Energy storage efficient management and operation and maintenance tool: EMU multi-port control host EPC-R5710

Introduction: In the process of building a new power system in China, the scale of installed capacity of renewable energy power generation has increased year by year. However, the volatility and intermittent characteristics of new energy sources such as photovoltaic and wind power generation have brought challenges to the stable power supply of the power grid. In order to promote the consumption of new energy power generation and ensure the safe operation of the power grid, energy storage has become a vital link.

1. Customer application requirements

Distributed energy storage technology is increasingly widely used in the industrial and commercial fields, playing an important role in smoothing the output of renewable energy, shaving peaks and filling valleys, balancing grid loads, improving energy efficiency, and reducing energy consumption. A Shenzhen energy technology company needs to build a photovoltaic storage project, namely a 100KW/200KWh supporting energy storage system, in a certain place. Among them, the EMS system, as the core of the entire system, undertakes important functions such as equipment monitoring, energy management, and fault alarms. It needs to achieve the effect of cloud-edge integration, that is, to ensure that edge data is reported to the cloud platform in real time without loss, and the instructions of the cloud platform can be safely and real-time transmitted to the edge.

Project requirements:

Respond to the demand side: Improve the peak-shaving and dispatching capabilities of the power grid, respond to electricity demand, and improve electricity friendliness.

Power station upper-level applications: According to the power station's revenue and operating conditions, real-time adjustments are made to power station strategies such as peak shaving and valley filling, demand control, and backflow prevention to maximize the power station's revenue.

System management requirements: Intelligent management of industrial and commercial energy storage systems, such as power monitoring, fault warning, remote control, etc., so that enterprises can understand the operating status of the energy storage system in real time and conduct effective management and maintenance.

Off-grid power supply: When a large power grid fails, the energy storage system can support off-grid operation of the system, improve the utilization rate of new energy, and ensure uninterrupted power supply to important loads.

EMS controller requirements:

• The EMS system needs to connect to a variety of devices: PCS, BMS, air conditioners, electric meters, intelligent circuit breakers, fire control hosts, various sensors, indicator lights, etc., requiring the industrial computer to have multiple serial ports, including CAN Bus, RS485, and more than 10 DIOs.

• In order to achieve two-way data flow between the energy storage station and the cloud platform, the EMS system needs to have a stable network connection and transmission, requiring the industrial computer to support multiple Gigabit network ports and the equipment to support wireless transmission.

• Energy storage equipment is generally deployed in complex environments. To ensure that the EMS system can operate stably and continuously 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in complex environments, industrial computers are required to be suitable for harsh operating environments and be able to work stably for a long time.

2. Advantech Solution

In response to the above needs, Advantech provides a complete "soft + hardware" solution that runs through "end-edge-cloud". Among them, the EPC-R5710 industrial computer based on the NXP I.MX 8M PLUS platform is used as the EMS controller. On the one hand, it is directly responsible for the control strategy of the energy storage system, and on the other hand, it also monitors faults and anomalies in the operation of the system, playing an important role in timely and rapid protection of equipment and ensuring safety.

Hardware solution: NXP I.MX 8M PLUS industrial computer

• Model:EPC-R5710

• Plate: The shell is made of sheet metal, the upper cover is made of aluminum extrusion, and the whole machine is fanless. It has high anti-magnetic, dust-proof and vibration-proof capabilities, can operate stably in an environment of -40~70℃, and adapt to harsh working environments. The machine structure is compactly designed, with a design of 210 x 120 x 63 (mm).

• Rich serial ports: 5 Gigabit Ethernet ports, 1 optical port, 1 CAN FD port can be expanded, and multiple DIO and RS485 serial port expansions are supported to connect to a variety of external devices.

• Peripheral expansion: supports M.2 expansion, can simultaneously access WiFi, 4/5G, and SSD expansion, and has been adapted to AI acceleration cards to expand computing power to 28 TOPS.

Software solution:

• Strong compatibility: It has been adapted to a variety of operating system versions, including Yocto, Ubuntu, etc.

• Customized AIM-Linux: Advantech provides customized Linux operating systems for energy that can help customers deploy efficiently, manage equipment status in real time in the cloud, and handle data collection at tens of thousands of points. In addition, the system covers a variety of functions such as disaster recovery, remote monitoring, and unattended operation to ensure the long-term stable operation of the energy storage system. For the three application scenarios of large energy storage cabinets deployed in remote areas, household energy storage units deployed in every household, and electric vehicle charging and swapping stations throughout the road traffic network, a complete cloud-edge collaborative solution is provided, including stable edge software + long-term convenient operation and maintenance + subsequent agile development of instant automated control.

• iEMS Smart Energy Solution: Relying on digital technology, it provides enterprises with energy-saving and carbon-reduction cockpits, carbon asset management, energy management, HVAC energy efficiency management, air compressor energy efficiency management, power management and other capabilities, helping enterprises improve energy use, enhance energy efficiency, tap into energy-saving potential, and assist in carbon trading. It drives low-carbonization with digitalization, enables enterprises to save energy and reduce emissions, and move towards a low-carbon path.

EPC-R5710 Product Features

• NXP i.MX8M Plus SoC, with 2.3 Tops computing power

• Supports 5*Gigabit LAN, 1*WAN;

• Support 1*CAN FD, multiple RS-485 and GPIO

• Can support WiFi/4G/5G, and can expand low-power 26TOPS computing power AI module

• Support -40~+70°C operating temperature, adapt to complex working environment