Secteurs

Please choose a sector

• Industrial –

   

  The industrial sector is a perfect example of an environment with very large electrical energy consumption, where it is easy to neglect the efforts of sound energy management, for other equipment than those dedicated to production.

  Implementation of control equipment for lighting, air compressors and ventilation are first choice avenues to start with, because they are easy to put in place, especially when using the DimOnOff platform that will minimize deployment of electrical wiring during the installation.

  Moreover, the DimOnOff modules will allow you to monitor energy consumption, and help better understand where, when and how energy consumption behaviors, which can be constantly improved by adding more automation at the right places, simply by using the adressable & intelligent wireless relays installed on the electrical network.

   

  

   

• Institutional –

  The vast majority of institutional buildings has already given many years of service, and a large proportion will be the object of renovation and lighting retrofit works withing the next few years.

  In order to minimize renovation costs related to electrical rewiring, it would be sound to avoid as much demolition of walls and ceilings as possible, which will necessitate supplemental efforts and costs of plaster and paint.

  The DimOnOff wireless product line is perfectly adapted for these types of Retrofit jobs, because it allows to keep the existing electrical wiring of a building, in order to add zoning control and lighting automation, by offering addressable and intelligent relays that will not necessitate additional wiring, but instead, will allow to keep the electrical distribuiton network already in place.

  A substantial economy in costs and efforts, and an unmatched Control & automation solution for retrofit projects, for its simplicity and ease of installation.

   

   

   

    

   

• Commercial –

  Commercial sector

   

  Commercial sector floor space often has more than one life. Once the base building electrical system has been put in place, it will be followed (probably several times over the life of the building) by more specific zoning and retrofit jobs  following the requirements of the leasee.

  LEED, automation, Daylight harvesting, are all words of a new terminology we start hearing, which will be elements of the decision making process when selecting a commercial space.

  Easily done, with the DimOnOff control product line. Implement complex lighting control & automation systems, designed with retrofit environments and ease of installation in mind. Because each module is addressable and intelligent, and uses a wireless Radio-frequency and/or PLC (powerline communication) approach for control and programming commands, it is easy to deploy the system simply by installing the modules directly at the point of electrical control. No more need for long electrical home-runs !

• Parking lots –

  Summary 

   

   

  • The parking lots lighting control is a perfect example where DimOnOff Powerline lighting control products offer unique characteristics and important financial advantages:
  • Its installation does not necessitate any dedicated control wiring
    • The DimOnOff® solution allows installing an addressable & intelligent relay in each exterior luminary (either in the head of the luminary, or at its base, depending on the power wiring configuration).
    • The addition of addressable relays enables remote individual control (on or off), manual or automated, of each lamp. Commands are communicated to the relays through the powerline (the existing power cables), eliminating the need to run new control wires that traditional automation & control systems would require.
    • Other control solutions would have required to break the pavement or concrete of the parking lot in order to run new control wires (costs around $50k to $70k), because typically, the different lamps of a same luminary are all powered by the same circuit, and are therefore not addressable
    • A typical DimOnOff project to control 40 luminaries costs less than 7050$ (MSRP-excluding installation);
  • The DimOnOff® lighting control system allows to automatically shutdown the exterior night lighting system, according to a user-defined schedule, as detailed and complex as you desire.
    • A DimOnOff® panel equipped with a numerical clock is installed in the electrical room, allowing light-up or shutting down specific lamps according to certain specific schedules, or based on the detection of specific events.
      • Other conditions such as the rate of electricity or hour of the day or date (ex: holidays) can also easily be taken into consideration.
    • Typically, car dealerships will choose to shut down up to half of the parking lot and building exterior lights, between 10h PM and sunrise;
  • Important energy savings can be realized, offering a very quick Return on investment
    • Only in energy, the project will produce savings (at Ontario One rate of $0.086/kWh - PF=0.866) of up to 3540$ per year for a typical project of 40 400W-lamps (2890$ in energy and 650$ in maintenance costs) ;
    • Hydro-One offers financial support of up to 100$ per lamp for these types of projects;
    • With Hydro-One support, the same project presents a 18 months payback period (including material and installation costs). Without Hydro-One financial support, the project still presents a quick payback of 31 months.
  • The system may be sold pre-configured - The contractor will have no programming to do
  • Other very good applications for the DimOnOff relays:
    • Control of the operating hours of Air compressors in a garage. Experience shows that air hoses will always show some leakage, and that compressors will go on & off uselessly during the night.
    • DimOnOff relays may also control the operation exterior power plugs, such as for block heaters, in order to enable power-up only if temperature goes lower than a set temperature.

  
  Figure 1:   DimOnOff® Relay REL-R-10

   

  Figure 2: DimOnOff® Clock panel

   

  
  The DimOnOff® technology allows to create virtual groups of relays (i.e., dynamically, via software, over the powerline). For example, in the case of parking lots, a contractor will traditionally create 2 or 3 groups each comprised of half/third of the lamps. Lamps are distributed in an alternating fashion in each of these groups. This way, at the chosen shut-down time, the numerical clock will execute the power-off of one or several groups of lamps.

  A standard car dealership parking lot will be equipped with around 40 lamps consuming each 400W, and if ½ of it is shutdown between 10hPM and 6hAM, very large energy savings are created (2890$ in Ontario at 0.086$/kWh-PF=.866, and much more in New-England and the West coast states). Moreover, the lighting power being reduced by half, it becomes less intrusive for the residents in the neighborhood.

  Also, Groups of lights being turned on and off, are rotated from day to day. Therefore, the whole of the lighting system will be used uniformly, and helps to minimize the frequency of maintenance.

  
  Project costs

  With its powerline technology, DimOnOff® offers a simple solution, yet with a very quick installation time, and a solution that pays for itself quickly from the energy savings.

  The following is the typical Bill of material required to implement a lighting control & automation system for a typical parking lot of 40 lamps - 400W:

  Material:

  40 REL-R-10 Relays 10A
  1 CAB-CLK-4-3ph Control panel with clock and 3-phase coupler
  Pre-configuration
  Total 7,050$ MSRP

  
  Return on investment

  If we assume a nominal power consumption of 400W per lamp and 40 lamps, we obtain the following energy consumption profile and annual energy savings generated by the system:

  Power used by 40 lamps (in W): 16,000
  Total usage (in h/day): 12
  Total annual consumption (in KWh): 80,923
  Cost of electricity (in $) 7,881$ (at a rate of $0.09739/kWh) 

  By shutting down half of the lights after 10hPM, we get the following savings:

  Ratio lamps turned off / Total between 10hPM and 6hAM: 1/2
  Annual savings (in KWh): 27,456 (1486 hours saved)
  Annual savings (in $): 3,540$ ($2890 in electricity, and $650 in reduction of maintenance-increase of lamp life

  This calculation is based on a price of 0,1051$/KWh, which is the commercial tariff of Hydro-One, and a standard PF=0.866.

  To encourage it commercial clients to take energy savings actions, Hydro-One gives a financial support for these projects. For the exterior lighting, it is possible to get as much as $100 per lamp. In this case of a typical parking lot, we would therefore get the following financial support:

  Number of lamps: 40
  Grants per lamp: 100$
  Total grant: 4,000.00$

  Payback period for the project (in years)

  With HO grants: 1.5
  Without HO grants: 2.63

  Even without the grant, the system presents a quick payback.

  With the grant, it 's a no-brainer!

  One should not oversee the savings on re-lamping costs. Since we will decrease the operating hours of the lamps, we will stretch the frequency of maintenance jobs and create additional direct savings. Without the DimOnOff® system, based on a 12h lighting mode per day, every day of the year, each light will be used 4380 hours per year. With the DimOnOff® system, a lamp will be turned on 12h one day then only 4h the next day. Annually, each lamp will be turned on 1,460 hours less. For a lighting module with a 16,000 hours life time, its operating life will increase from 3.65 years to 5.47 years.

  
  Realizations (specifically Parking lots)

  A multitude of Car dealerships have been generating savings with the DimOnOff® system. Here is a partial list:

  Brantford Chrysler
  Brantford Honda
  Budd's Jaguar

  Eastway Chrysler, Ontario
  Forbes Ford, Grimsby
  Hogan Chevrolet, Scarborough, Ontario
  J. Lockwood Chrysler
  Johnston Chrysler, Guelph, Ontario

  Kennedy Ford
  Kerr Chevrolet
  Kerr Pontiac Cadillac

  London Kia
  North York Chevrolet
  Oakville Nissan Infiniti

  Olympic Honda
  Performance Car
  Raceway Chrysler

  Roadport Honda
  Scarborough Town Chrysler, Scarborough, Ontario
  Sterlington Honda
  VW Waterloo
  Wellington Motors, Guelph, Ontario

  RETURN ON INVESTMENT AND NET ACTIALIZED VALUE CALCULATOR 

   

   

   

  Want to save energy on your parking lot lighting.

  You could shut down specific lamps of multi-lamp poles, put them on schedules, enable a daylight harvesting program,

  without ever having to run new control wires.

  DimOnOff will help you do that, easily, and with a great payback.

  Please, read on.

  The DimOnOff® solution

  Exterior lighting represent very large costs of energy for commercial parking lots, car dealerships, parks and a multitude of other environments. Lighting sources are often in the order of 400W to 1000W, and are traditionally controlled by photocells. These areas are typically lit from sunset to sunrise the next day, but the majority of these environments closes at 21h, and do not require the exterior lighting to be at 100% for the rest of the night.

• Ice rinks –

  South Glengarry Arena

  South Glengarry Arena multi level lighting control by selective on/off paterns - installed in May 2010
  Many different scenarios available allowing for very good energy savings
  No control wires added by using PLC wireless approach

  ---

  BLENHEIM ARENA

   REL-R-3x3-flt relays  

  ---

  André Saint-Laurent, Beloeil, Quebec

   Wireless RF mesh REL-XB-3x3 and REL-XB-20 relays + EnOcean remotes

• Gymnasiums –

  The  Dimonoff Gymnasium solution

  Several types of buildings and facilities require high-bay type lighting. Warehouses, arenas, gymnasiums and others are generaly equipped with this type of device. Today, T5HO fluorescent fixtures provide excellent lighting quality similar to the HID lamps procured in the past, in addition to consuming less energy. T5HO fixtures are still devices that consume much energy, a T5HO fixture can have up to 12 tubes of 54W, for a total of 648W, it becomes important to have measures to control these devices by managing lighting  according to occupational requirement. These devices are especially well suited for the implementation of effective control measures. Indeed, the tubes of these fixtures are powered by ballasts that can feed 2 or 4 tubes. We can thus control groups of tubes independently by controling each ballast.
  
  The solution is to install a single Dimonoff relay per fixture to create patterns of lighting. With a fixture of 12 tubes powered by 3 ballast, one can use a 3x3 relay to control each ballast independently to create an scenarios where only 4, 8 or 12 tubes are lit. 
  
  These scenarios can then allow to use the appropriate mode depending on the activities taking place on the premises. In the case of a school gymnasium, mode 8 / 12 could be used for physical education classes when 12/12 mode is used for special events and a mode 4 / 12 could be used during maintenance of the gym. A mode where only some fixtures are lit for security purposes is also available during off ours.

  Depending on the application, different modes can be controlled manually via a keypad or automatically via a clock if the schedules are known and stable, or follow the output of a light sensor if the site enjoys a good daylighting. Relays installed in the fixtures are networked either by radio-frequencies or PLC, so they can each receive commands, thus avoiding having to spend money on control wires or worst on rewiring as that would be required with other systems.
  
  Addressable relays are programmed in advance, no startup is required. If the fixtures are new, the relays can be installed at a lower cost directly from the manufacturer of fixtures. In the case of existing fixtures, the relays can be installed outside of the fixture if its easier..

  Gymnasium typical connection setup #1

  Gymnasium typical connection setup #2

  Here are some examples of schools benefitting from this system so far:

  Seneca College, Toronto, ON
  Blenheim Arena, Blenheim, ON
  Perrysburg School, Perrysburg, OH (Automated Building article)
  Van Burren, Van Buren, OH
  Anthony Wayne High school, Whitehouse, OH

   

  Case story : Seneca College Gym (Toronto, ON)

  Project by Varilume

  In most schools, the room that uses the largest share of energy for lighting is usually the gym. With that in mind, Seneca College decided to change its lighting system so it would me more efficient and energy-wise. In this case, DimOnOff products coupled to T5 fluorescents allowed them to save from 39% to 72% of the energy demand their former lighting system used. All DimOnOff products were installed without having to install any wires, thanks to the powerline technology. 

   

  Before		After
  45 fixtures, 1000W each		45 fixtures, including 12 T5 fluorescent each (45 x 648W)
  48 510W demand		20 400W demand in standard mode (8 fluorescent lit out of 12)
  76.5% efficiency		83.1% efficiency
  On/Off levels only		4 modes available (off, 33%, 66%, 100%)

   

  Three DimOnOff DOO-R-LMDB-2.5 were installed in each of the twelve fixtures. Each relay controls 4 fluorescents, hereby allowing using 0, 4, 8 or all 12 fluorescents as needed. These relays are powered but also communicate through existing power distribution wires. Therefore, installation is rapid, easy and low cost.

   

  Using the DimOnOff software, scenarios were programmed in DimOnOff DOO-RT-Key-6 wall keypads so that the users would be able to manually select the desired lighting mode. The saving mode uses only 4 tubes per fixture, the standard mode uses only 8 tubes per fixture, and the full lighting mode (for sport events) uses all 12 tubes per fixture. The wall keypads are powered but also communicate through existing power distribution wires. Therefore, installation is rapid, easy and low cost. By using the lighting mode that really meet their needs, combined with new lighting fixtures, Seneca College managed to save up to 72% of the energy used by their former gym lighting system.

   

  The DimOnOff software also allowed creating groups of relay, thus enabling to switch groups in order to use every fluorescent equally. Each group includes 4 tubes of every fixture. Each week, the group that is used for the saving mode (also used the standard and full modes) is switched with the group used only for the full mode (which is rarely used). Therefore, the DimOnOff products, combined with new T5 tubes, allowed extending maintenance period from 9000 hours to 35000 hours. 

• Car dealerships –

  Executive Summary  PDF

  Want to save energy on your parking lot lighting.

  You could shut down specific lamps of multi-lamp poles, put them on schedules, enable a daylight harvesting program,

  without ever having to run new control wires.

  DimOnOff will help you do that, easily, and with a great payback.

  Please, read on.

  • The Dimonoff system can uniformly switch off the desired amount of light and perform rotations among lights during the week;
  • A typical project enabling to control 40 lights costs less than 8500$, excluding installation costs;
  • A typical project enabling to control 40 lights (400W) can save more than 3320$ per year on energy costs;
  • For a typical project enabling to control 40 lights, the return on investment time is below 13 months;
  • The system is shipped pre-programmed so that users do not have to configure anything. 

  The DimOnOff® solution

  Exterior lighting represent very large costs of energy for commercial parking lots, car dealerships, parks and a multitude of other environments. Lighting sources are often in the order of 400W to 1000W, and are traditionally controlled by photocells. These areas are typically lit from sunset to sunrise the next day, but the majority of these environments closes at 21h, and do not require the exterior lighting to be at 100% for the rest of the night.

  • The parking lots lighting control is a perfect example where DimOnOff Powerline lighting control products offer unique characteristics and important financial advantages:
  • Its installation does not necessitate any dedicated control wiring

  The DimOnOff® solution allows to install an addressable & intelligent relay in each exterior luminary (either in the head of the luminary, or at its base, depending on the power wiring configuration).

  The addition of addressable relays enables remote individual control (on or off), manual or automated, of each lamp. Commands are communicated to the relays through the powerline (the existing power cables), eliminating the need to run new control wires that traditional automation & control systems would require.
  
  Other control solutions would have required to break the pavement or concrete of the parking lot in order to run new control wires (costs around $50k to $70k), because typically, the different lamps of a same luminary are all powered by the same circuit, and are therefore not addressable

  A typical DimOnOff project to control 40 luminaries costs less than 8500$ (excluding installation - typically $3450 for installation);

  
  The DimOnOff® lighting control system allows to automatically shutdown the exterior night lighting system, according to a user-defined schedule, as detailed and complex as you desire.

  A DimOnOff® panel equipped with a numerical clock is installed in the electrical room, allowing light-up or shutting down specific lamps according to certain specific schedules, or based on the detection of specific events.

  Other conditions such as the rate of electricity or hour of the day or date (ex : holidays) can also easily be taken into consideration.

  
  Typically, car dealerships will choose to shut down up to half of the parking lot and building exterior lights, between 10h PM and sunrise;

  
  Important energy savings can be realized, offering a very quick Return on investment

  
  Only in energy, the project will produce savings (at Ontario rate of $0.1209/kWh with taxes) of up to 3970$ per year for a typical project of 40 400W-lamps (3320$ in energy and 650$ in maintenance costs) ;

  Hydro-Ontario offers financial support of up to 100$ per lap for these types of projects;

  With Hydro-Ontario support, the same project presents a 22 months payback period (including material and installation costs). Without Hydro-Ontario financial support, the project still presents a quick payback of 39 months.

  The system may be sold pre-configured - The contractor will have no programming to do
  
  Other very good applications for the DimOnOff relays:

  Control of the operating hours of Air compressors in a garage. Experience shows that air hoses will always show some leakage, and that compressors will go on & off uselessly during the night.

  DimOnOff relays may also control the operation exterior power plugs, such as for block heaters, in order to enable power-up only if temperature goes lower than a set temperature.

  Figure 1: Relay 10A DimOnOff®

   

   

   

   

  The DimOnOff® technology allows to create virtual groups of relays (i.e., dynamically, via software, over the powerline). For example, in the case of parking lots, a contractor will traditionally create 2 or 3 groups each comprised of half/third of the lamps. Lamps are distributed in an alternating fashion in each of these groups. This way, at the chosen shut-down time, the numerical clock will execute the power-off of one or several groups of lamps. A standard car dealership parking lot will be equipped with around 40 lamps consuming each 400W, and if ½ of it is shutdown between 10hPM and 6hAM, very large energy savings are created (3320$ in Ontario at 0.1209$/kWh- commercial Tariff with taxes, and much more in New-England and the West coast states). Moreover, the lighting power being reduced by half, it becomes less intrusive for the residents in the neighborhood. 

  
  Also, Groups of lights being turned on and off, are rotated from day to day. Therefore, the whole of the lighting system will be used uniformly, and helps to minimize the frequency of maintenance.

  Project costs

  With its powerline technology, DimOnOff® offers a simple solution, yet with a very quick installation time, and a solution that pays for itself quickly from the energy savings.

  
  The following is the typical Bill of material required to implement a lighting control & automation system for a typical parking lot of 40 lamps - 400W:

  
  Material:
  40 REL-R-10 Relays 10A
  1 CAB-CLK-4 Control panel with clock
  Pre-configuration
  Total 8,500.00 $

  Return on investment
  If we assume a nominal power consumption of 400W per lamp and 40 lamps, we obtain the following energy consumption profile and annual energy savings generated by the system:

  Power used by 40 lamps (in W): 18,475
  Total usage (in h/day): 12
  Total annual consumption (in KWh): 78,080
  Cost of electricity (in $) 8,473$ (at a rate of $0.1102/kWh)

  By shutting down half of the lights after 10hPM, we get the following savings:

  Ratio lamps turned off / Total between 10hPM and 6hAM: 1/2
  Annual savings (in KWh): 23,360
  Annual savings (in $): 3,320$

  This calculation is based on a price of 0,1102$/KWh, which is the commercial tariff of Hydro-Ontario with taxes. To encourage it commercial clients to take energy savings actions, Hydro-Québec gives a financial support for these projects. For the exterior lighting, it is possible to get as much as $100 per lamp. In this case of a typical parking lot, we would therefore get the following financial support:

  Number of lamps: 40
  Grants per lamp: 100$
  Total grant: 4,000.00$

  Payback period for the project, with and without grants:
  Payback(in years)
  With HQ grants: 1.05
  Without HQ grants: 2.31

  Even without the grant, the system presents a quick payback. With the grant, it becomes a no-brainer!
  One should not oversee the savings on re-lamping costs. Since we will decrease the operating hours of the lamps, we will stretch the frequency of maintenance jobs and create additional direct savings. Without the DimOnOff® system, based on a 12h lighting mode per day, every day of the year, each light will be used 4380 hours per year. With the DimOnOff® system, a lamp will be turned on 12h one day then only 4h the next day. Annually, each lamp will be turned on 1,460 hours less. For a lighting module with a 16,000 hours life time, its operating life will increase from 2.74 years to 4.11 years.

  Projects (specifically Parking lots)
  A multitude of Car dealerships have been generating savings with the DimOnOff® system. Here is a partial list:

  
  • Brantford Chrysler
  • Brantford Honda-
  • Eastway Chrysler, Ontario
  • Forbes Ford, Grimsby
  • Hogan Chevrolet, Scarborough, Ontario
  • J. Lockwood Chrysler
  • Johnston Chrysler, Guelph, Ontario
  • Kerr Chevrolet
  • Kerr Pontiac Cadillac
  • North York Chevrolet
  • Oakville Nissan Infiniti
  • Performance Car
  • Raceway Chrysler
  • Scarborough Town Chrysler, Scarborough, Ontario
  • Sterlington Honda
  • VW Waterloo
  • Wellington Motors, Guelph, Ontario

  
  Note: Increase of theft

  
  Customers equipped with the DimOnOff have not experienced an increase in car theft, since they have reduced by 50% their lighting.

  Insurance companies require 2 things from car dealers in Québec: that their lot be fenced, and that the parking lot be lit at night. But there is no direction as to what the lighting level should be. In reality, we have been interviewing several of the main insurance companies that have all confirmed that a car dealership that would decrease its lighting level by 50% at night, would not get a raise in insurance rates.

   

   

   

  
  Figure 2: Clock panel DimOnOff®

   

  

• Streetlight monitoring and control system –

  DIMONOFF INC, PUBLIC LIGHT MONITORING AND CONTROL SYSTEM
  

  Powerline communication technology specifications:

  • Carrier Type ASK and Very robust narrowband FSK modulation
  • Complete Media Access Control (MAC) logic
  • CSMA/CD type collision detection and resolution
  • Carrier Frequency: 262 kHz
  • Error detection (CRC 16) for every transmission
  • High-efficiency Forward Error Correction (FEC)

  XB technology (radio-frequency): Specifications:

  • 2.4Ghz Automesh 802.15.4 ISM rated
  • range up to 1mile (1.6km) LOS
  • Self healing, auto discover

   

  Typical Pole-Lamp module functions (REL-MON-20-VVV)

  • Individual serial number per relay
  • Capacity to create 32767 groups with 15 levels of subgroups plus capacity to assign 65534 logical addresses per group.
  • ON/OFF control
  • Lamp Capacitor/ballast status (based on power factor measured by the relay)
  • Poles fuses status (declared defective if no current is drawn by load) existing fuses need to be installed between the relay and the lamp.
  • Usage timers (2 timers, 1 for ballast and 1 for lamp, measured by the relay)
  • Cycling detection, prevention and alarms
  • Pole door open/close (based on magnet contact or mechanical switch sensor provided by third party)
  • Electrical measurements: Current (A), Voltage (V), Power (W), Power Factor, Temperature (C) (measured by the relay), it is possible to identify leakage or failure based on reference parameters.
  • HI-LO Bi-Level dimming module with dual-capacitor circuit: Lights dimming control: to save 30% or more of energy and extend lamp and ballast life, we can schedule the dimming to reduce the light power during predefine hours or to reduce energy requirements during peak periods. Module provides required start time protection to HI level to prevent Lamps and ballast damage. Relay is provided with two impendent output wired to connect to a dual-capacitor module. Note additional installation may be required to replace existing capacitors and arrange wiring accordingly.
  • Options (not included in current proposal)

  1. Ground fault detection circuit
  2. Pole tilt detection requires an additional sensor
  3. Wire theft alarm (not functional if power is out)

  
  For Substations (SS) Remote Terminal Units (RTU)

   

  • SS Alarms (6 inputs or outputs available via INT-MIO-U6)

  1. SS doors open/close status (based on magnet contact or mechanical switch sensor to beprovided by 3rd party)

  2. Distribution panels door open (based on magnet contact or mechanical switch sensor tobe provided by 3rd party)

  3. Circuit breakers control: MV breakers control by 1 low-voltage digital output to control 3rdparty supplied relay (Via INT-MIO-U6) Note: in order for the pole relays to operate, MV breakers must be closed at all time and all feeds need to remain energized.

  • Electrical measurements: Current (A) (over current), Voltage (V) (over / under voltage), Active & Reactive Power, Power Factor for each phase (Via MON-RT-PM-3)· Astronomical clock based on geographical location (Via CPU)
  • Option to connect a local photocell to be supplied by 3rd party (Via Int-MIO-U6)
  • Local SQL database able to archive data locally for a minimum of 3 months. The RTU has an automatic erase function to manage the amount of data stored. (Via CPU)
  •  Download of local data to MCC based on alarms, on a schedule or manually
  • Unlimited number of schedules, based on time of day, day of week, predefined period, holidays, etc. (Via CPU)
  • Telecommunications through GSM Modems or Ethernet network
  • Ability to send SMS or email to a predefined number and according to certain alarms
  • RPU Specifications:

  - Fanless PC RoHS

  - VIA C7 500MHz CPU RoHS
  - DDR2-667 512MB SODIMM RoHS
  - 60GB 2.5" 5400rpm SATA hard drive RoHS
  - One year parts and labor warranty
  - Dimension: 1.65"H x 7.09"W x 4.92"D
  - Operating temp. 0 to 60 Degree Celcius

  • UPS to be supplied 3rd party, optinal filters are required to protect PLC communications from being impaired by UPS

  
  
  Master control center (MCC)

   

  • SCADA server software license with free updates for 1 year Logging and reporting
  •  Multi-clients remote access
  • GIS (optional, not included in current proposition)
  • Mobile phone compliant Web page application to control and monitor.

  
  

  DOO-Streetlight system typical setup

   

  Software demonstration video  (download link)

   

• Warehouses –

  See how easy reducing energy usage during low traffic periods or unoccupied sectors in a warehouse is easy using DimOnOff products. Even if your floor layout as changed since the initial plan, you will NOT have to run any new wires, adding control to your fixtures is as easy as replacing a ballast.

  See DimOnOff BAS software in action to control warehouse lights:

   

• Offices –

  In office buildings, DimOnOff offers various solutions

  
  Board / conference room

  In typical board / conference rooms, to create multi level lighting, pot lamps (incandescent) and fluorescent lamps are often being used together. We offer the possibility to create many different scenes where all pot lamps may be adjusted to preset levels and fluorescent are turned on or off or dimmed if equipped with dimming ballast. Occupancy sensors, light sensors and temperature sensors may be used to lower and raise the drapes, adjust the light level and increase or reduce the HVAC air exchange rate according to room occupancy.

  We even had a company request to have the lights on only if the room was reserved so that people would not just take an empty room to hold a meeting, room that may have already been reserved by someone else...

  
  Cubicles

  Light levels over head of work stations can be automatically adjusted to compensate a reduction in natural light coming in the windows either caused by the sunset, cloudy sky or shade being bought down to reduce heat and glare on computer screens. Manual override using wireless switched or on screen controls (available to every employee directly on their computer screen) is always available.

  Progressive daylight harvesting on the peripheral areas is possible with our solution by setting specific ranges according to the fixtures' distance from the windows and to the environments (ex: darker vs lighter desks)

  Restroom

  Motion detectors are easily added to restroom so that lights are never left on unnecessarily. Also HVAC or exhaust fans may be controls by the same mean.

  
  Parking

  Underground or above ground parking garage light may be reduced during certain periods, never to compromise security but to reduce over lit spaces during slow periods. Depending on the type of lamps installed, motion detectors and light sensors may be used as controls.

  
  Corridors

  Long empty corridors may be dimmed or shut off most of the time, motion sensors may be use to trigger the light to turn back on as soon as someone enter the corridor and then return to an energy saving mode after a pre determined delay expires, unless motion is detected once more before it expires.

  
  Archive room

  Some room are only visited a few hours per week or even per month, forgetting lights on will waste valuable energy so motion sensors are definitely a good option here.

   

• Schools - Classrooms –

  Typical classroom setup

  A master switch is installed at the classroom door, with the options to set the lights permanently on, off or to enable daylight harvesting mode, in order to have the lights dim or brighten smoothly according to the contribution of natural light entering the room by the windows.

  Occupancy sensor can additionally be used to enable light shutoff when the room is vacated to prevent the light from being forgotten wasting valuable energy.

  A second switch, keypad or Key fob may be installed at the teacher's desk or podium to allow for various preset scenes for projection, work, rest, etc. While a preset will adjust lights, it could also trigger the projection screen to go up or down and the motorized blinds or drapes to open or shut.

  In regions were baseboard heaters are installed as peripheral heating source, heating relays may be added and managed according to various conditions. An example would be to allow them to function only if the outside temperature is below 10C (50F), weekdays, excluding holidays, after 7:00 but before 20:00 and that the HVAC system is not in cooling mode.

  Some keypad functions may also be programmed to call for technical, medical or security help.

  Using various types of relays, the classroom light circuit may be split in new groups to accommodate different classroom configurations, or to provide various levels of light down to a per fixture basis to accommodate students with disability or to reduce glare on computer screens. Temporary or movable partitions may also be part of the control scenarios allowing certain scenarios to be executed only when the partition is absent.

  Additional functions such as maintenance calls for burnt lamps are also available with the relay monitoring the power being used by the lamps, and trigger a maintenance request if drawn power falls under a preset level.

  Additionally, a complete scheduler with holiday management and unlimited number of different schedules is available along with remote monitoring and control of all of the above functions.

  DimOnOff solutions are taking advantage of wired, wireless and over the existing wires communication technologies in order to provide perfect new and retrofit solution at the right price and with quick and simple installation even in older building were asbestos and cement walls & ceilings are present.

  Our solutions are 100% autonomous, but may also be integrated to existing building management systems using Bacnet networks if desired.

  DimOnOff also offers Gymnasium, parking lots and other control and automation solutions to enable energy management, control and monitoring of your assets.

   

  PDF document Link

   

• Ports –

• Hotel Rooms –

  DimOnOff offers a complete solution set to better manage Hotel rooms' energy usage. We clearly understand that guest comfort is priority number one for the hotel industry but energy cost is also a major issue, so adding means to control and reduce energy usage is critical in today's competitive market.

   

  Very often, Air Conditioning and Heating are provided using 2 distinct systems. AC are individual wall units and Heating is provided either by Electric baseboard or hot water. Either way, both systems can easily be set to fight each other, with one trying to cool and the other trying to heat the room.

  TVs are left running and lights are left on all day long while the guests are out doing activities or have check out earlier in the morning generating more heat and using expensive electricity.

  We are able to offer EnOcean based, Wireless and Batteryless devices, that are very easy to install and offer great reliability as well as low voltage wired controls and powerline communication based relays and controls. No doubt, we can offer the best suited approach for your new installation and even more for any retrofit / renovation project. Our solution, allows for floor by floor, room by room updates over a shorter or longer period of time.

   

  Outside temperature sensor may be use to allow or deny heating when the outside temperature drops or rises over a configurable setpoint. 

  Keycard switches may be installed in the room that energises the whole room when the door key is present but that switches off all energy consuming devices after a prescribed delay one the door key is removed.

   

  Magnet sensors may be added to windows that can be open by the guest, stopping cooling or heating once the window is open.

   

  Here is an example of an hybrid system using EnOcean wireless sensors combined with Powerline relays.

   

  Motion sensors may also be installed in corridors, shutting of lights partially at night time when traffic is reduced but assuring correct illumination as soon as a guest or staff walks by.

   

   

   

• Sport Field Lighting –

  DimOnOff - Sport fields and parks light management solutions

  
  Have you ever wonder as to why the municipal parks and sport fields are all lit even when unoccupied because of bad weather or simply by the lack of users. The reason is very simple; most of them are controlled by a timer or a photocell that turns ON all lights at sunset for either a predetermined time or worse until daybreak. A typical installation uses thousands of watts; thus it represents a very interesting source of economy.

  Upgrading the light control system to reduce energy consumption, extend lamp life and reduce light pollution is now simplified. DimOnOff provides managers of external or internal sport fields (Baseball, Soccer, Football, etc.) management solutions for lighting of these surfaces.

  
  We believe it is important to provide services to citizens paying taxes but we also strongly believe in reducing waste, so it is with this premise in mind that we developed a control system that offers flexibility to players wishing to use the equipment by allowing them to turn ON the lights to practice their favorite sport when and for as long as they want or for periods established by managers. On the other hand, the system will not automatically turn ON lighting when no one is present. It is also possible to optionally turn ON some lights in order to maintain safety even when the facilities are not in use.
  
  The solutions proposed by DimOnOff maximize the use of various technologies which ensure that their implementation will generally require no or very little new wiring or modifications to existing system. Installation is simplified allowing for cost and installation time to be significantly reduced.

  

  In this picture you can see at least 7 fully lit sports fields nearby. On a flight to Toronto in November, I was able to count around 20 below our flight path over Montreal, but all were desert since it was 3°C outside with a mist.

   

  
  DimOnOff's main controller composed of an astronomical clock, a multi-I/O powerline communication interface, a feedback light and an activation push button.

  
  Loads can be controlled by existing contactors or with additional wireless or powerline communicating relays either by circuits or individually.

  
  Note that DimOnOff also offers options to receive monitoring reports if the lamps are defective without an attendant being required to patrol parks at night. DimOnOff also offers a system for preventing wire theft, a sad scenario which seems to have regained in popularity lately.

  HOW IT WORKS

  1- The astronomical clock only enable the activation button during its preset periods "allowed period", normally related to sunset and a pre-determined hour of the night.

  2- If the current time is within an "allowed period", a relay provides energy to a small indicator light showing to the eventual users that they can press the activation button in order to turn the fiend lights ON.

  3- When the Activation button is pressed, it immediately turns the field lights ON and starts a timer for a pre defined length of time "playtime" and turns the indicator light off.

  4- 5 minutes before the expiration of the "playtime" period, the indicator light (or optionally a buzzer) will start to blink indicating that if more play time is required the users should press the activation button again before the field lights turn off. Pressing the activation button again will provide light for an additional playtime cycle, unless outside of an "allowed period".

  5- If the activation is not pressed within the 5 minutes warning period, the field lights will turn off at expiration and if still within an allowed period, the small indicator light will turn back on.

  6- If the button is pressed once again and that we are still in an allowed period, the cycle will start once again, otherwise if not within an allowed period nothing will happen. 

  PDF version