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Equipment Entity Types

There are different recognised types of Equipment in Explorer.

"Generic" Equipment​

Equipment is considered generic when it has either:

  • No tags

  • Tags that are not yet recognised as System tags by Explorer (please see "System vs Custom Tags & Metadata" for more information).

Generic Equipment do not have any Equipment-specific Overviews, however you can still configure a dashboard, manage Points, Tags/Metadata, and Automations by selecting the Equipment from the Hierarchy.

"First Class" Equipment​

Driven by tags, First Class Equipment have specific views and widgets. Below are some examples of "First Class" Equipment. The icons are selected by the user, so may differ to what's below.

Electricity Meter: An electricity meter, electric meter, electrical meter, energy meter, or kilowatt-hour meter is a device that measures the amount of electric energy consumed by electrically powered devices. Electric meter or energy meter measures the total power consumed over a time interval.

Gas Meter: A gas meter is a specialized flow meter, used to measure the volume of fuel gases such as natural gas, usually in m3.

PV Inverter: A solar inverter or photovoltaic (PV) inverter is a type of power inverter that converts the variable direct current (DC) output of a photovoltaic solar panel (array) into a utility frequency alternating current (AC). The AC is then fed back into the grid, into a microgrid (e.g. directly into a battery).

(Battery) Electricity Energy Storage System: EESS, or BESS, provide storage of electrical energy so that it can be used later. The approach is not new: EESS in the form of battery-backed uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) have been used for many years. EESS are starting to be used for other purposes.