New Opto 22 Snap I/O Modules offer greater connectivity, easier scaling and improved 3-phase power monitoring and management, said Opto 22.

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Opto 22 has greatly enhanced the capabilities of its most widely used power monitoring modules to give customers broader voltage input ranges and better resolution for their three-phase power monitoring and energy management applications, the company said today. Now the Snap-AIPM-3 and Snap-AIPM-3V can each monitor 480 V ac, 3-phase electrical equipment without the need for a potential transformer. Both modules accept voltage inputs up to 300 V ac, so 277 volt line-to-neutral signals from lighting systems and other equipment can be wired directly to the module. Eliminating the need to use potential transformers to step down higher voltages significantly reduces installation cost and complexity.

Additionally, the Snap-AIPM-3 now accepts current inputs from 0-5 amps. This improvement doubles the module's current input resolution, allowing customers to observe changes in their power usage in higher detail. The Snap-AIPM-3 is compatible with the most common current transformers-which step down a primary current to a secondary of 5 amps or less-making engineering unit conversion and scaling for the SNAP-AIPM-3 much easier as well.

In energy monitoring applications, the modules allow building managers, maintenance engineers, and other business stakeholders to monitor three-phase equipment power in their facilities. Each module returns up to 14 channels of data including volts, amps, volt-amps, and true power for all three phases, plus true power sums. Customers can use the modules as part of a Snap PAC System to correlate their energy usage with specific business operations.  At that point, real-time data can be used to identify specific problems and design energy management initiatives to reduce energy costs.

System integrators can use the modules to develop control systems and solutions for commercial and industrial customers to monitor and regulate their 3-phase power consumption so they can reduce energy usage, avoid peak pricing charges, and lower energy costs. For original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), these modules provide a simple and straightforward method for integrating power monitoring and energy consumption into their machine control, establishing an important differentiator in their offering.

For its six wired input channels, the Snap-AIPM-3 has input ranges of 85-300 V ac RMS and 0-5 ac amps RMS.  The module offers 12 millivolts of resolution with accuracy of +/- 0.2 volts for voltage inputs, and 200 microamps of resolution with accuracy of +/- 4 milliamps for current inputs.

For its six wired inputs, the Snap-AIPM-3V has input ranges of 85-300 V ac RMS and 0-0.333 V ac from current transformers with a 333 millivolt secondary. Accuracy is +/- 0.2 volts for voltage inputs and 13.3 microvolts ac for current inputs.

The modules are guaranteed for life, transformer isolated, and (like all Opto 22 Snap I/O modules) optically isolated from the equipment and devices they connect to, as well as from other modules on a shared I/O rack.

Opto 22 develops and manufactures hardware and software for applications involving industrial automation and control, energy management, remote monitoring, and data acquisition. Opto 22 products use standard, commercially available networking and computer technologies, and have an established reputation worldwide for ease-of-use, innovation, quality, and reliability, the company said. Opto 22 products are used by automation end-users, OEMs, and information technology and operations personnel in over 10,000 installations worldwide. The company was founded in 1974 and is privately held in Temecula, CA.

www.opto22.com

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- Edited by Mark T. Hoske, CFE Media, Control Engineering, www.controleng.com