J Lanka launches Sri Lanka’s first “Internet of Things” product
27 Apr 2015 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Chandeepa Wettasinghe
Sri Lanka’s first “Internet of Things” product, the ePro1000 electricity consumption monitoring smart meter was launched this week by J Lanka Technologies (Pvt) Ltd.
“(They have) produced the first comprehensive energy measuring instrument which has the marvels of new technology and communication for the benefit of the country,” Energy Expert Dr. Tilak Siyambalapitiya said.
The Internet of Things concept is a modern global trend, focused towards interconnecting machines and personal devices and transmitting data without human intervention.
Both Dr. Siyambalapitiya and Ceylon Electricity Board Chairman Anura Wijepala said that the ePro1000 would go a long way towards demand side management of electricity, which is practiced in many developed countries.
“This is a single platform which provides residential and commercial utility solutions through automation,” J Lanka Technologies CEO Dr. Mayura Jayasoma said.
Installing the ePro1000 would allow a customer to monitor the electrical power, electrical energy, current, voltage, power factor and frequency of the location through a web portal. Multiple electrical appliances may also be connected to the smart meter, or isolated to evaluate their electricity consumption.
This would allow a customer to eliminate duplication of processes in business and more efficient energy usage.
However, Dr. Siyambalapitiya and Wijepala said the most important factor would be that customers could stagger the activation of their machines to reduce electricity usage during peak hours. With the forthcoming policy to reduce electricity prices during off-peak hours, they said businesses could increase their profits.
Further, a business owner with multiple properties could install a device at each property to compare and contrast.
“For example, in a supermarket chain, you can compare different supermarkets to see whether the refrigeration systems are efficient,” Dr. Jayasoma said.
J Lanka Technologies Research and Development Consultant Nalin Karunasinghe said that the web portal of ePro1000 would allow the owners to plan their electricity patterns to minute details, and even set a pre-determined energy cost. “It’s like a reload for your mobile phones. You can enter a certain amount, and when it reaches that, electricity will be cut. Then you’ll have to put in some more. This will let businesses stop having complicated energy audits,” he said.
Karunasinghe said that it would take less than an hour to install the ePro1000.
J Lanka Technologies was founded in 2010 to provide solar power solutions, and has to date installed solar units with a total generation capacity of 3 Megawatts.
