What runs on site, and what runs in the platform?
Edge provides the on-site system for device configuration, dashboards, data exploration and local automation. It runs on the Gateway, bringing supported wired equipment and EpiSensor wireless hardware into a common data model.
You can use Edge to monitor and manage site assets without a third-party platform. For participation in a wider demand-response or virtual power plant service, a partner provides the portfolio orchestration, commercial service and market-facing processes. The integration joins those responsibilities; it does not replace them.
Start with the Demand Response & VPP application page for an overview and project examples. This guide focuses on the questions to resolve with your platform and site teams.
Select the measurements and control interfaces
Identify the assets first: for example, battery storage, backup generation or controllable loads. Agree what can be measured, what can be controlled and who is responsible for each interface.
- ZDR: demand-response monitoring and control. Use the ZDR family page and current datasheet to select the functions your project requires.
- ZEM: electricity measurements on the site or individual circuits. The ZEM family page links to the datasheet and available configurations.
- ZGW-20 Gateway: the on-site host for Edge and the connection to supported devices. Review the Gateway configuration for the required communications options.
The datasheets define product capabilities. Programme acceptance depends on the complete installation, including the asset, meter configuration, communications, software and operating procedures. An accuracy class or a supported protocol alone is not evidence that the site qualifies for a service.
Agree the data contract
Before connecting a full site, agree a small set of representative measurements with the receiving platform:
- Stable site, device and sensor identifiers, with names operators recognise.
- Units and sign conventions, especially for import/export and battery charging/discharging.
- Whether energy values are cumulative totals or consumption over an interval.
- Timestamp, time-zone and reporting-interval conventions.
- How missing, delayed, duplicated or out-of-order readings should be handled.
Edge supports partner-built and pre-built integration flows. Choose the receiving service, authenticated transport and message format together; a platform offering MQTT or HTTP does not by itself establish a working integration. See integration capabilities in Edge.
Define commands, permissions and failure behaviour
A command being accepted by software is different from the equipment completing the requested action. Agree the whole sequence, including acknowledgement and the measurements that confirm the physical response.
Document operating limits with the asset owner, who may issue commands, how local overrides are handled and what happens when a connection is lost. Configure and test those behaviours for the actual equipment rather than assuming the same rule applies to every asset.
For a timing requirement, distinguish measurement sampling, event recording, detection, network transit and physical actuation. Test the complete path against the intended service. Do not apply a response time from one product mode or case study to a different installation.
Check the evidence before scaling
EpiSensor's Enel X and Microsoft data-centre project and Enel X Dublin Airport project describe specific deployments. Use them to understand the roles and engineering involved, not as guarantees for a new site.
For a pilot, record the selected hardware and software versions, compare received data with its source, verify permitted commands and physical responses, and exercise the agreed loss-of-connection behaviour. Complete the applicable programme qualification before expanding the deployment.
Compare platforms without assuming compatibility
The technology directory provides context on companies such as Voltalis and VIOTAS. A directory entry is not a compatibility certificate: confirm whether the provider requires its own field controller, accepts a third-party integration or can use supplementary measurements from EpiSensor.
Discuss the data and control requirements with the provider before ordering hardware. Bring the asset list, existing metering, network constraints and intended service to a project conversation with EpiSensor.