IIoT & Remote Communications

Powering Cloud Connections for Intelligent Devices 

For people who aren't immersed in technology trends, IIoT might be an unfamiliar term. What exactly is IIoT and why is it important? Experts predict that...

• IIoT will become a major economic driver
• IIoT will change the way products are designed, produced and maintained
• IIoT will create new services, and change how they are delivered
• IIoT will improve operational efficiency and productivity across countless industries
• IIoT is already at work, already revealing its future potential

To begin, IoT is the Internet of Things – smart devices with cloud-connected applications that largely benefit people's day-to-day lives. It is the smart phone that allows you to control your home thermostat while you are away.

IIoT is specifically the Industrial Internet of Things. IIoT combines technology, connectivity, automation and collected data from sensor embedded devices to advance science, technology and industry. The benefit is two-fold: data and automation.

Studying the Data

In the IIoT, data captured from connected industrial devices are collected and analyzed. Researchers and engineers can use the data to develop models to predict outcomes: improving materials and product design, streamlining procedures and optimizing delivery of products and services in ways we have not yet imagined.

Potential for Predicting Outcomes

Equipment manufacturers can study material failures and adjust maintenance schedules. Remote operations in energy, agriculture, aviation and ground transportation will improve efficiency, safety and production. Medical research will improve lives based on real-time data. Environmental changes can be accurately tracked. Aging buildings, bridges and infrastructure can be monitored for structural integrity.

Remote Connectivity and IIoT

Connectivity is integral to IIoT – through both wired and wireless communications. Industrial devices in plant settings are hard-wired for power and communications. But countless devices operate outside of hard-wired networks via radio, microwave, cellular, mesh network and satellite. They function as mobile or remote devices and are connected wirelessly. As more connected devices are deployed remotely, the demand for wireless communications – voice, data, and broadband – increases.

Powering Communications in Remote Areas

Regardless of the communications protocol for the remote digital network, access to reliable power is still a factor and remains critical. Electric utility providers are extending service farther out, but bringing power all the way to the field site is expensive.

What Are Your Options?

A solar power system is a cost effective reliable solution, and requires little-to-no maintenance. Partnering with communication providers, Solarcraft offers a range of solutions, from a small solar power system to integrating communications and power into a single unitized site structure, with enclosure, solar array, batteries, and antenna mast assembled into a single stand-alone unit.

Sites serviced by electric utilities require back-up power for redundancy and continuous operation. In this situation, Solarcraft builds a unitized system for the equipment: a back-up power system, which can be integrated with communication equipment and the site structure for a single easy to deploy unit.

Hybrid systems using solar and a second source of power, such as a smart generator, are a solution for sites where solar alone is not sufficient year-round.

Unitized and Re-deployable

Systems can be housed in walk-in enclosures, shelters, or enclosures, mounted to steel skid bases and set on concrete ballast blocks in the field, requiring no ground penetration. Complete integrated systems, sized properly for the loads and duty cycles they support, will last for years with little or no maintenance, except routine battery replacement. If the site is moved or decommissioned, the equipment is easily picked up and used elsewhere.

Solarcraft and IIoT

Powering the devices, as well as the communication networks that connect them to the Internet, is where we fit into the scope of IIoT. Solarcraft has been designing and building stand-alone power systems for over 20 years. Regardless of the mode of communications, Solarcraft can design and build a long lasting reliable power system to keep your systems connected.