Quick and Reliable Connectivity for Solar Power Applications
MultiTech Cellular Routers
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Overview
Solar power generation is emerging as a competitive renewable energy resource. As such, service providers are looking to monitor, measure and control remote residential solar energy systems and provide homeowners access to updated systems and payback information.
Business Drivers
Solar energy generation information is needed to reconcile energy sold back to utility companies to ensure ROI. Service providers are presenting analytics to homeowners to support solar energy investment and pay back.
Service providers require a reliable, low-cost means of accessing remote equipment to determine the amount of energy being sold to utility companies and provide homeowners analytics to support their return on investment.
Technical Challenges
- Solar panel control units require remote connectivity.
- Homeowner-controlled internet routers are difficult to access, unreliable, or simply not available.
- Traditional analog telephone lines cannot be relied upon for data access and are not universally available.
- Embedded cellular modules are not practical given the time and investment required.
- Homeowners’ security concerns regarding providing access to their home router.
Solution
MultiTech provides internet connectivity via cellular communications and does not use PSTN/POTS lines. MultiTech’s MultiConnect® rCell 100 Series is carrier approved and uses rugged, SAE tested housing. MultiTech’s solution does not require the homeowner to supply any security passwords or allow access to their home network. It is completely independent of the homeowners’ network.
Applications
The MultiConnect rCell 100 Series of cellular routers are used in a wide variety of applications such as solar monitoring, digital signage, smart vending, smart energy or home medical monitoring. Because the routers are certified and carrier approved, customers are able to quickly deploy cellular connectivity to realize new revenue streams, Opex reduction or improved service offering.
Security
The MultiConnect rCell 100 Series of cellular routers use IPSec industry standard data encryption to provide high performance, secure LAN-to-LAN VPN connections with 3DES or AES encryption using IKE and PSK key management. Support for five concurrent VPN tunnels.
MultiTech’s MultiConnect® rCell 100 Series Cellular Routers
The MultiConnect rCell 100 Series of cellular routers are used in a wide variety of applications such as solar monitoring, digital signage, smart vending, smart energy or home medical monitoring. Because the routers are certified and carrier approved, customers are able to quickly deploy cellular connectivity to realize new revenue streams, Opex reduction or improved service offering.
Wi-Fi/Bluetooth Specifications
The Wi-Fi interface can be set up in 802.11 b\g\n Access Point (AP) or client mode. In AP mode, the router can support up to 5 client connections. The Bluetooth serial interface allows you to set up a transparent data pipe from a Bluetooth device to a remote server. The router can be configured using TCP or UDP protocols and supports client and server modes giving you the flexibility you need for your particular application. RFCOM and SPP profile support. Contact MultiTech about additional Bluetooth profile support today.
We are extremely proud to have been chosen by the UN and to contribute to their efforts in securing access to drinking water for vulnerable populations. Potable water is already a limited and critical resource, and it is a huge responsibility for us to enable a solution to manage this resource. Thanks to our partnership with MultiTech and TTI, our replicable solution is reliable and secure. Greencityzen’s ambition is to make a significant contribution towards the UN’s target of providing clean water to 2 billion people by 2028 said Francois Harmon, President of Greencityzen.
Wi-Fi
- 802.11 b\g\n (1×1)
- WEP, WPA, and WPA2 support
- 65 Mbps maximum theoretical throughput
Bluetooth
- Version 2.1+EDR
- Power Class 1.5
M2M Focused Software Features
- Remote device management simplifies and scales the management of geographically dispersed devices. Monitor, upgrade and configure devices from a single location resulting in lower total cost of ownership and increased operational efficiency.
- Persistent connectivity options that automatically manage the cellular connection, so the connection is available when it’s needed most • DDNS support for inbound connectivity.
- Flexible Serial-to-IP configurations with client and server modes to support any communication architecture.
- Flexible GPS configuration allows GPS data to be sent serially or via TCP/UDP protocols in client or server modes.
- API (RESTful JSON over HTTPs) for managing all configurations and features of the device enabling integration into external applications.
