The company

Founded in 2015, Lemonbeat is a German company that focuses on digitalizing the physical infrastructure of the energy sector. It offers integrated solutions that combine hardware, software and cloud to turn existing grids into smart grids.

Its SMO solution helps electricity distribution system operators (DSOs) digitalize and monitor substations and grid cabinets in their low-voltage grid.

The challenge: bringing visibility to the low-voltage grid

Unlike the high- and medium-voltage levels, the low-voltage grid has so far not been systematically monitored: it has long been a blind spot in grid monitoring. In the past, this was not necessary. With adequately dimensioned infrastructure – lines and transformers – electricity flowed in one direction only: from the grid to households and other end consumers.

This one-way street has changed. With the growing number of heat pumps and electric vehicle charging stations on the one hand, and PV systems generating electricity in individual households on the other, operators now have to expect “two-way traffic”: power fed back into the grid and local load peaks. As a result, distribution system operators increasingly need to monitor and analyze what is happening in this part of the grid, and demand for monitoring solutions for Germany’s roughly 600,000 local substations has risen sharply.

To save costs, retrofit solutions have been developed for existing substations, and SMO is one of the most successful solutions on the market now. To quickly position a complete monitoring solution in this growing market, Lemonbeat faced a choice at the time: develop the missing component in-house or implement an off-the-shelf solution.

Until then, the offering included two elements:

• SMO.edge, the hardware: the measurement devices installed in the substation that collect data in the field;
• SMO.core, which centrally manages devices, security and integration with third-party systems, such as SCADA and control centers.

However, these two elements were not enough to meet operators’ needs. What was missing was a solution to process data in real time and display the information and KPIs needed to ensure efficient power distribution.

Lemonbeat therefore decided to add a new service layer to the SMO offering: SMO.insight, dedicated to monitoring and visualizing electricity distribution networks.

The solution: SMO.insight for remote monitoring of substations

Using the data collected by SMO.edge, SMO.insight processes the minimum, average and maximum values of voltage, current, power and power quality across the three phases. From this data, it generates information and KPIs and makes them available on a dedicated portal.

By logging in to the SMO.insight portal, operators can:

• view their distribution substations on a map, with real-time status indicators to immediately spot substations with anomalies or warnings;
• check the list of active alarms, to quickly analyze the situations that need attention;
• review the main operating parameters, useful for detecting overloads on the transformer or on individual outgoing lines;
• analyze how electrical parameters change over time, to spot unusual loads or abnormal variations;
• monitor the electrical current on the three phases, with normal ranges, warning and alarm thresholds, and minimum and maximum values.

The tool: the role of Servitly and its No-Code Console in configuring SMO.insight

Lemonbeat needed to move quickly to take advantage of the fast-growing demand for low-voltage monitoring. Building in-house would also have been complex and time-consuming. For this reason, Lemonbeat chose to rely on Servitly’s DPS (Digital Product-Service) system.

DPS systems are a new category of software pioneered by Servitly. They are designed to support companies that want to offer data-driven digital services.

Servitly provides all the features needed to implement a remote monitoring solution, along with ready-to-use components and a No-Code Console. The Console was key in allowing Lemonbeat to define templates, interfaces and features on its own, without writing code. This reduced the time to launch the new offering.

Servitly also helped Lemonbeat successfully overcome the most critical challenges of building its own DPS, so Lemonbeat could focus on its competitive advantage.

The Lemonbeat team could count on:

• native integration with the main IoT connectors, to collect data generated by different sensors in a single solution;
• a processing engine, to turn data into information and KPIs;
• the ability to configure a dedicated Customer Portal with only the features needed;
• features based on best practices, which provided valuable guidance in building the solution.

The value for grid operators: regulatory compliance and operational efficiency

For an operator, the main benefit is moving from a low-voltage grid with little monitoring to a digital infrastructure that is easier to monitor and manage, without having to replace existing substations.

With up-to-date data, dashboards and alarms, overloads and anomalies become visible, and faults can be identified and located faster.

Outages can therefore be shorter, helping operators keep their grids stable despite the growing number of heat pumps, EV chargers and PV systems, and meet regulatory requirements such as §14a EnWG, while better grid management also strengthens their reputation.

SMO combines measurement, remote control and communication in a single system, designed for substations already in place. This makes digitalizing a large number of substations more cost-effective.

Standard interfaces also allow SMO to connect to the systems operators already use. The information collected helps identify where capacity is available for new connections.

The value for Lemonbeat: stronger customer loyalty and new revenue

With SMO.insight, Lemonbeat now serves more than 40 operators, who monitor over 500 substations in total.

For Lemonbeat, SMO.insight is a tool to strengthen its relationship with these customers. The platform is used every day and fits into operators’ daily work. This makes the relationship more stable and the solution harder to replace, which increases customer loyalty.

In addition, as a paid service, SMO.insight is a new source of revenue. Finally, as a differentiating feature of the offering, it can help boost sales of hardware and other SMO solutions.

A win-win solution for everyone

SMO.insight is configurable, so it can keep evolving to meet the changing needs of the market. It also helps operators start digitalizing their substations very quickly, making Lemonbeat a strong partner for many operators.

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