Using demand control systems is an effective way to reduce energy usage. The use of controllers in the installations served by electricity is a way to ensure the system doesn’t exceed the contractual limits as stipulated in the contracts, resulting in fines. Small businesses are charged for the energy used. Large and medium consumers pay for both the power and energy made available. Energy used appears in the bills of these users under the name of demand. This corresponds to the average energy verified in 15-minute intervals.

The demand tracker

The main purpose of demand controllers is to manage the entry and exit of loads on the network to prevent energy consumption from exceeding the demand stipulated in the contract. This avoids the payment of heavy fines for excess demand.

Operating power demand controllers is easy. Users register the power value that they have contracted with the value of each load and concessionaire that should be managed. From that time on, the equipment checks regularly the power consumed in the busbar.

It will end up turning on and off the loads that are typically registered so that the energy consumed in the busbar is below the measurement contracted by the concessionary.

Load connection is usually managed by schedule or load line and the demand schedule can be defined on a monthly basis.

Benefits of demand control

An energy control system plays an important role. Doing demand control is useful because it manages tools by demand and allows the management of the loads. This allows a genset to be turned on during peak hours. It does this by connecting to scheduled outputs per the schedule.

Demand controllers can be useful in the installation of photovoltaic to prevent the injection of more power than required into the grid. Software can be used to ensure a history of the installation. This gives the manager a tool to analyze the consumption of electric power.

Electric bills for large and medium consumers are typically made up of the sum of energy consumption, overages and demand. The consumption portion is usually calculated by multiplying the measured energy consumption by the rate of consumption. You can calculate the demand share by multiplying the demand tariff by the contracted demand.

Controllers have unique features to protect equipment and machinery. Amongst these is the time which is the time programmed to ensure load doesn’t get turned on again after it is turned off. This can shorten the life of the contractors and damage the machine. The controllers allow programming the shutdown and activation of the loads with what is known as reverse logic. This involves shutting down the output of the controller for active loads to avoid shutdowns due to the failure of the controller.

Energy efficiency

Demand control systems lead to energy efficiency. Using them isn’t restricted to avoiding fines for contract breaches. It is an interesting way of limiting energy consumption and contingent energy-efficient industrial operations. Using this control equipment can bring energy management benefits to the consumer. This reduces losses and allows a reduction in the amount of electricity bills.