SMA Technologie AG Higher added value through ecological
Transcription
SMA Technologie AG Higher added value through ecological
VERSION 1/08 SMA success story: Inverters for photovoltaic SMA management (left to right): Pierre-Pascal Urbon, Günther Cramer, Reiner Wettlaufer, Peter Drews TDT-ProduCTS New C1500 mobile Router Series TDT A1500 Telephone system SW1500 Video surveillance system Info terminal DynTDT Trust TDTPublic key infrastructure TDT in India Promising contacts with Indian companies Everything about Voice over IP The page 3 Editorial Network management with TDT SMA Technologie AG Higher added value through ecological innovations The creative use of new technologies portrays the best of the environmental market. This is especially so for solar technology and exactly fits SMA based in Cassel. Three former students from the University of Cassel launched the company SMA in 1981 and laid the corner stone for a German success story. Not only that products for solar technology, communication and control and railway technology were manufactured in Germany – more than 200 desi- gners and engineers are continually working on the research and optimisation of new technologies, amongst others bringing outstanding photo-voltaic inverter products to the market. This has made the company into one of the leading manufacturers of inverters in Europe and North America. To guarantee the transmission of information to and from solar installations from every location and every place, SMA relies upon robust routers from TDT. SMA was building inverters before others had even thought about it. During the times before promotional programmes, the founders and current board members were convinced that solar power had a long-term future as an energy source. At the start of the promotional programme 1.000 roof and 100.000 roof programmes, SMA shone with qualitative, well-engineered products and could thereby serve the German market. Continued expansion of the core competencies - microprocessor techniques, digital communications technology, power electronics as well as closed loop and system technologies – such a high level of systematic development and networking could not have taken place in any other country than Germany. This clear commitment to the German location, also for the production facility, is apparent at the company’s site at Niestetal near Cassel. Additional modern production facilities will be erected on the SMA site to cope with the demand for SMA’s sought-after products. To this end the SMA representative Joerg Lengemann (product management) stated, “The high quality, which we require can only be built here. Only when the hard and software development teams work closely together with the production, can our technological advantage and therefore the German manufacturing base can be secured and expanded.” The employees are proud of their special corporate structure, which is promoted and practiced at all levels. A nurtured contact with the local universities and institutions paves the way to SMA for young qualified people. The company willingly provides resources for vocational training purposes, diploma projects and internships. detached house that can deliver up to 6kW into the mains. The next group, such as barn roofs or industrial areas produce up to 100 to 200 kW power. The third group are the open space systems, installed on green field sites (large-scale systems), which go to the megawatt range and even reach peak outputs of up to 40MW. It’s important to understand that the direct current solar modules do not supply the public mains network, but rather the connected inverter converts the solar energy into mains network compliant power. If no public network is available, as is the case in remote areas and developing countries, then an island solution can be created in the form of a modularly expandable mains network. Also here SMA supplies the necessary system technology and is involved in a number The inverter and photovoltaic equipment: the solar sector is very diverse, beginning with a of development aid projects. The business model for the inverters is dependant on the size of the system. SMA delivers the small and medium systems to wholesale dealers who assemble and sell complete plant and equipment. As a rule the systems are purchased and installed by electricians who also arrange the connection to the public mains network. The SMA inverters belong to the top of the range equipment on the world market. With physical (electrical) efficiencies of 98% the possibility of increasing the effectiveness is nearly exhausted. But, because nothing is so good that it cannot be improved, the customer-oriented development work with high commitment continues. Additional efficiency is provided by the broad inverter product range, in order to optimally use the potential of the different solar modules in the solar equipment for the increasing system voltages. A further advantage of the SMA technology is the simple connection during installation along the lines: plug-in - switch on. The new Inverter generation does not transmit data to the data logger via cable, rather by radio using Bluetooth technology. The complete cable installation to the data logger can be omitted. Because the inverters are for worldwide use, the network compatibility of the mains must be considered during development of the equipment. This is normally achieved by software means. The setting is made using a rotary switch on the inverter. This service is really appreciated, especially by the meanwhile internationally active wholesale dealers. For large systems as for example the energy park Waldpolenz near Leipzig, the investors respectively companies specialise in turn key systems – and rely for their core components, the inverters, on the expertise of SMA. The solar generators include the SMA central inverters, which feed the current into the public network. Additionally, each inverter is equipped with a data connection that transmits operational data, error messages and fault data to an industrial PC-based data logger. Dependent on the configuration, the unit collects for example voltage and current values for the inverter or from the complete plant, enabling revenue analysis and statistical interpretations. Hence, using the log data it is possible to determine whether the collected information lies inside determined limits and therefore within the predicted revenues respectively the predicted efficiency. The inverter The unit decides with which efficiency the solar modules energy will be converted, how much energy is feed via a separate electricity meter into the public mains network and what the resulting revenue will be. The intelligent monitoring techniques make sure that an alarm is sent to the operator when the module performance (efficiency) deceases or a fault occurs, thereby reducing as far as possible the loss of revenue using selective repair procedures. To safeguard the efficiency of the photovoltaic plant a regular comparison of the individual physically identical strings of solar cells is necessary, to determine an eventual reduction in performance of individual cells. Integrated alarm and statistical functions enable the continuous control, displays a realistic picture of the plant status, hence making targeted service possible. The data flow The collected information from the data logger (Sunny WebBox) is sent to the SMA Internet portal using XML upload for visualisation. The web browser implemented in the Sunny WebBox presents the possibility of remote access. The customers, dependent on their configuration, can either dial the Sunny portal in Niestetal or direct on the plant, to acquaint themselves with the status respectively the generated energy. The visualisation displays offer for example comprehensive information about daily or periodic revenues. To guarantee the highest quality demands, the programming of the portal application (Sunny Portal) as well as the data logger firmware is exclusively based on internal SMA expertise. The WebBox offers various possibilities to transfer data. Apart from the built-in GSM modem it is primarily the Ethernet interface, which is used to connect to the Internet. The TDT router assumes the task of data transmission for large plants with central inverters (Sunny Central) or when applicable, to safely transmit data from a number of data loggers with a large number of connected inverters to the Internet portal. The Sunny Central inverter is installed in one or a number of electrical cabinets, which can be mounted concrete substations, which can be as large as a garage. They also house further auxiliary equipment for data transmission within the solar plant. Via copper or fibre optic cables, information is passed from the data logger to the TDT router, which forms the interface to the outside world. According to the data structure of the location, the TDT equipment transmits the collected data over the web via ISDN, DSL, GSM or GPRS either to SMA computer centre or the customer. Because some larger plants are in operation for 30 years, the routers must also fulfil special criteria. The equipment must be durable, also providing stable operation even in extreme temperatures, reliable transmission and meet the industrial standards. During the first test phase in 2005 the routers that SMA used did not reach the required degree of performance and during the search for an alternative, came upon the professional equipment from TDT. The trials with the ISDN router convinced SMA. Among others a crucial factor for using the TDT router was the faultless operation even when subjected to a strong electromagnetic environment. The cooperation for the test series began in 2006 using GSM, DSL and GPRS routers from TDT. GPRS is important for solar power plants, which are exclusively reached via this network. All TDT routers are characterised by their security-oriented de- sign, achieved amongst others by a powerful firewall as well as detailed monitoring, accounting and content filter functions. Elaborate backup solutions adapted to the router version guarantee maximum availability. TDT router, the all rounder Using bi-directional communication via the TDT router, it is also easy to perform software updates remotely. Thereby all major network topologies and transmission procedures are considered, to meet the requirements for plant availability and customers worldwide. Cooperation The successful cooperation requires detailed preparatory work on both sides. For example the determination of the basic configuration for the router, which was compiled in the SMA test laboratory with assistance from the TDT technicians. Since the successful conclusion of the tests, TDT delivers the routers with SMA specific configuration. Hence, the SMA specialists must only define plant specific data for example the IP address or ISDN phone number for a particular router series. To impart the corresponding know-how about the TDT router series, the support technician Andreas Landinger gave the SMA technicians an intensive seminar elucidating the router philosophy and explaining the handling and configuration possibilities. In the meantime more than a dozen SMA employees are involved in the individual projects. Due to the continuing trend for even larger photovoltaic plants the necessity for professional communications, especially in international business, has also increased. This is a clear orientation and core philosophy of the company. More than 1,900 motivated and qualified employees ensure that the Niestetal location remains the linchpin for innovative solar technology including research, development and production. The company TDT, their partner for data communication is following the same objectives. The proverbial reliability and the convincing TDT support is very obliging for SMA Technologie AG, therefore a long-term cooperation with recurring new challenges is welcomed from both sides. Contact: Jörg Lengemann Product Management & Sales Sales Engineer Phone +49 561 9522-114 [email protected] www.SMA.de Editorial Network management – no problem? The IT world is talking about the meaning of network management. Only a few of them however know what it really means. To install a network management system with the help of a wizard is not difficult. For many it is sufficient to graphically monitor a device in a network management system. For the most, this limited to gathering simple vital signs. If the answer from a device is missing an alarm is generated. So far so good – but when a device doesn’t answer anymore then in most cases it’s too late! What about creeping faults, bottlenecks, faulty lines? How can I check the service level agreements of my provider? When commencing my activities with TDT’s expert support I adopted the proprietary network management system from TDT’s NetMACS. Close customer contact, scores of test configurations, installations and tearing my hair out brought me experience in network management. I now know what customers really expect from a network management system. Simple operation! With the new router generations, the X.25-burdened NetMACS must find an equivalent alternative on the IP level. The result of research, tests, price comparisons, load tests and the like were that the SNMP network management system LoriotPro from our partner company in France was taken into our portfolio. As previously explained, the operation and configuration should be simple. At the same time, it should also be rich in functionality and extendable without limits?! They don’t go together! Even through graphic visualisation, simple menu assistance, fantastic online manuals, newsgroups and the like cannot spare an administrator a certain level of know-how. Network management begins with the hardware selection and ends with the backup of data and emergency recovery. Besides this an administrator must master of IP, routing and SNMP, on top of that to understand the MIB structure and to configure the devices accordingly. I have understood the problem: which is not readily possible even in large companies. A service must be offered covering all the previously described aspects. Consequently the “enhanced service” from TDT has been created. To achieve this the complete network management is hosted and maintained by TDT on a dedicated server. Commissioning, configuration and maintenance are no longer applicable for the customer. In a customer discussion, the objects and parameters to be monitored are defined and which of them can be adapted for dynamic runtime. Alarms are accumulated by TDT and are handled in the expert service centre – often before the customer has even realised that a problem exists. Even in powerful network management systems, there are unfortunately weaknesses in the configuration and security management. I’ve made it my job to identify and correct these deficiencies. The TDT task manager is databank supported proprietary development, which is able to process time-controlled tasks for an unlimited number of TDT devices from the R-series. Amongst others this includes software updates, configuration up and downloads or the execution of pre-defined commands. In the new “certificate administration” service add-on, TDT integrates them in the companies own certificate hierarchy. The distribution and renewal of the certificates for TDT’s IPSec-enabled devices is achieved using the widely used SCEP (Simple Certificate Enrolment Protocol) protocol. With this portfolio in the sphere of service, TDT is ready for even more ambitious tasks. The term “all-round carefree package” has been redefined by TDT whereby we want to set future benchmarks by further developing our proprietary software and service offering with respect to our customers. Your Josef Zehentbauer IMPRESSUM Publisher TDT Michael Pickhardt chief executive officer Siemensstraße 18 84051 Essenbach Tel. +49 8703 929-0 Fax +49 8703 929-20 E-Mail: [email protected] web. http://www.tdt.de Responsible for the content: H. J. Büttner marketing director Prints: 15.000 Production: MCW Ulmenstraße 21 84051 Essenbach Tel. +49 8703-91360 [email protected] VoIP: Telephony via a Network Most frequently used Codecs: Voice over IP (VoIP) understood as telephoning over a computer network using Internet protocol (IP). The different VoIP standards enable the real-time transmission of conversations over IP-based networks. IP-Netz Differences Between VoIP and Conventional Telephony VoIP is a communication solution based on the Internet protocol (IP). This means that the conversation data is packed in packets, which are individually transmitted, to the recipient. The path, which the data packets take in the network, cannot be influenced. Furthermore, payload data is also transmitted on the network; therefore a continuous transmission is only possible with restrictions. A prioritisation of the audio data compared to the payload data is for example possible when using a quality of service (QoS). With conventional telephony the speech is converted to an electrical voltage using a microphone, this is passed via a switching station to the recipient (diagram 2). After lifting the receiver, the voltage is immediately passed to the earpiece, which converts it to an audible. IP-Netz Gateway Telefon-Netz VoIP from/to a Classical Telephone Gateways are required to enable connections to conventional telephone networks. The gateways are connected with the IP network of the VoIP telephone as well as the conventional telephone network. When they receive a request from an IP telephone it is forwarded to the telephone network by calling the desired number. If they receive a request from a telephone network they forward it to the corresponding IP telephone. Gateways can be either locally employed VoIP telephone systems or external, mostly chargeable servers. The VoIP telephone periodically contacts the gateway and transfers the currently valid IP address to the server. Thereby a correlation between the telephone number and the IP address is ensured, also with changing IP address G.711a 80 KBit/s G.726 G.728 G.729 iLBC 80 KBit/s Excellent (better than ISDN) 55 KBit/s Good 32 KBit/s 32 KBit/s 32 KBit/s G.723.1 21 KBit/s ENUM ENUM stands for “telephone number mapping” and is an application of the domain name system to transform telephone numbers into Internet addresses. The idea Because the availability of VoIP services has risen sharply in the past years and users want to be reached either by VoIP or on conventional telephone connections using the same telephone number, it was decide to generate a number plan similar to that in classical telephone networks. This was built on the classical top-level domain arap. Because the mapping is based on the E.164 number plan, e164 was chosen as sub domain. The listed telephone numbers are simple DNS entries, whereby it would be possible for everyone to generate an individual number plan under other domains. 1. Write the complete E.164 number VoIP to VoIP: the general functionality of voice over IP is described in diagram 3. As with the classical telephony the speech is recorded as an analogue signal using a microphone. This is converted into a data stream using an analogue/digital converter and subsequently compressed. The compressed data stream is then dissected into IP packets and sent to the recipient via the network. By the recipient the packets are consolidated back into a data stream and using an analogue/digital converter transformed into an analogue signal which is passed to a loudspeaker. Bandbreite Speech quality G.722 Telefon-Netz The implementation Functionality Codec 2. Remove all characters that do not represent a digit 3. Insert full stops between the digits 4. Reverse the order of the digits 5. Append the ENUM domain suffix .e164.arpa +49 8703 929 00 49870392900 4.9.8.7.0.3.9.2.9.0.0 0.0.9.2.9.3.0.7.8.9.4 G.723 GSM 15 KBit/s 13 KBit/s Excellent (better than ISDN)) Good Good Good Sufficient Sufficient Sufficient (Mobile telephony) VoIP Terminal Devices Basically there are three types of terminal devices, which can be used for IP telephony. VoIP Softphones With softphones a software is specified with which it is possible to use VoIP on a PC. Apart from the open standards H.323 and SIP there are also proprietary protocols such as Skype, which are in widespread use. IP-Telefony IP telephones are telephones with a network connection or classic telephones which are connected to a network using an adapter. IP Telephone System An IP telephone system or VoIP telephone system replaces classic telephone systems and offer the same convenient characteristics, including for example conference switching, forwarding, call transfer and free of charge internal calls. Calls from and within the analogue/ISDN network can be optionally made via a gateway or via the analogue/ISDN hardware 0.0.9.2.9.3.0.7.8.9.4.e164.arpa The Request The connection to a telephone number, which has an ENUM domain, is attempted via an ENUM look-up terminal or via a provider, which supports ENUM look-up. In this way the internal terminal respectively the provider request the target using the ENUM domain. If under the target for example a VoIP-target a mobile or fixed subscriber number available, then a connection build-up will be preferred to this connection. Thereby several targets can be stored and called according to their priority. To register a German telephone number for an ENUM domain it must correspond to the German telephone number plan. The registration is made via a registration office. Advantages of VoIP 032 Telephone Number Range An additional advantage of VoIP is its high mobility. A VoIP connection is not fixed to one location and can be used worldwide. An employee is available under his number at all times irrespective of his workplace location. The only prerequisite is the availability of Internet at the location The pre-selection 032 is a telephone number range appointed by the German federal network agency for VoIP. Because no specific geographical location is associated to the 032 preselection it is predestined for use in different locations Codecs and Bandwidth The quality and necessary bandwidth of a VoIP connection is determined in the most part by the audio codecs used, which compresses the digital audio signal to a larger or smaller degree. A high compression rate has a lower speech quality, however as a result has a lower bandwidth. A large number of audio codecs are available, which cover the various requirements for speech quality and useable bandwidth. However it should be considered that VoIP terminal devices only support a limited number of codecs and that for the realisation of a connection with a particular codecs all the terminal devices involved must be in possession of the relevant codecs. The most frequently used codecs G.711a requires pro VoIP connection a net bandwidth of about 80 Kbit/s including overhead. Cost saving By using VoIP a common network infrastructure can be used for both speech and data transmission, the normal telephone infrastructure is no longer required. Telephone conversations with employees, branch offices and other VoIP subscribers worldwide are free of charge.. Flexiblity Added Value According to the soft and hardware used VoIP offers a multiplicity of value-added services: - Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) e.g. number dialling from Outlook, voicemails - Least Cost Routing, always using the most favourable price - Video telephony - Higher scalability - Conference calls - Copying calls - Calls can be copied and archivedn Sources Jochen Nölle; Voice over IP; 2. Auflage 2005; ISBN 3-8007-2850-8 Dipl. Inf. (FH) Thomas Steffens; http://www.itk-steffens.de http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voip TDT New Developments The new C1500 mobile router series The new generation of mobile 3G routers is based on a TDT’s own Linux platform offering flexibility and security. The C1500 is equipped for every network: GPRS, UMTS/HSDPA, CDMA! For local access either WiFi IEEE 802.11 a/b/g with an additional 108 Mbit turbo modus, or an Ethernet port are available. By utilising the complete IPSec suite all relevant security aspects are covered. A high performance firewall with intrusion detection, scripting and the use of regulations complete the integrated security package. TDT A1500 The intelligent Telephone System The TDT A1500 is a standalone telephone system based on Asteriks designed for small and medium businesses (2 – 50 subscribers). TDT’s own graphic interface enables convenient configuration and operation of the whole telephone system. Additional to this a convenient switchboard is provided. Using the switchboard “Ingrid”, calls can be conveniently brokered from every browser-supported workplace. Key functions: • Complete Asteriks server (SIP, IAX) • Integrated router with firewall • Switchboard “Ingrid“ for the simple admi nistration of calls • Call centre functionality • Forwarding of voicemail via E-Mail (wav) Contact our sales personnel for a detailed consultation. Customer-oriented Competence: Expert Service Our expert support team provides companies with competent know-how in all aspects of data communication. Agree with us about your demands.: Active Premium Service Monitors your network 24/7. A dedicated server at TDT hosts the network management system and is scaled for every customer network. Inquisitive? Give us a call! Network Consulting Based on our technical competence and awareness for efficiency and quality, TDT’s expert support will consult you both by the selection of equipment as well as with the planning of your new company network. Our expert support team will analyse your network concerning costs and security. The TDT expert service thereby completely fulfils the requirements of medium-sized companies at a favourable price. TDT Expert Service Team With immediate effect TDT is offering a CA, that is to say a public key infrastructure. Thereby the TDT expert service is providing it’s customers with a CA server to take care of it’s created certificates. An actual RL for withdrawal of certificates will be taken care of by the TDT expert service. Before expiry, the expert service will renew certificates – fast, simple and reliable. The many diverse tasks of the PKI • Issuing/signing of digital certificates • Administration of certificates • Renewal of certificates • Operational restrictions of certificates • Signing • Encoding and decoding • Authentication • Data integrity • Publishing of Certificate Revocation List (CRL) • Security measures for guaranteeing the trustworthiness of the CA Mobile G3 router on the wish list of the Indian IT sector. The Indian market has undergone a rapid development and the government is doing everything possible to promote this, because every new IT job provides three downstream jobs. After it’s great sales successes in Thailand and Indonesia TDT are now concentrating to the Indian subcontinent. Sales manager Juergen Buettner and product manager Wolfgang Rau have already started a first venture in November 2007 in Bangalore, the India’s IT stronghold. Together with the Bavarian Ministry of Economics products were displayed on a communal Bavarian booth at the ExpoCom 2007 trade fair. “Convergence” the largest telecommunications trade fair in March 2008 was TDTs second trade fair in India. As predicted, the mobile 3G routers enjoyed great interest. As in Thailand they are the key to the connection of ATMs (cash dispensing machines). These high-tech routers can potentially replace costly satellite connections in India’s rural areas and regions where the infrastructure is underdeveloped. Because safe and reliable data communications, which TDT have introduced in many companies, is stringent requirement of the interested parties in India. Together with the partner SLN Technologies Pvt. Ltd., TDT is making its first contact, as an initial step to establishing a longterm business relationship. The outcome of the discussions and the dynamic development of the Indian economy lead us to anticipate a successful introduction of TDT products and a stable business. SW1500 Info Terminal SW1500 Autonomous Video Monitoring System Braining and Seminars Employees are the most important success factor of companies. To ensure that this remains so, the TDT training and seminar program designs customised concepts to stimulate and extend the employee potential. Trust TDT TDT in India Mobile G3 router on the wish list of the Indian IT sector Key data of the TDT PKII • Distribution of certificates via Internet using an Online RA and SCEP • Administration, signature, presentation of certificates with a secure CA • Protection of relevant files against failure of the CA • Only keys longer than 2048 bits • Lifespan of client certificates limited to I year • Daily publishing and actualising of CRLs in Intern With the new SW1500 TDT presents a fully autonomous and mobile video monitoring system. The system is supplied using a solar module and a high performance battery. The integrated 3G router from TDT (GPRS/ EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA) guarantees a safe “Always Online” connection. The intelligent energy management and programmable timer functions guarantee safe operation. The SW1500 can for example be employed for the monitoring of building sites and ski slopes or in the security sector. NEW TDT LOGO The logo includes elements of the previous company emblem and thereby symbolises our growing know-how and continuity. At the same time it symbolises with the new, open form of the letters the open mindedness of TDT. The re-launch is also evident on the TDT portal. Try it yourself at www.tdt.de. Andres Pichl new Salesman From the numerous applicants the 24-yearold Andres Pichl emerged as winner. He is very excited at the prospect of presenting TDT products in the field. Due to his know-how and customer-oriented working methods he will be assisting the key account managers Harald Boehm und Guenter Wagner with their customer consultations. Product manager Wolfgang Rau in profitable discussions with the very interested visitors to the fair The newest development from TDT is a “standalone” info terminal for universal operation. The terminal is equipped with an integrated Internet browser with a virtual touchscreen keyboard, card reader and all necessary communication interfaces. The Internet connection is provided via DSL and/or by mobile phone, whereby both methods can be used either as the main or backup route. Communication is provided with a configurable encryption and authentication. Integrated into an elegant housing it’s ideal for shopping centres, DIY stores, lottery agencies, etc. The TDT team can also implement customer-specific requirements in our renowned quality. Additional application possibilities: • Info point at museums, public buildings, tourist offices • Timetable information • Booking terminal (train reservation, flights, top-up mobile phone cards) • Guidance system e.g. at trade fairs, expositions, DIY stores, clinics • Ticket dispensing, in connection with a printer and EC cash • Product presentations at trade fairs, expositions, in DIY stores, car showrooms • Photo processing terminal for digital photos, etc. • Virtual reception e.g. in hotels, Universities and schools DynTDT Behind the catchword DynTDT, TDT offers its service customers a free of charge DynDNS service. With this service we can reach your remote.