Independent jury of experts selects VPU AC IoT surge protection device
After winning in 2021, Weidmüller is once again pleased to receive the Innovation Award from the trade journal SCHALTSCHRANKBAU. An independent jury awards prizes for particularly innovative products and solutions in the field of switchgear and panel building. This year, Weidmüller received the award for its new VPU AC IoT surge protection device. The device's IoT capability enables it to monitor important functions without the need to install additional sensors. These include, for example, the device status in real time, the quantity of surge voltages, the status of the protective earth connection, the voltage value of the phases and much more.
The smart surge protection can be implemented directly in an existing WiFi infrastructure and connected to a cloud system such as Microsoft Azure. In this way, important process data of the device can be monitored regardless of location – including the voltage level of individual phases. In addition to monitoring the status of all important parameters in real time, temporary surge voltages can also be recorded in a history. This data can then be evaluated by intelligent linking and correlated to switching operations. This makes it possible to determine the load on individual sensitive devices, such as routers. Evaluating the data makes it possible to efficiently plan processes and future maintenance measures. Retrofit integration into existing applications is also possible.
Regardless of whether data is being used directly on site or being transmitted to the cloud, the real-time status monitoring of all important parameters via WiFi guarantees a high level of system availability.
It is particularly important to be able to monitor the VARITECTOR's operating status when in use. The IoT function can withstand the lightning current, meaning that the data for real-time monitoring is available again even following a surge voltage. The powerful technology guarantees a discharge current up to 50 kA, and operation without an additional back-up fuse is possible up to 315 A.
