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Location: BlueScope steelworks, Port Kembla, NSW
Product: M80-5LP4 PowerStack 8m pole with 5 large panels all 4 sides, for solar powered IoT application
Date/Year: 2024
Project Partners: BlueScope, Lawrence & Hanson (Integration and Supply)
Project: BlueScope steel is a leading manufacturer and supplier of high quality steel and construction products. At their steelworks in Port Kembla, on the NSW coast, they were looking to deploy powered infrastructure for the connectivity and operation of environmental monitoring IoT devices. BlueScope is committed to operational excellence and driving sustainabilty wherever they can. The data insights captured by the IoT devices would be used to manage the site more efficiently, assess and predict risks and allow for optimisation of utility usage.
Challenge: Many IoT devices, including the ones planned for the site, run off the LoRaWAN network, so the team also needed to deploy a Gateway that would provide connectivity to the devices. Whilst there was access to grid supply at a lower level, to extend this to the optimal signal height for the Gateway position would have meant costly and disruptive works. Added to this, they were looking for a more sustainable way to deploy this infrastructure, as an alternative to drawing on traditional grid supply.
The solution: PowerStack worked with the BlueScope team and integration providers, Lawrence & Hanson, to design a solar pole that could run both the IoT device and the LoRaWAN Gateway, which provided connectivity for additional devices at the site.
The 100% off-grid nature of the PowerStack system meant that BlueScope could deploy solar powered IoT devices and connectivity Gateway, in a sustainable way. The 8m PowerStack pole was powerful enough to run both device and Gateway, and flexible enough to give the end user choice over the device brands and functionality they wished to deploy, at the right height for optimum signal strength.
Alongside the LoRaWAN Gateway, the pole powers an Atmos41 weather station, giving 11 different inputs for weather and environmental monitoring. The pole was also installed using special winch and concrete-free foundation. These options don’t require diesel-powered heavy machinery and minimise disruption to the surrounding environment.
Check out the video case study of the installation of BlueScope solar powered IoT pole at the steelworks in Port Kembla.
Video content provided courtesy of BlueScope.
”This is the first time [the PowerStack] technology has been used at BlueScope Steel, and i suspect, that when people realise how good it is, it won’t be the last...”
PowerStack’s unique, award-winning design maximises sun capture by harvesting through integrated vertical panels on all 4 sides of the pole. This means it’s capturing sunlight from first thing in the morning, to sunset, throughout the whole year.
Each system is designed for the required power draw and the sunlight hours for the site location, calculated on mid-winter sun hours for that site. This ensures reliable power for your chosen application, even on the shortest day of the year.
PowerStack is also technology and brand agnostic. It’s modular design means real flexibility with what and how you mount third party devices to the pole. This makes the system applicable for a huge range of different functions. Everything from IoT network deployment to emergency help points or bollard lighting.
PowerStack is proud to work in collaboration with the technology brands and devices we work with, and everyone else across the project from the integrator, to end users and distribution or channel partners.
PowerStack vertical solar can be used to power a number of different technologies including security cameras, IoT sensors, lighting, help points and wi-fi networks. Aside from reliable power supply, vertical solar has numerous benefits for both the integrator and the end user. Here are a few of the key features that made PowerStack a standout for this project.
Reliable green energy that enables power supply in areas that grid power can’t reach. Providing 24/7 uptime, totally off-grid.
Rugged, weatherproof design with shatterproof, fire resistant, glassless solar panels.
100% off-grid electrical energy supply, more sustainable than the grid and coal-fired power.
Brand and technology agnostic, giving choice and flexibility to the designer and end user, in function and finished look.
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