressing this requirement lies in the effective monitoring and control of electricity consumption that is achieved by dedicated systems meeting this need, thereby necessitating the implementation of appropriate intelligent infrastructure.  Included in our portfolio of technologies we have developed that are dedicated to optimal energy use in buildings are the essential components that form part of this infrastructure.  Moreover, our essential offerings effectively overlap with our Solar Water Heating technology, thereby ensuring a fully integrated, reliable, cost-effective and consistent holistic solution for Green Building needs.

Smart Metering

Smart metering is traditionally used in monitoring and controlling electricity consumption on an intelligent basis, and would therefore be seen as an intelligent system.  This dispenses with the need of traditionally conventional electricity metering being prone to inaccuracies and inconsistencies.  Also, due to the absence of automation in traditional metering, use of man-hours in collating consumption readings by end-consumers would be required.  An automated and smart system of greatly improved accuracy, in addition to playing a central role in cost-effective energy consumption, also provides an effective platform for security of supply.  Furthermore, it eliminates the problem of disputes, thereby reducing tenant-owner frustrations.  By extension, the interests of both tenants and property owners would be protected given that tenants would know in advance the amount of electricity that would need to be purchased by pre-payment method, and that property owners would save on having to amortise on higher rental advertising costs attributed to higher tenant turnover.  Lastly, a controlled pre-paid consumption of electricity ensures conservation of energy use on the part of the tenant.

Smart Metering Network Components

There is need for the implementation of core Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI).  The function of this infrastructure, in monitoring and control via a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) communications network, addresses the energy purchases made by end-consumers on a real-time basis that are credited to their respective meters, and also addresses on a real-time basis among other, important issues of the agreed basis of consumption by each consumer (whether pre-paid or post-paid), and anti-tampering of supplies. The chief components that communicate via the GPRS network include cell concentrators, Customer Care peripherals, Central Server, and manned or unmanned (automated) electricity vending machines.  In a particular building of interest, a single cell concentrator would be installed that distributes the communication control signals to each point of consumption, via the respective power cables supplying each tenant unit.  This form of communication via the electricity supply cables is known as Power Line Communication (PLC), and the cell concentrator, communicating via a modem to the GPRS network, also converts the signals to PLC protocol.

Solar Water Heating

Solar water Heaters uses the sun’s energy for water heating, and thus replaces the inefficient electric geysers and reduces the energy bills in buildings/homes. Several different configurations exist, from direct to indirect systems, thermo syphon and split-active systems. A best-fit solution per job is selected and implemented, based on criteria such as the location of the units, size, water quality, and more. Further to offering SWH, we have developed a state-of-the-art measurement system to measure the amount of energy harvested from the sun, and used for heating water. This is then accumulated and reported on a regular basis. This enables the sales of the saved energy and carbon credits and provides a source of income.

By a Palace Group engineer

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