Learnings

Outcomes

The project has initially showed that ‘off the shelf’ LoRa enabled devices bought as single units are more expensive that £50, however buying in bulk is one-way to reduce the individual device cost.

Expanding LoRa also showed the ease at which remote monitoring can be installed in the field and with the correct ‘coding’ skill set, the field data can be retrieved. Please note that this is only possible if there is a LoRa collection gateway network installed.

LoRa should be evaluated alongside the other communication options when assessing the best means for gathering information from remote field devices. The parameters around the remote monitoring device such as the size of the data to be transmitted, frequency of messages, the location, the size/placement of device, all need to be taken into consideration
when selecting an appropriate communication solution.

Lessons Learnt

There are a wide range of LoRa enabled remote monitoring devices available, often they only monitor a single parameter i.e. temperature, soil moisture, movement left-to-right. Increasing the number of parameters to be measured increases the unit cost.

As the monitors only measure a single parameter, to purchase generic ‘off the shelf’ units, several would be required in one location to monitor multiple parameters that affect the electrical network. At present one cost effective way to obtain a single device is to work with a monitor manufacturer to obtain a single device with the ability to monitor multiple parameters.

There is a requirement for a ‘coding skill set’ resource to be able to interpret the measured field data.

Skilled resource is also required to integrate the real-time field data into internal data capture systems, which would make the information more widely accessible.

Over the course of evaluating the reliability of the ‘off-the-shelf’ monitors, there were occasions when the device did not connect or stopped communicating. This highlights that discussions are necessary with the device manufacture prior to purchase so the units procured have suitable power sources and are packaged to withstand the environment. It also highlights the need to understand how important the field data is, this will help identify the monitoring strategy as two devices might be required to monitor one parameter to cover for a device failure event.