Practical Advice for Utility-Scale PV + BESS Control System Development and Commissioning
By: Allan D. Evora One of the keys to unlocking the full potential of renewable energy is battery energy storage. Nowhere is this more evident than when…
75MW Solar Site SCADA and Field Controls for a Large Solar Developer
In 2017, a large solar developer with dozens of solar projects across the US chose Affinity Energy to implement SCADA at several 75MW plants in the…
Beyond the PLC: Taking a Holistic View of Redundant Architecture
By: Allan Evora PLC and controls only take up a small portion of an overall redundant system. Don’t get blinders on by putting a redundant PLC in your…
4 Major Power Quality Issues in Industrial Facilities
By: Allan Evora Most power quality issues are hidden from normal utility bills and plant information systems, but their consequences include plant downtime,…
50MW Quinebaug Solar Energy Center SCADA System and Field Controls
Programming and integration of PLC, PPC, SCADA and RTU for a 50MW photo voltaic (PV) solar farm in Quinebaug, CT.…
Novant Health: NFPA 110 Generator Audible Alarming Part 2
Novant Health and Carolina CAT seek help in an emergency generator audible alarming compliance situation. (Read part 1)……
Two 80MW Solar SCADA Systems and Field Controls
SCADA integration for two 80MW photo voltaic (PV) solar farms in Florida built with a new OEM’s solar inverters and requiring OrionLX Remote Terminal Unit…
5 Ways to Avoid Solar Downtime & Energy Loss Using Controls & Monitoring
By: Adam Baker When solar downtime occurs, the last thing owners/operators want to be is in the dark. But I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen energy…
Why Landfill Gas Needs SCADA Waste to Energy Technology
By: Allan Evora A lot of waste to energy owners misunderstand Supervisory Controls and Data Acquisition (SCADA). They think, “Why would I need an overarching…
Go Through the ISA-101 HMI Lifecycle Before Partnering with a System Integrator
By: Allan Evora An HMI (Human Machine Interface) is a collection of hardware (computers) and software used to monitor and interact with the control system…
6 Ways a Fully Integrated Solar Panel Tracker Can Optimize a PV Plant
By: Adam Baker One of the obstacles preventing a solar power plant running as a fine-tuned machine is that all equipment is developed independently, with the…
Best Practices When Your Emergency Power SCADA Operating System [still] uses Windows XP or Server 2003
By: Allan Evora One of the biggest challenges for some of our emergency power system owner-customers is that systems installed 10 years ago are running on…
What Owners Should Know About High Availability and Redundancy
By: Allan Evora We see a lot of misinformation and underspecification when it comes to high availability in mission critical control systems. Sometimes this…
Battery Storage and Solar: More Efficient When Controlled Together
By: Adam Baker Battery storage being all the rage these days, I have a few thoughts on how it can be used that extends beyond the basics of: Ramp rate…
230 MW of Utility-Scale Battery Energy Storage Systems Added to the World’s Largest PV Solar Plant
Affinity Energy integrates custom PLC and SCADA systems for groundbreaking BESS project BackgroundIn another step towards achieving a clean energy…
Southeast Hospital System – Portfolio Audible Alarming
Audible Alarming for Multiple Central Energy PlantsIn 2016, a large hospital system in the Southeast with multiple Central Energy Plants (CEP) chose Affinity…
3 Great Qualities Every Control System Integrator Should Have
By: Allan Evora Be ready and willing to customize If 15 years in controls has taught us anything, it’s that customers need customized solutions. Each…
Helping Co-op Utilities Implement Solar
By: Adam Baker We recently finished an interesting solar application project with a small utility co-op that may help pave the way for other small utilities…
Three 2018 Predictions for SCADA and Controls
By: Allan Evora What should facility professionals and instrumentation experts hold in store for SCADA, instrumentation, and controls? I want to talk about…
Charlotte Pipe & Foundry: Peak Energy Control
One of Manufacturing’s Greatest Energy Challenges: Peak DemandCharlotte Pipe and Foundry chose Affinity Energy to implement a monitoring and measuring system…
Concord Energy – Biomass Controls System
From Trash to Treasure: Harnessing Biomass Energy.Municipalities looking for a renewable energy source can simply look to their local landfill. First, we…
Power Quality Made Simpler
By: Allan Evora Article originally posted by Control Engineering. Power quality (PQ) is a big deal for most owners and facility managers looking to improve…
Are You Missing NFPA 110 Generator Alarms?
By: Allan Evora Lack of compliance with NFPA 110 Level 1 safety indications and alarms is an inherent problem in the healthcare industry. In my experience, a…
Think You Need an EPMS System? Read This First
By: Allan Evora Depending on the level of detailed information your facility needs about your power, you may not need an EPMS system at all. To avoid over…
Our Control System Process
A Consistent MethodologyAt Affinity Energy, we understand the importance of information.…
How IIoT Changes SCADA: Interview with a System Integrator
There’s a lot of discussion about IIoT, or the Industrial Internet of Things, and what it means to system integrators and control systems. We interviewed…
Manufacturing
Industrial Power Management System for ManufacturingWe help manufacturing plants better monitor…