4 – Preparing your installation (in Retail Stores)

 
As this stage the PO has been received and works can be conducted. You must now aim at a quick meter installation with no surprises or delay.

This fourth post provides the checklist of what must happen before the meter(s) are installed.

1 – Gathering information for your project proposal
2 – Preparing your project proposal
3 – Preparing your quote
4 – Preparing your installation
5 – How to install your metering equipment

1. Get the MCB(s) installed for your meter(s) supply

Most 3-phase electrical meters must be supplied from a Type C 6AMP 3P MCB, possibly wired behind a 3P isolator, to supply the meter with power and voltage references. Neutral and Ground lines are generally needed depending on the electrical system (Wye/Delta).

Please note that the MCB must be fed from the same transformer as the circuits that will be monitored by the meter. This is to ensure that the correct voltage reference is used with the current measurements.

It is important that the contracted electrician get the MCB wired outside hours before the installation date, as its wiring may require the distribution board to be shut down for a few minutes. If the distribution board cannot be shut down at installation date then the installation may need to be postponed.

2. Get your Internet points deployed and tested

Unless GPRS/3G routers are used, network points (cat5, cat5e, cat6) must be provided by the contracted IT company at the location where meters will be deployed (see 3 – Preparing your quote). These network points must provide Internet access when plugged to the meters).

Very often network points end up being deployed on installation date, in parallel to the meter installation. While it is usually faster to pull cat5 cables from the closest server room or network patch panel back to the meter room, it may happen that some unexpected delays occur due to unavailability of the IT staff or complex firewall configuration that does not go as planned.

We therefore recommend that the network points are deployed prior to the installation to avoid any delay on installation date, and to notify any specific network configuration requirements (static IP address, MAC address registration, ports to be opened for outward data communication, etc) that may require meter network configuration at installation date.

You should now have your meter(s)’ MCBs pre-wired, your Internet points deployed and tested, and know the way your meter(s) will need to be configured for Internet access.
 
You can now move to 5 – How to install your metering equipment to review all the steps that must be taken for installation of the metering equipment.
 

Please contact us at support@wattics.com if you have any question related to your pre-installation requirements.

• About
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Anthony Schoofs

Chief Technical Officer at Wattics

Anthony drives Wattics' innovation on energy efficiency for industrial and grid environments. Anthony is also behind WSNbuzz.com, a blog covering technology advances within the smart grid and IoT markets, and was listed in 2011 amongst the top 100 IoT thinkers. Anthony was recently awarded the Globe Sustainability Research Award for his contribution to advancing knowledge on sustainability.

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