Submetering (Sub-Metering)

Submetering is an important application of energy meters for either direct billing or cost allocation. While submetering is typically used for allocating electrical energy, it is necessary to consider other metered utilities like gas and water. Carlo Gavazzi has solid solutions that work with all metered energies.

Behind the meter is everything that happens on an energy user’s side of the meter and submetering is installed to provide a granular look at energy use in a facility. When used for billing in commercial applications, a submetering system determines energy use by individual user. This is common in apartment buildings where the owner can have one utility meter and then allocates the cost based on usage among tenants who each have an individual submeter installed. This also has uses for shopping centers, transportation terminals, marinas, camp sites or other venues that have individual tenants leasing spaces or kiosks. The submetering system typically has a software component for billing and meters that meet a revenue grade approval for legal metrology.

Carlo Gavazzi has energy meters meeting the North American requirements for commercial submetering that carry approvals like Measurement Canada or built to ANSI C12.20 for revenue grade billing. One such example is the Carlo Gavazzi EM50 Power Analyzer, a perfect fit for most submetering installations. Industrial applications for submetering are similar in their application to commercial, but they are typically installed in departments, load centers, and individual machines of industrial manufacturing and assembly plants. This allows for a complete energy profile of the facility with individual cost allocations that factor into knowing the true cost of producing a product. This provides an advantage to the manufacturer, especially for extremely competitive business that is won and lost on very thin margins. Industrial applications typically do not require a billing component. Submetering greatly helps large users of energy to manage and avoid costly demand charges.

Every system needs a front-end and with Carlo Gavazzi’s UWP3.0 Universal Web Platform, up to 128 energy meters can be connected to a single device. The UWP3.0 has a built-in data logger and Web server which means that energy data can be stored and presented through a Graphical User Interface (GUI) accessed through a standard Web browser.

For today’s increasingly connected World, the UWP3.0 is also a gateway that can communicate with Building Management Systems (BMS) via BACnet. It is also an Edge Controller that can control and monitor Field Level devices like sensors and actuators while sharing data with the Cloud utilizing different FTP protocols. As a further benefit, the UWP3.0 is Microsoft Azure and Amazon AWS certified.

Carlo Gavazzi is your source for Submetering solutions.