Power management company Eaton has announced the launch of a new Direct Current (DC) Energy Meter, ideal for telecommunications and infrastructure operators who monitor and bill co-located tenants for DC energy and power consumed.

The DC Energy Meter features a colour LCD front panel interface and is designed for power systems operating at 24V and 48V DC. It measures cumulative kWh, minimum and maximum power, and other parameters of up to eight independent circuits.

The new DC Energy Meter operates standalone and can work with any DC power system.

Eaton also has available a range of special non-contact DC current sensors designed for cables and bus bars that can measure current from tens to thousands of amps. The sensors are powered from the DC Energy Meter to simplify installation and deployment.

Communications with the meter is via several physical interfaces, including Ethernet, RS232 and USB. A built-in web server also allows users to easily access the data and to make system configuration changes. Customer’s SNMP based monitoring systems can also access the data. A USB port allows local access for management and configuration.

Security is handled via several login, front panel and authentication options, including remote radius user management. Alarms can be established to alert the owner if sensors fail or power circuit errors occur. The DC Energy Meter has a number of spare I/O ports that can be used to manage or control site parameters like temperature, door alarms or intrusion detectors.

The power to drive the DC Energy Meter comes from dual 24/48DC sources to ensure maximum system reliability.

“Real time measurement and monitoring of energy consumption is essential for building asset owners, but it is also a business imperative for owners and operators of communications networks and data centres,” says Eaton telecom solution manager Darren Salter.

“The new DC Energy Meter is a versatile solution for organisations which have to manage power systems which not only deal with fluctuating demand but also future changes in demand.”