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Power the community can count on, and see.

Remote communities often run on diesel or on a weak grid that fails for days. A community microgrid of solar, batteries and backup generation can supply homes, the clinic, the school, water pumps and the network. Monitoring every part lets local operators keep it running and show what it delivers.

Industry

Communities

Measurements

5

Sources cited

5

1. Communities · Community microgrids

   Off the grid, or on a weak one

   Remote communities often pay dearly for diesel or live with a grid that fails for days. A community microgrid of solar, batteries and backup generation can keep homes, the clinic, the school, water pumps and the network running, if local operators can see every part and act before it fails.

2. What is measured

   Sun, battery, fuel and load

   Meters read solar generation, generator output and supply to every feeder and service, an irradiance sensor measures the sun the array receives, the battery management system reports charge, health and temperature, and the generator reports run hours, starts and fuel in its tank.

   Instruments

   Power meters · Irradiance · Battery management · Generator controller

3. The base node

   Tomorrow, forecast

   The node forecasts tomorrow’s solar and load, advises the controller when the generator must run, warns when heat or deep discharge stresses the batteries, and computes the energy access each household and service receives, so the community can show what the plant delivers.

4. Radio and links

   Data out by cellular or satellite

   Where coverage exists, cellular carries plant data and remote support. Communities beyond coverage use satellite, often shared with their community network. The monitoring runs from the battery bank with its own reserve, so it reports even after a shutdown and tells remote support what happened.

   Links

   Public cellular · Satellite

5. How it works

   From a cloudy forecast to a generator

   The node forecasts three cloudy days and a full clinic. It advises a short generator run the next afternoon to keep the batteries above their limit through the night. The local operator approves it, fuel use is recorded, and the clinic never loses power.

6. From order to operation · Order

   Scope the loads and the plan

   The scope reads the community’s homes, services and productive uses, present power and fuel costs, growth plans and who will own and run the system. Nexus Observatory Inc. returns the plant design, monitoring, training, an energy access baseline and a price for building and for each year.

   Plan a deployment

7. From order to operation · Survey

   Survey the land and the loads

   Crews survey with the community: land for the array and battery room, shading and flood marks, the generator and fuel store, distribution routes, critical loads such as the clinic and water pumps, and backhaul coverage. Findings are recorded with photographs.

8. From order to operation · Permits

   Land, licences and agreements

   Land use is agreed with the community, generation and distribution are licensed or exempted under national rules, and the ownership, tariff and maintenance agreement is signed. Fuel storage follows fire safety rules. Every agreement is kept with the site record.

9. From order to operation · Build

   Build and test the plant

   Inverters, batteries, the controller, meters and the monitoring gateway are configured and tested together, with protection settings checked and battery safety systems proven. Nodes are enrolled with their identities and local operators join the bench work. Test results travel with the kit to the site.

   Open the Station Builder

10. From order to operation · Install

    Install the plant

    Crews and local workers set the array foundations and frames, install the battery room and generator, connect the controller and distribution, fit meters at homes and services, and install the gateway and backhaul. Every part is photographed and recorded. The site record is updated before the crew leaves.

11. From order to operation · Commission

    Commission and island

    Each node proves its identity. The plant is tested in every mode: solar and battery alone, with the generator, through a planned outage and back. Meters are checked against references, and the energy access baseline is measured for every household and service.

12. From order to operation · Operate

    Run it locally

    Local operators see generation, battery health, fuel and supply to every service. The generator runs only when forecasts need it, critical loads keep priority, and every outage is recorded. Funders receive energy access and performance reports from the same record.

13. From order to operation · Maintain

    Keep the batteries healthy

    Panels are cleaned, battery health is tracked and cells replaced before failure, the generator is serviced on run hours, and software updates arrive remotely in rings. Local operators carry out most work, with remote support for the rest. Spares and procedures travel with the crews.

    Book field services

14. Data products

    For households, operators and funders

    Households, the clinic, the school and water services receive supply and outage records; local operators receive plant health and forecasts; the governing body receives fuel use and savings; funders and governments receive energy access tiers, each tied to the plant and the period.

    See the data products

15. Evidence

    Access you can show

    The plant follows the international specifications for rural renewable and hybrid systems, the controller the microgrid controller standard, solar monitoring the photovoltaic performance series and batteries the storage safety standard. Energy access is reported on the multi-tier framework from metered records.

    Drawn against

    IEC TS 62257 · IEEE 2030.7 · IEC 61724-1 · IEC 62933-5-2 · Beyond Connections: Energy Access Redefined (Multi-Tier Framework)

16. What you get

    Microgrids and off-grid site power

    PV, storage and generator sizing for instruments and edge sites, with telemetry and remote control. Delivered as hardware + software and managed service, for remote sites, telecom, agencies, communities. Scale: Per site; fleets. Service levels are written as numbers you can measure on your own dashboard.

    Talk to sales

17. Next step

    Plan community microgrids with us

    Tell us the site, the measurements and the rules it answers to. We reply with a survey proposal, a design and a scope for community microgrids. An engineer replies with a survey proposal and a scope, and the plan grows from one site to the network you need, at your pace.

    Plan a deploymentOpen the Station BuilderOpen the Studio

01The place and its hazards

Where it runs, and what can go wrong.

Operating contextRural electrification with renewable and hybrid systems has its own international technical specifications, microgrid controllers are specified by an IEEE standard, photovoltaic performance is monitored to the international series and battery storage follows safety standards. Energy access itself is measured with a multi-tier framework that counts hours, capacity, reliability and affordability.

Hazards

• Diesel that is costly, polluting and late to arrive
• Batteries degraded by heat and deep discharge
• Outages that close the clinic and stop the water pumps
• Loads growing beyond what the system was built for
• No local skills to diagnose faults

02What must be measured

What, where, how often, and under which rules.

Each measurement names where it is taken, how often, and the public standard or regulation behind it. Numbers in the sources column open the cited source below.

03The observation stack

From one base unit to a network.

The same blocks at every scale: instruments and a base node, a site with its radio, a fleet run as one, and a network federated on the open protocol.

1. 01

   Base unit

   A plant point: meters, irradiance, battery and generator data on an industrial gateway with a node.

   Build a station →
2. 02

   Site

   A site: the solar array, battery room, generator, controller and the distribution to homes and services.

   Plan a site →
3. 03

   Fleet

   Several community microgrids run with one view for operators and remote support, each owned locally.

   Managed offers →
4. 04

   Network

   Communities, funders and utilities share energy access and performance records through open standards.

   The open protocol →

• 01Energy and power-quality meter
• 02Compact weather station
• 03Generator
• 04OT gateway (OPC UA, Modbus)
• 05Edge node (Wedge)
• 06Cellular modem/router
• 07LEO flat-panel terminal
• 08Solar array
• 09Battery case

Radio and links

Public cellular

Where coverage exists, cellular carries plant data and remote support.

Radio and links

Satellite

Communities beyond coverage use satellite, often shared with the community network.

Edge computeThe node forecasts solar and load for the next day, advises the controller when to run the generator, warns when batteries are stressed by heat or deep discharge, and computes the energy access tiers each household and service receives.

PowerThe plant powers itself; monitoring runs from the battery bank with its own small reserve so faults are reported even after a shutdown.

04How it works

From the instrument to the product.

One observation’s path, tier by tier, with the interface on every link and a bill of materials below; then how the one node grows to a site, a fleet and federated networks.

05From order to operation

Every step, from the first call to a running site.

The same crew and the same record carry the work from scope to maintenance.

1. 01 Order

   Scope the loads and the plan

   The scope reads the community’s homes, services and productive uses, present power and fuel costs, growth plans and who will own and run the system. Nexus Observatory Inc. returns the plant design, monitoring, training, an energy access baseline and a price for building and for each year. 4

2. 02 Survey

   Survey the land and the loads

   Crews survey with the community: land for the array and battery room, shading and flood marks, the generator and fuel store, distribution routes, critical loads such as the clinic and water pumps, and backhaul coverage. Findings are recorded with photographs. 3

3. 03 Permits

   Land, licences and agreements

   Land use is agreed with the community, generation and distribution are licensed or exempted under national rules, and the ownership, tariff and maintenance agreement is signed. Fuel storage follows fire safety rules. Every agreement is kept with the site record.

4. 04 Build

   Build and test the plant

   Inverters, batteries, the controller, meters and the monitoring gateway are configured and tested together, with protection settings checked and battery safety systems proven. Nodes are enrolled with their identities and local operators join the bench work. Test results travel with the kit to the site. 2

5. 05 Install

   Install the plant

   Crews and local workers set the array foundations and frames, install the battery room and generator, connect the controller and distribution, fit meters at homes and services, and install the gateway and backhaul. Every part is photographed and recorded. The site record is updated before the crew leaves.

6. 06 Commission

   Commission and island

   Each node proves its identity. The plant is tested in every mode: solar and battery alone, with the generator, through a planned outage and back. Meters are checked against references, and the energy access baseline is measured for every household and service. 51

7. 07 Operate

   Run it locally

   Local operators see generation, battery health, fuel and supply to every service. The generator runs only when forecasts need it, critical loads keep priority, and every outage is recorded. Funders receive energy access and performance reports from the same record. 4

8. 08 Maintain

   Keep the batteries healthy

   Panels are cleaned, battery health is tracked and cells replaced before failure, the generator is serviced on run hours, and software updates arrive remotely in rings. Local operators carry out most work, with remote support for the rest. Spares and procedures travel with the crews. 2

06Data products and integration

What it delivers, to whom, and into which systems.

Data products

• Supply and outage recordsHouseholds, the clinic, the school and water services
• Plant health and forecastsLocal operators
• Fuel use and savingsThe community’s governing body
• Energy access tiersFunders and governments

Integration

• Microgrid controllerAdvice and alarms reach the controller through its own interfaces.
• BillingMeter readings feed the community’s tariff and billing.
• FundersPerformance and access reports are exported for funders.

Exchanged through IEC 61850, Modbus, OGC SensorThings API.

07Questions buyers ask

Before you scope it.

Can our own people run it?

Yes. Training and remote support are part of the programme.

How much diesel will it save?

The design estimates it; monitoring reports what was actually saved.

What happens when batteries age?

Health is tracked so cells are replaced before they fail.

Can it grow?

Yes. Arrays and batteries can be added as loads grow.

08Resources

The sources behind this page.

Public standards, regulations and guidance, cited where they apply. Each applies only where its jurisdiction or scope does.

1. 1IEC 61724-1: Photovoltaic system performance, monitoringInternational Electrotechnical Commission
2. 2IEC 62933-5-2: Electrical energy storage systems, safety requirements for electrochemical based systemsInternational Electrotechnical Commission
3. 3IEC TS 62257: Renewable energy and hybrid systems for rural electrificationInternational Electrotechnical Commission
4. 4Beyond Connections: Energy Access Redefined (Multi-Tier Framework)Energy Sector Management Assistance Program, World Bank · 2015
5. 5IEEE 2030.7: Standard for the Specification of Microgrid ControllersIEEE Standards Association

09Related

Use cases and solutions.

10Communities: specialized fields

Other fields of this industry.

Bring us the site.

Plan a deployment, configure a station, model it in the Studio or talk to sales. The form names who receives your details.