Which products can control a large amount of lights across a large area that is powered by multiple generators?

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Calrissian45

Calrissian45

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Southern California
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Electrical Engineer
I'm looking for a solution to wirelessly control approximately 120 light circuits spread out across 36 acres. The power system is divided into four zones that are powered by generators. Are there any commercial products that could work for this situation?
 
You could use an eWon with dry contacts and trigger it with a remote signal as long as you have good internet or cell service.
 
Interesting. What's the application? How reliable does it need to be? Whats the voltage and amperage being switched? Does it need to be listed?

If I got to kludge something together, I'd probably use some wireless PtMP networking gear -mikrotik or ubiquiti. Raspberry pi running node-red to make a dashboard for control which would send modbus tcp commands to a cheapo PLC (such as a automationdirect click) at each switching location with the PLC operating contactors for the lights. Maybe add some local controls for override.
 
There are plenty of radio controlled switches that you could use.

You will probably want to hire an engineer who has experience with using radios over that big of an area just to make sure you get the right coverage. It's not as easy as it sounds.

36 acres is a lot of pot.
 
petersonra said:
There are plenty of radio controlled switches that you could use.

You will probably want to hire an engineer who has experience with using radios over that big of an area just to make sure you get the right coverage. It's not as easy as it sounds.

36 acres is a lot of pot.
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We have RF engineers on staff so that's not a problem. The client decided they wanted to control all of the lights remotely AFTER I finished the design so I'm looking into commercial wireless options before I propose that we have an RF engineer get involved.
 
Todd0x1 said:
Interesting. What's the application? How reliable does it need to be? Whats the voltage and amperage being switched? Does it need to be listed?

If I got to kludge something together, I'd probably use some wireless PtMP networking gear -mikrotik or ubiquiti. Raspberry pi running node-red to make a dashboard for control which would send modbus tcp commands to a cheapo PLC (such as a automationdirect click) at each switching location with the PLC operating contactors for the lights. Maybe add some local controls for override.
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This is for Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT) training on a military base. Our design includes a bunch of ISO containers that are modified to look like buildings. The structures only have general receptacles and general lighting. Everything is powered by generators. At the 90% design review, the client asked us to centralize the lighting controls so the operators don't have to walk to each building to turn on/off lights before each training event.

It needs to be reliable enough so that the operator doesn't have to walk across the range to turn on a light when setting up for training.

The voltage is 120V. The amperage varies for each structure, but the max is 3 amps. Listing requirement is questionable since it's on a range for training purposes. Probably isn't required, but not certain.
 
I've used products from Encom for remote control of signs, I believe they have a range of up to 20 miles.
 
petersonra said:
There are plenty of radio controlled switches that you could use.

You will probably want to hire an engineer who has experience with using radios over that big of an area just to make sure you get the right coverage. It's not as easy as it sounds.

36 acres is a lot of pot.
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If the lights are spaced close enough, the lighting companies I mentioned make devices that create their own mesh network. They could cover an entire city.

If I remember correctly, they can not only control the lights, but also tell you which lights aren't working, and also integrate other systems like audio, Wi-Fi, gun shot detectors, cameras,.....
 
Do they want individual control, or all on and all off at the same push of a switch?
 
If these lights will be inside the cargo containers, thats a lot of metal to expect any radio to get through. You will probably have to to put at least the antennas either on or through the roof.

Personally, I would put a box on top of each cargo container with a wifi radio and antenna going through the roof of the box. I would probably put some I/O inside the box to control whatever needed controlling. That way if there was other stuff that needed to be controlled like ventilation it would be fairly easy to integrate into the system.

These I/O boxes could then be networked to a PLC of some sort. Maybe not the cheapest but probably about as rock solid of a system as you could get.
 
Very useful to know that you will probably not need individual control, which reduces the need to support many independent frequencies or codes..
One remaining concern I would have is that any system with a single toggle code for both on and off could be very unstable in any kind of network environment.

How about a powerful sound system and a whole bunch of Clappers? :)
 
GoldDigger said:
One remaining concern I would have is that any system with a single toggle code for both on and off could be very unstable in any kind of network environment.
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Between the HMI (node-red in my example) and the PLCs commands would be sent to each PLC as separate ON and OFF commands with the PLC sending back confirmation to the HMI that yes it is on or isn't. I think I'd actually route AUX contact on the contactors into PLC inputs so you can see on the HMI if the lights really went on or not.
 
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