Empowering the All Electric Society

The All Electric Society

The All Electric Society vision of the future describes a world in which energy from renewable resources is available in sufficient quantities and at affordable prices. In addition to the consistent generation and use of renewable energy, reducing the demand for primary energy through efficiency measures and creating intelligent and networked systems are the keys to a sustainable future.
To be able to base renewable energy use on demand, solutions and technologies for electrification, networking, and automation for realizing sector coupling are needed.

The All Electric Society Park Tomorrowʼs sustainable world, todayʼs technologies

Opening on September 1, 2023, the All Electric Society Park in Blomberg will demonstrate how the All Electric Society is becoming a reality. Real sector coupling applications will be illustrated there, while ensuring a sustainable future at the same time.

Joining forces: With the All Electric Society Alliance

For the future vision of the All Electric Society to become reality, players from science, politics, business, and industry must work together. To sensibly leverage the huge opportunities of a sustainable energy revolution in the industry, infrastructure, and mobility sectors, Phoenix Contact is actively teaming up with other players: With the All Electric Society Alliance, we would like to join forces with the All Electric Society Competence Center at the West-Saxon University of Applied Sciences, Zwickau and other innovators behind this transformation to bring our future vision to life with expertise, products, and solutions.

The primary goals of the alliance, which is based on a collaborative partnership, are:

• The joint realization of projects with the All Electric Society Competence Center
• An integrated, scientific cooperation between all partners
• The interdisciplinary development of young professionals

Founding members of the All Electric Society Alliance – in addition to the West-Saxon University of Applied Sciences, Zwickau and Phoenix Contact – include BRUNATA-METRONA GmbH, DSK Deutsche Stadt- und Grundstücksentwicklungsgesellschaft mbH, enersis suisse AG, the city of Zwickau, and Volkswagen Sachsen GmbH.

Sector coupling

Power generation, distribution, storage, and consumption are considered as a holistic system in sector coupling. Individual sectors exchange energy with each other so that it is available in the right form where it is needed. By collecting and evaluating data on energy consumption and generation, the energy flow is optimally controlled.

This means that sectors must be networked not only in terms of performance, but also in terms of communication. Standardized communication protocols within different networks enable the necessary communication, independent of system boundaries. The principle of sector coupling works on a small scale, for example, within a company, as well as across companies. Phoenix Contact provides products, solutions, and services for the electrification, networking, and automation of the energy, industry, infrastructure, and mobility sectors.

Reliable power supply solutions avoid failures in networked systems Secure high system availability

The increasing electrification, networking, and automation of sectors goes hand in hand with a growing dependency on reliable power supply solutions. For reliable supply and sector coupling, we provide solutions for all applications – with surge protection, uninterruptible power supply, redundancy modules and compatible device circuit breakers.

Efficiency in control cabinet building accelerates sector coupling Without smart production solutions, electrification will falter

The massive expansion and conversion of the infrastructure for the distribution and storage of decentrally generated, renewable energy and the electrification of all sectors are leading to a sharp rise in demand for switching devices. This can barely be covered by conventional production methods. Solutions in the areas of efficient engineering and smart production are in demand. They make a decisive contribution to the necessary increase in efficiency in control cabinet building and thus to the faster realization of sector coupling.

Single Pair Ethernet enables seamless IIoT communication down to the field level Resource-efficient and high-performance data transmission

Automation is the key to making sectors more energy-efficient. It goes hand in hand with networking all machines, devices, sensors, and actuators to create an Industrial Internet of Things. Here, Single Pair Ethernet (SPE) ensures consistent Ethernet communication. SPE stands for the parallel, high-performance transmission of data and power. Resource-efficient thanks to a single pair of wires and from the sensor to the cloud.

5G makes wireless communication reliable Powerful networking within and among all sectors

Reliable networking is the basic requirement for sector coupling. 5G
broadband technology enables wireless communication within and among all sectors: with high data rates, high numbers of participants and extremely low latency times. Intelligent 5G communication between machines and applications ensures more autonomous and efficient processes – from production to logistics.

Open control technology makes automation solutions future-proof Benefit from the collective intelligence of IT and OT specialists

To automate sectors comprehensively, control technology has to grow together across the borders of individual fields of application. Open control technology such as the PLCnext Technology ecosystem makes this possible – regardless of the hardware and programming languages involved. Moreover, it exploits the collective intelligence of IT and OT specialists to quickly implement and continuously develop individual solutions.

Certified feed-in controllers lower the hurdles for the energy revolution Faster grid connection of photovoltaic systems

Distributed photovoltaic systems contribute significantly to a reliable power supply in the All Electric Society. Certified feed-in controllers from Phoenix Contact enable the fast and informal grid connection of new systems – without having to wait a long time for the certificate of grid conformity. They make the way to the energy revolution simpler and even accelerate the process.

Central data access simplifies the management of digital factories Secure cloud solutions for cross-location efficiency gains

Comprehensive data acquisition and evaluation is the basis of sector coupling and economical production. The results can be used to make manufacturing more efficient in all areas, from machine utilization times to energy management. Centrally recorded via secure cloud solutions, power generation, storage, and consumption can be optimally balanced not only for a single factory, but also for entire industrial networks. For more efficiency in production.

The right data is where efficient infrastructure begins Reduced energy consumption of smart buildings and transportation routes

A photovoltaic system on the roof, a combined heat and power plant in the cellar, charging stations in front of the door: Sector coupling has already become reality in modern buildings. In addition, lights adjust their illumination intensity according to weather conditions, changing light conditions, and the respective road usage. To be able to automate the operation of these systems as energy-efficiently as possible, a wide variety of data, be it from systems or sensors, must be prepared for universal use.

Vehicle-to-grid turns vehicle fleets into profitable energy storage systems Using batteries of e-vehicles as current buffers

The CHARX control modular e-mobility charging controllers enable intelligent charging of e-vehicle batteries. They are also able to return electricity to the grid whenever necessary. The technology behind this is called vehicle-to-grid. The technical requirements and underlying conditions for it are described in ISO 15118. CHARX control modular meets this standard and is prepared for vehicle-to-grid.