ETB Controller™ Installation Instructions: Section 5 - Commissioning
5.0 Commissioning
The following is a generic process of confirmation and successful tests to complete during commissioning of an Energy Toolbase Acumen Energy Management System (EMS). These actions are designed to ensure consistent system operations from day one and provide a baseline for system performance used to compare future performance. All the commissioning checks/tests should be conducted by technicians trained and certified by appropriate hardware vendors.
5.1 Pre-commissioning equipment checklist
Any commissioning software tests cannot be started until all pre-commissioning equipment checklist items are complete.
Site Preparation
- Site work is largely complete (devices installed and running per manufacturer guidelines) and access for safe commissioning procedures is available
- Permanent power has been attained and site is approved for interconnection with the local Utility or other appropriate Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJs)
- Permanent internet connection has been established and provides a stable bandwidth over 5MB/sec
- Scheduled capacity test time frame has been approved by the site owner
Equipment Preparation
- PCS(s) are installed, physically tested and commissioned per manufacturers requirements
- Transformers and electrical distribution equipment have been installed per local requirements, tested and commissioned per best practices and equipment manufacturers requirements and have been energized for more than 24 hours
- Auxiliary power for low voltage controls has been energized for more than 24 hours
- All cabling and connections have been appropriately tested and are ready for permanent system operations
- All third-party metering and telemetry equipment have been installed and tested
- All communications cabling has been terminated and tested. Cabling should be shielded and properly terminated in each device
Energy Storage System
- All battery racks are installed, physically tested and commissioned per manufacturers requirements; prepared for permanent operation of the system
- All balancing circuits and balancing procedures have been completed
- Auxiliary power for low voltage controls has been on for more than 24 hours
- All communications cabling has been terminated and tested. Cabling should be shielded and properly terminated in each device
Acumen Energy Management System
- Dedicated ETB Controller™ metering devices (eGauge, Acuvim, CTs, etc.) required for data collection and control are connected to the EMS.
- Communications cabling has been terminated and physically tested
- The EMS has power supplied. A UPS suitable to maintain power during an outage may be supplied per site requirements
- EMS has been installed in a suitable environment to match its operating parameters
5.2 Pre-commissioning software checklist
Software checks will be confirmed within the Energy Toolbase commissioning tool or by Energy Toolbase personnel prior to executing read/write commands for commissioning testing.
Acumen Energy Management System
- Connectivity has been established with the Energy Toolbase cloud services
- All required network ports have been opened
- All devices can be seen on the network
- VPN has been appropriately configured
- Any required static IP addresses have been appropriately configured
- Battery strategy is confirmed
- Unique system set points have been established based on the specific equipment and optimization strategy for the ESS controls
- Time zone, latitude, longitude and altitude are registered
- Gateway is confirmed with the proper number of devices providing information and receiving commands from the EMS (inverters, meters, temperature sensors, contact relays, etc.)
- Billing interval times are set for peak shave and time-of-use optimization
- AWS connection to S3 instance is confirmed
- Communication Modbus maps are confirmed
- Phasing is confirmed with appropriate power factor calculations
- Amperage and frequency readings are deemed appropriate
- Compatible firmware, remote access, and CT configuration is confirmed
5.3 Functional Commissioning and Capacity Test
- Site Acceptance Test (SAT) will be performed and signed off on by manufacturer and ETB
- Capacity test to be performed in conjunction with Energy Toolbase Engineering and Operations Teams.
- A capacity test must be performed when the ambient temperature external to the ESS are within hardware manufacturer prescribed guidelines.
- The test procedure shall not operate any components of the product outside of the safe recommended ranges of the supplier or in any way to violate the product warranty or damage the product or product components.
- The ESS shall be in working condition before executing the test procedure; provided, if the test is being conducted, all battery modules shall be available to operate during the Test.
Energy Meter(s)
- Building energy consumption and photovoltaic output is confirmed for accuracy based on historical interval data (when available) and confirmed with the developer or installation partner.
- Energy storage metering is confirmed via a discharge test. This test not only confirms the ESS output but also is reviewed as it impacts the site consumption readings.
- Any unique to site metered loads or generation are confirmed upon customer request
Acumen Energy Management System
- Full system register is reviewed for any faults or performance alerts
- Confirmation that all warranty data collection points are registered
- Peripheral devices are operational and communicating as expected
- Official strategy parameters are determined and deployed per site specifics
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- SOC targets
- power targets
- peak thresholds
- TOU intervals
- Billing intervals
- Initialization
- Start/stop charging/discharging
- Site_net pv target
- Metered target
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5.4 Final settings and additional tests
1. Calibrate the system within the Energy Toolbase EMS platform based on capacity test results
2. Charge system to desired SOC
3. Perform additional functional tests (post-manufacturer testing), if applicable
4. Prepare and set system into final functional mode based on site requirements
5. Establish Energy Toolbase asset management and monitoring instance for customer data access
6. Initiate 90-day burn-in performance analysis clock for future system review
Note: some tests may be required to record several days or events to conclude results.