iot case studies

Victron Energy Case Study: IoT in the Energy Sector

Increasing interest in sustainable energy, the wish to reduce grid dependency, goals to reduce carbon footprints and changing customer trends are feeding the demand for innovative power solutions and remote management technologies.

To meet these customer requirements, in 2014 and a year prior to celebrating the company’s 40th anniversary, Victron Energy introduced a range of innovative power products alongside Victron Remote Management or ‘VRM’, a powerful IoT portal granting its customers real-time insights and control of their power systems.

Venus GX & the VRM

Enjoying double-digit growth from 2015, Victron Energy has grown to become a leading manufacturer of inverter/chargers, inverters, battery chargers and related power conversion equipment. Its Venus GX (featured below) provides intuitive control and monitoring for all Victron power systems as part of Victron’s own IoT solution made available to its customers.

Matthijs Vader, Managing Director of Victron Energy comments upon the reasons for engaging SanCloud in the developing the Venus GX:

In planning the development of the Venus GX, using the BeagleBone Black would have required the addition of external dongles along with modifications to the board. However, the out-of-the-box specification of SanCloud’s BeagleBone Enhanced board provided us with the required processing power coupled with Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity. Its additional USB ports also enables two or more Victron products to be connected and a USB GPS for tracking purposes. The spare ports also offer a degree of future-proofing, paving the way for further development and integration possibilities.

SanCloud’s BeagleBone Enhanced is at the core of our Venus GX. The device forms part of an IoT solution that enables our customers to communicate with all Victron components in their system whilst ensuring they are working in harmony. Monitoring of live data and changes to Victron product settings are performed by smartphone (or other device) using our free-to-use Victron Remote Management Portal (VRM) which communicates via WiFi or local LAN.

We’ve found SanCloud to be approachable and supportive throughout the Venus GX development process and consistent with their BeagleBone Enhanced product, found them to be a highly reliable provider and a pleasure to do business with.

Matthijs Vader, Managing Director
Victron Energy

To find out more about Victron Energy’s Venus GX, visit the Victron Energy website at: www.victronenergy.com/panel-systems-remote-monitoring/venus-gx

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