Energy Grid IoT Sensor System

One of Europe's largest utility providers faced a problem that was equal parts technical and organizational: how do you monitor environmental conditions, detect faults, and manage energy demand across a network that spans industrial plants, residential neighborhoods, and utility-scale transformers? And how can this be done all at once and in real time?

Their internal team had a clear vision but limited embedded systems depth. Turning that vision into a field-ready, scalable product required RF design, multi-sensor integration, edge processing architecture, and a path through CE certification. They needed an engineering partner who could own the hard problems and see the project through from concept to production.

The Solution

Device Solutions joined the project in 2018 as the primary embedded systems and wireless engineering partner. Over eight years, the team led development from early prototypes through multiple product generations, with more than 100 units now deployed in the field.

Key engineering contributions:

1.) A flexible edge-processing architecture with over-the-air configurability, allowing deployed units to be updated as new data insights emerged without hardware replacement.

2.) A hardware platform integrating more than a dozen sensor types - accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, PIR, GridEye, time-of-flight, temperature, humidity, CO2, VoC, light, pressure, and EMI - each selected for reliability across industrial, residential, and utility deployment environments.

3.) Multi-protocol wireless support covering Wi-Fi, Cellular, LoRa, and Matter, with both grid-powered and solar-harvesting options to meet the full range of deployment conditions.

4.) On-device FFT signal processing to reduce upstream data load while preserving the insight quality grid operators needed.

5.) Direct collaboration with the client's Google Cloud team to align edge data flow with enterprise analytics and visualization requirements.

6.) Turnkey production support, including sustained manufacturing oversight at a German factory through scale-up from prototypes to volume deployment.

The Results

The platform is CE certified and currently deployed across multiple grid environments in Germany. Since entering operation, the system has delivered measurable improvements across three areas:

• Grid visibility has improved substantially, with real-time sensor data from transformers and distribution infrastructure replacing what were previously periodic manual inspections.

• Maintenance teams have shifted from reactive to predictive workflows, using continuous monitoring data to identify developing faults before they cause outages (reducing both unplanned downtime and associated maintenance costs).

• Energy demand forecasting accuracy has improved by integrating historical sensor data with live grid conditions, giving operators a more reliable basis for load planning decisions.

The system received the Deutsche Digital award in 2023 and a Best Use of Data and AI award in 2024.

The Summary

Technologies & Services

• Product ideation, feasibility studies, and requirements development

• Sensor integration (accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, PIR, GridEye, time-of-flight, temperature, humidity, CO2, VoC, light, pressure, EMI)

• Wireless connectivity (Cellular, Wi-Fi, LoRa, Matter)

• Edge processing and on-device FFT

• Solar energy harvesting

• Hardware design and RF implementation

• Embedded firmware development

• OTA configuration and update architecture

• Google Cloud integration

• Manufacturing and compliance support

• CE certification

Recognition

• 2023 Deutsche Digital Award

• 2024 Best Use of Data and AI Award (Annual Multimedia, Germany)