Embedded Connectivity for Energy Storage

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Based out of Sacramento, California, Simpl Global is an energy storage and management company that offers products that serve as building blocks for designing and implementing optimal renewable energy solutions. As solar becomes more common, Simpl Global aims to make energy storage simple to monitor, maintain, install, and warranty.

With their SimplMeter product, a real-time energy and power measurement device, using Wi-Fi only for connectivity, Simpl Global was running into network limitations and security issues. Wanting another connectivity option for SimplMeter, Simpl Global turned to OptConnect for cellular connectivity.

About Simpl Global

Simpl Global is a technology company with a focus on optimizing energy usage and storage. They develop innovative, patented software and hardware to deliver the energy optimization solution. They design, manufacture, and license their products under their SimplBox, SimplGrid and SimplMeter brands. Their products and services are designed for residential and commercial systems. Specifically, their SimplMeter product is an integral part of their operation. SimplMeter is a decision-making tool for optimizing energy consumption and minimizing electricity expenses while at the same time presenting a real-time picture of the pattern of energy consumption and energy generation.

Their Need

Simpl Global started out using Wi-Fi for their SimplMeter product, a real-time energy and power measurement device for electricity. However, many customers either didn’t have the Wi-Fi to connect the product in the first place, or they were concerned about weakened security that comes with having a third party on their network. Simpl Global realized that they needed a connectivity option that could reliably connect their product to the internet. After meeting with OptConnect, Simpl Global partnered with the company in January of 2020 to use OptConnect ema™, a fully certified LTE Category 4 embedded modem, to provide redundant connectivity to their customers.

“After Meeting with OptConnect, I was impressed with what we heard and saw with ema. Specifically, we liked the low level control and the integrated management. Additionally, our main point of contact was always helpful, always there, and always delivered on what he promised.”

Farid Dibachi

Founder and CEO at Simpl Global

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The Solution

Every SimplMeter product now comes with OptConnect ema™ embedded in the device. “We needed to offer another way for customers to connect to the internet,” said Farid Dibachi, Founder and CEO at Simpl Global. “One reason we really were drawn to ema was the capability it provided for our customers.” Through OptConnect ema’s cellular connectivity, SimplMeter is able to communicate with other integral Simpl Global products. ema is embedded into SimplMeter and provides a bridge from any of their products to the internet via cellular. ema also comes with access to Summit, OptConnect’s robust monitoring platform. “Having a platform to see what our systems are doing and get a view of the backend is really helpful,” said Dibachi. “To be able to check on the status of devices and see a collection of analytics has helped us find bugs within our own system.”

 

The Creation of OptConnect ema™

In thinking about our customers and the future of IoT, we knew we wanted to create a product that could scale with our customers and save them time, money, and help provide a more reliable embedded connectivity solution than what is currently available in the market. That is why we created OptConnect ema™. It takes all the complexity out of the process so customers can get their product connected to the internet in a few days and for a few hundred dollars versus months and hundreds of thousands of dollars later.

OptConnect ema™ combines a fully certified 4G LTE embedded modem, onboard intelligence, embedded firmware and software, and robust suite of managed services. It features dual carrier SIM card support for carrier-to-carrier failover and all of the low-level software control so customers can just use the modem without having to develop all the software and code to make it work. The creation of OptConnect ema™ allows companies to focus on their core business strengths and outsource one of the biggest stumbling blocks for IoT projects.

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Working with Simpl Global

In the future, Simpl Global hopes to make solar panels a 24-hour source of energy. In order to do so, Dibachi says that all the pieces have to be able to work together, meaning the network has to be rock solid. “Connectivity is an integral part of this initiative,” said Dibachi. “We want to make sure the systems stay connected all the time and with ema, we can do that.”

“ema has proved to be a great option for Simpl Global and they’re using it to bring innovative solutions to the solar and energy storage industry”, says Sean Horan, Senior Enterprise Sales Director Embedded Products. “It is a pleasure to support Simpl Global as they continue to produce an innovative solution that leverages IoT technologies to help build a more sustainable world. ema has been a great asset to the work that Simpl Global is doing and we look forward to continuing to supporting them with reliable connectivity."

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“I recommend OptConnect because of the people and the products. With OptConnect, I feel like we have a leg up. ema is a well thought out product and we have found it very useful for our customers.”

Farid Dibachi

Founder and CEO at Simpl Global

Energy Connectivity 

Today smart cities and buildings, renewable solar and wind farms, safe energy storage systems, and smart HVAC systems all demand a secure and reliable internet connection. These systems require world-class security that mitigates liability to compromised network exposure. They also require maximum uptime. OptConnect’s fully managed wireless solutions deliver all of that and so much more.

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