Blog Archives
Nighthawk Launches Consumer Engagement Utility Portal
Nighthawk announced last week that they are launching a Consumer Engagement Platform that will utilize the award winning “Cloud” based service. It is a full engagement and communications platform that delivers messaging and real time usage data in a variety of easy to understand graphs as well as opportunities and tips for customers to reduce their monthly costs and usage. The multi-tenant platform enables electric, water and gas utilities for a complete approach to resource optimization. All customers would like to save money on their utilities. The Consumer Engagement Portal equips them to meet this goal.
This engagement directly meets the demands of customers to better understand utility usage, become better stewards of the environment and most importantly lower utility costs. Customers become directly engaged with the utility and are more receptive to communications delivered through the platform.
Nighthawk’s Consumer Engagement Portal is a game changing platform with analytical features and customized comparisons of similarly sized homes without requiring the homeowner to complete long surveys or enter extensive information. The portal allows utilities to provide customers with the granular data they are requesting about daily usage and how they compare to similar neighbors. Powered by Nighthawk’s “cloud” based WebConnect™ platform the new portal offering is both more robust and more affordable than others available.
The portal also offers easy to understand graphs including the display of weather and how it relates to utility usage. Previous periods can be selected and compared to the currently selected period. Alerts for cost and usage thresholds can be configured to text or email notifications when they are exceeded. Comparison data displays usage by similar homes in the zip code broken out to highlight savings enjoyed by the most efficient neighbors. Utilities gain the opportunity to send temperature and weather related messaging in addition to suggestions for conservation.
Nighthawk’s Consumer Engagement Portal takes advantage of the fact that when people are given the ability to understand usage patterns and shown the savings enjoyed by neighbors they are much more likely to adopt those savings habits themselves.
These savings and the increased communication between utility and customer equate to a virtual demand response program requiring no additional equipment or maintenance. It is the most cost effective form of demand response. Nighthawk’s Consumer Engagement Portal can be configured to work with your existing billing and meter systems. Nighthawk utilizes cellular communication combined with ERT reading technology to collect data from new or legacy systems. Their flexible database and open API solution allows for quick implementation and is offered as a fully hosted turnkey solution for utilities of any size.
We’re excited about this new platform and know that our customers will be as well.
Nighthawk Announces Release of RDG960 Mesh-Cellular Smart Grid Module for use in GE’s I-210 Meters
Nighthawk announced today the release of its RDG960 advanced communications and control technology. The RDG960 offers an extension of its already released RDM960/RDL960 products and has been developed to be utilized in GE’s I-210 meters.
Nighthawk’s Cellular-Mesh technology allows utilities to take advantage of public communication infrastructure, offering advanced solutions for their most challenging problems. The RDG960 will allow utilities to take advantage of Nighthawks versatile WebConnect software platform and RF solutions, taking advantage of a range of Smart Grid functions with just the click of the mouse.
Nighthawk Announces Manufacturing and Industrial Automation Sensor and Control Device
Nighthawk, the leader in Cellular Cloud M2M devices has released the MultiHAWK versatile manufacturing and industrial automation sensor and control device. It provides real-time monitoring of up to eight sensors and provides analytics, alarms, data logging and integration with existing control systems.
The device allows the capture of real-time and historical data from the field creating a valuable flow of two-way information enabling operational decisions that improve your bottom line. The MultiHAWK comes in a small weatherproof enclosure and works directly via the built in cellular connection with WebConnect™, Nighthawk’s award winning Cloud-based control application that comes bundled with the device.
The MultiHAWK family of devices uses cellular and mesh communications to reach locations previously out of reach. The MultiHAWK device allows for the connection of up to eight unique sensor inputs or seven with an optional power control circuit. For many users a single sensor type will provide all of the intelligence needed to achieve their goals. This flexibility allows the device to achieve the level of performance required at the lowest possible cost. These devices provide real-time visibility to the status of machines and processes. They provide the granularity of detail needed to maximize efficiencies and prevent costly downtime and equipment failure.
The device works with any combination of the ubiquitous array of 4-20 mA, digital sensors that dominate the sensor market providing an extremely wide variety of applications. The MultiHAWK takes its versatility a step further by providing an optional power control circuit that allows one to take action on the data being monitored directly or by the analytical rules set up in WebConnect.
WebConnect provides alerts and automated controls via the rules engine within the analytics software package. The WebConnect control portal allows one to log in from any device providing full access and reporting capabilities. The local system administrator can set up additional users and permissions.
This combination of a versatile manufacturing and industrial M2M wireless sensor and control device and the open interoperability offered by its cellular Cloud-based control system is what makes the MultiHAWK the most adaptable, easy to deploy, and cost effective solution for M2M needs.
About Nighthawk: Nighthawk is a mobility leader in machine to machine connected devices and Cloud-based control solutions. For over two decades, we have pioneered intelligent devices and systems that allow for the centralized on-demand management of assets and processes. Nighthawk manages machine to machine communications on over 20 networks worldwide.
Nighthawk products are used throughout North America, Caribbean and Asia in a variety of mission critical applications, including hardened and secure utility control. We are building the future of mobility solutions for machine to machine control with our WebConnect™ device strategy.
Nighthawk is a subsidiary of McWane Inc, a leading manufacturer of ductile iron pipe, valves, hydrants, and fittings. McWane products make up the backbone of vital water distribution and waste-water treatment systems throughout North America, dependably providing the U.S. with clean drinking water. The company operates 25 manufacturing plants including 13 iron foundries across the United States, Canada, Australia, and China.
For more information about Nighthawk solutions and products, please visit:
http://www.nighthawkcontrol.com
Nighthawk introduces Cloud Based Solar Solutions for Utilties
August 5, 2014
Nighthawk, the leader in cellular based utility meter solutions announces the release of a Net Meter version of its RDM960 meter platform for solar applications along with its Cloud based Consumer Portal tool. The RDM960 provides full interval data either directly as a production meter or as a Net Meter. Utilizing its cellular read capability the meter can be installed anywhere in a utility’s service territory without the need for any infrastructure build out. Utilities can receive daily, weekly or monthly reads over the air for SREC (Renewable Energy Credits) reporting. The Consumer Portal allows customers to see detailed information on solar generation and usage in simple to read graphs.
The growth of solar energy presents new challenges to utilities with requirements for detailed and more frequent data collection. Often customers want to understand the hour-by-hour benefits they are getting from their significant investments. Nighthawk’s solar solutions meet those challenges and exceed them fulfilling the needs of customers adopting solar power while enabling utilities to remotely collect more detailed data on a more frequent basis.
Nighthawk’s Consumer Portal provides customers with access to web based charts and graphs detailing their energy usage and production. In this information age, users have come to expect easily accessible metrics. Providing detailed information, in easy to understand charts, reduces questions from consumers on system performance and delivers comparative day to day generation values. These Consumer Portal features can be integrated within your own website or hosted separately. Additionally, Nighthawk Solar Solutions provide TOU readings for both generated and received power with interval data for periodic retrieval.
The Nighthawk RDM960 solar solution Net metering device is integrated inside a standard meter shell and is completely “under glass”. Like all Nighthawk devices it requires no infrastructure or build-out. It is an incremental solution that can be used out of the box when and where you need it. Utilizing the robust public cellular system it communicates and is controlled via Nighthawk’s Cloud-based Utility WebConnect™ browser accessible application.
Nighthawk’s Solar Solutions make solar work smarter for both the utility and the customer directly saving you money while increasing your situational awareness and control possibilities.
Nighthawk’s Utility WebConnect is an award winning Cloud-based Web application running 24/7, and connected to multiple communications gateways, both issuing commands to remote devices and receiving information from them. Utility WebConnect interoperates directly over the Web or via automated data uploads with most utility billing systems.
Even when utility personnel are not online, Utility WebConnect is collecting meter readings, issuing automated batch commands to devices and alerting utility personnel of alarming events via cellular text messages or email.
About Nighthawk: Nighthawk is a mobility leader in machine to machine connected devices and Cloud-based control solutions. For over two decades, we have pioneered intelligent devices and systems that allow for the centralized on-demand management of assets and processes. Nighthawk manages machine to machine communications on over 20 networks worldwide.
Nighthawk products are used throughout North America, the Caribbean and Asia in a variety of mission critical applications, including hardened and secure utility control. We are building the future of mobility solutions for machine to machine control with our WebConnect™ device strategy.
Nighthawk is a subsidiary of McWane Inc, a leading manufacturer of ductile iron pipe, valves, hydrants, and fittings. McWane products make up the backbone of vital water distribution and wastewater treatment systems throughout North America, dependably providing the U.S. with clean drinking water. The company operates 25 manufacturing plants including 13 iron foundries across the United States, Canada, Australia, and China.
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For more information about Nighthawk solutions and products, please visit: www.nighthawkcontrol.com
McWane, Inc. 