CE Pro October 2023 - 49

adjacent to the circuit breakers
they monitor and control
or in a standard subpanel.
This presents a lot of cost
savings and flexibility. The
only requirement during
rough-in construction is to
install a larger load center
panel than the expected
number of circuits would
require, to allow space for the
control modules. Since this is
just some extra sheet metal,
the additional cost to prewire
a home for the Savant Power
system is minimal. The Power
Modules can be installed as
needed, so the cost is relatively
linear as the number of
monitored circuits increases.
Each Power Module has a
current sensor and a control
relay, as well as a built-in
OLED display that shows
power draw, connectivity,
and the name of each connected
circuit. The modules
communicate via Bluetooth
Low Energy (BLE) with a
Power Director Module
located nearby, which connects
to the network. This
means multiple load center
boxes can be combined into
a single system.
In addition, Savant offers
lighting dimmer modules that
fit the same load centers, so
lighting loads can be individually
dimmed and monitored
centrally, similarly to a Lutron
HomeWorks installation, but
within the same panel rather
than requiring a separate
enclosure for the dimmers.
Everything is configured,
controlled, and monitored
in the Savant Power App, or
with the same Savant Pro
App used to control other AV
and lighting devices.
They have established
partnerships with several
cepro.com
prominent manufacturers of
battery systems, inverters,
generators, and electrical
products, and promise close
integration with those products
to create seamless power
delivery and distribution.
Leviton (leviton.com) has
taken the opposite approach
- instead of creating a
" smart " panel that contains
traditional circuit breakers, it
has integrated the electronics
into the breaker itself. Their
" smart breakers " plug into
their traditional panels,
although they have some
sleek new panel offerings to
match. You can mix Leviton
smart breakers with their
traditional breakers in a
panel. A data hub within the
panel connects the breakers
via Ethernet or Wi-Fi to the
App. The overall system is
attractive and convenient
but lacks certain features
and integration support of
SPAN and Savant.
An interesting difference
is that you can remotely trip
any Leviton smart breaker
(other than the main one) via
their App, but you cannot
remotely turn it back on, for
safety reasons. With SPAN
and Savant, the power relay is
independent from the breaker,
so you can turn circuits
off and on remotely without
tripping the actual breaker.
Schneider/Square D has
created a new panel called
Square D Energy Center that
combines several devices under
one roof - a load center,
electric meter panel, Sense
power management, critical
load management, solar,
backup, and a generator outlet
and transfer mechanism
into a single unit. It is a nice
package, but with relatively
Virtually every provider in the power management category
offers app-based controls so users can view actionable,
real-time kWh insights on connected devices.
traditional technology.
They are also launching the
new " Schneider Home " system
later this year with more
integration with solar and battery
systems. Schneider Home
(schneiderhome.com) will
introduce the new " Schneider
Pulse " panel which promises
additional features and a more
compact size to ease retrofitting
in existing homes. The
Schneider Home system will
include solar, battery backup
and EV charging.
Adding Alternative
Energy Sources &
Backup Power
Implementing local solar or
wind power generation is
an important component
of any power management
strategy. All these power
management products
are designed to support
connection of local generated
sources and properly
measure their contribution
and cost savings.
In addition, by accumulating
data over time, they can
indicate if there are issues
with the local systems that
are reducing the output.
Grid-tied solar installations
are simple to attach and
monitor. Solar installations
that include battery backup
are more complex. Different
manufacturers support
different battery systems, so
coordination is crucial.
When it comes to backup
power, while local uninterruptable
power supply
(UPS) systems have their
place to protect small critical
loads such as computers,
security systems and network
devices, whole-home
battery backup systems will
keep every device operating
if mains power fails.
Operating time varies with
the load, but combined
with solar power, indefinite
operation is possible.
To extend the operating
time further, integrating
with a smart load center
allows some loads to be
October 2023 CE Pro | 49
http://www.leviton.com http://www.schneiderhome.com http://www.cepro.com
CE Pro October 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CE Pro October 2023
