Schneider Electric SA launches new range of three-phase energy meters

To assist in making buildings more energy efficient and to make installations more reliable, energy management specialist Schneider Electric South Africa has released a three-phase, DIN rail-mounted range of energy meters within the Acti 9 iEM3000 series.

The PowerLogic PM3200 meters are ideal for sub-billing and cost allocation applications and are fully compatible with the Acti 9 system, Schneider Electric’s fifth generation of modular systems for final distribution.

The series offers basic kWh meters for the simplest applications, as well as advanced energy meters with network monitoring capabilities and multi-tariff energy monitoring, enabling electrical managers to better understand the consumption behaviour of individual buildings. Designed for simplicity, reliability and efficiency, the Acti 9 iEM3000 series makes energy efficiency more accessible for tertiary and industrial buildings.

“To save energy, organisations need to know how their energy is consumed,” says Gys Snyman, vice-president energy efficiency at Schneider Electric South Africa. “That is why it is important to have the right meters at the right place in the network with the ability to gather device status and energy consumption data from many points throughout the electrical distribution network.”

The Acti 9 iEM3000 series offers a choice of 10 different models, enabling users to select the meter with the right capabilities for the application and environment. The meters are feature-rich, with both direct connect and CT-connected options, basic meters for manual reading, MID-certified meters with pulse outputs for WAGES billing applications, and multi-tariff meters with digital inputs, digital outputs and communications.

Users can divide consumption over four periods to help discriminate peak and off-peak consumptions, workdays and weekends, or different energy sources such as utility or generator power. The PM3200 meters also have large displays with backlight blinking to help alert electrical managers to adverse conditions.

Snyman says the iEM3000 series meters share numerous design features with the Acti 9 system. “These help save on installation time, costs, and space for panel builders. The easy comb connections and the separation of power and communication connections improve safety and make wiring simpler for the installer.”