Schneider Electric has announced a Web-enabled Ethernet communications card option for its compact Square D PowerLogic PM800 series power meters, designed to optimize the monitoring of electrical installations in industrial, commercial or critical power environments. The new Transparent Ready Ethernet port offers fast access to a meter's 3-phase energy and power quality data using a standard Web browser, e-mail or power and energy management software. Facility and operations personnel can use the power meters as part of a complete PowerLogic solution to help reduce energy-related costs and avoid power disturbances or other conditions that put equipment and productivity at risk.

"PowerLogic PM800 series power meters now offer more integrated measurement, I/O and connectivity features than is typical in their price class," said Bob Kennedy, power management marketing director for Schneider Electric. "The PM8ECC Ethernet module's ability to connect directly to a corporate intranet or the Internet without the need for a separate Ethernet gateway makes the PM800 meters the most affordable option for combined power quality compliance metering, disturbance monitoring, cost allocation or demand management applications."

The PowerLogic PM800 series includes three meter models with option modules, representing an incremental set of features, including power quality analysis; alarming; data logging; digital and analog inputs and outputs; and multiport serial or Ethernet communication features supporting Modbus protocol. The meters are designed to be fast to install and set up, with a small footprint and shallow mounting depth to fit into space-limited panelboards or equipment cabinets. Data can be viewed using the large, intuitive LCD interface or can be uploaded for further analysis to software such as PowerLogic System Manager, PowerLogic PowerView software, PowerLogic ION Enterprise or third-party automation systems.

The power meters are suited to a wide range of applications, including metering and trending of energy and demand (accurate to IEC 62053-22 and ANSI C12.20 Class 0.5S standards); forecasting loads; and subbilling tenants, departments or processes. They also can count and convert pulses from external water, compressed air, gas or steam meters for integrated WAGES utility metering.

To help detect and troubleshoot risks to reliability, the power meters offer power quality evaluation to the international EN50160 standard, as well as the ability to measure harmonics and capture current and voltage sags and swells. Flexible monitoring, alarming and control features help operations personnel respond quickly to potential problems, as well as implement manual or automated control schemes to manage loads, generators or other equipment.