Text Ralf Steck ––– Photography
I t’s a familiar experience for any maintenance engineer – opening up an outdoor enclosure and finding a bundle of grimy, warped papers or folders hanging from the door. This is hardly surprising given that maintenance work all too often has to be carried out in bad weather. The ePocket electronic wiring plan pocket from Rittal offers a solution that is not just weatherproof, but also digital and easy to keep up to date. What’s more, ePocket data can also be accessed online. This means service engineers can prepare in a warm, dry office and plan their work perfectly in advance, without having to climb onto the roof.
INTO THE CLOUD WITH A QR CODE
The digital wiring plan pocket consists of a QR code located on the enclosure’s rating plate and a corresponding storage location in the Eplan cloud. When service engineers scan the QR code with their smartphone or tablet, ePocket takes them to the system documentation, including wiring plans, data sheets and other information in digital format. They can also open ePocket and download the files onto their phone or tablet before they even leave their office, meaning they aren’t reliant on having Internet access on site.
ePOCKET INCLUDED
Suatec GmbH in northern Germany included this digital solution based on ePocket in its quotation for EHA, the REWE Group’s central energy service provider. EHA was looking for a supplier that could deliver large quantities of standardised enclosures for photovoltaic installations on the REWE Group’s supermarket roofs.
“We supplied a design and the prototype for an enclosure that can be installed directly on the roof. The Rittal AX plastic enclosure model we used helped ensure the solution’s high quality was clear even from the prototype,” recalls Christopher Kühl, Head of Electrical Engineering Design at Suatec. EHA was impressed and ordered an initial series of 50 enclosures in 2023. A further 180 enclosures are on order for 2024.
MORE THAN JUST AN ENCLOSURE
Once the digital wiring plan pocket has been activated, the relevant enclosure data sheet is automatically uploaded to ePocket. Suatec then adds the documents for all the other components. “Thanks to the digital wiring plan pocket, we always have up-to-date documentation for every system,” explains Kühl.
Besides the actual enclosures, some of the components inside also come from Rittal. In addition to the power distributors and isolators fitted on the RiLine 60 busbar systems, these include heaters and fans that ensure good climate control in the enclosure – in summer and winter alike. The way the enclosures are designed means they can be used for photovoltaic installations of various sizes.
ADDED VALUE RECOGNISED
The people in charge at EHA responded very positively to the digital add-on solution. “As energy experts, we benefit from the digital documentation in Rittal ePocket, which is stored in the cloud so it is easy to update and protected from the weather,” says Bennet Robeck from the Technical Management Photovoltaics team at EHA.
“Using ePocket, we can take digitalisation to the next level. That in turn helps us establish fully digital, seamless inhouse processes. EHA can then benefit from this digitalisation and has a futureproof digital documentation system thanks to Rittal ePocket,” concludes Kühl.
