Diversification into Solutions Provider

Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS), with origins as an OEM/ODM device provider of laptops, PCs, tablets, and other products, has in recent years branched out, marking ECS’ transition to becoming solution providers.

Collaborating with other subsidiaries within the group, ECS has set their sights on providing solutions for the industries of smart retail, smart energy, smart city, smart education, and smart mobility.

Smart Energy Ventures

The success of Taiwan’s Smart City Summit & Expo (SCSE) since its inception in 2014 led to many companies, both foreign and domestic, in becoming regular attenders.

At the 2017 forum, ECS agreed to partner with an Energy Performance Contracting (EPC) company in implementing green energy buildings in Europe. In 2018, ECS and the company jointly signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Pisek City Deputy Mayor Josef Knot, which also involved a local Pisek bus operator Busem, the Czech Ministry of Trade and Industry and European energy giant E.ON.

ECS would handle the collection, storage, and the portrayal of data gathered by equipment installed by other contractors at the bus station.

ECS Solution in Pisek

“A primary reason for Pisek to sign the MOU was so city residents would better understand the importance of energy conservation and carbon emissions reduction issues,” ECS Cloud Software Design Deputy Manager Maggie Chou (周芬韻) said.

ECS established a system that would collect data from the equipment used by ECS contract partners using both wire and wireless protocols, such as LoRaWan. The system would store and analyze the data on Microsoft Azure via an Edge gateway system and digitally present the information.

To enable smart collection and storage of the information, project collaborators had exchanged existing traditional meters for smart meters, while ECS installed environmental monitoring sensors.

The meters would notify contract signatories whether the building has provided its designated monthly quota of power per the contract signed.

“The installation process respects the building’s history and opted to tack on the sensors, instead of methods that would otherwise damage the building,” Chou said.

Answering one of Pisek City’s primary needs, ECS presented the collected data, in digital format, on a 50-inch dashboard screen, located in the station’s main lounge. The presentation will allow Pisek residents, as well as travelers, passing through the lounge, to understand the benefits of green energy and energy conservation.

Data Presentation at the Busem Lounge in Pisek

ECS arranged for two pages of looped information to be played continuously on the screen. On the first page, ECS included power-related data and a carbon emissions index.

The screen showed how much power is generated in a month, how much is stored and fed back into the power grid and how much money the city saves by using renewable energy sources.

At a rough estimate, the solar panel banks would produce 10kWhs of power, which would otherwise cost 17,000 korunas (Kč) per year to generate via other sources.

The index, taking the form of how many trees the city is saving by using green energy, conveyed the idea that reducing carbon emission footprint is beneficial.

On the second page, ECS displayed environmental monitoring data, allowing travelers to see the CO2, PM2.5, and humidity levels, both in the lounge and around the building.

“The building staff, recognizing that the solar panels will only be able to generate peak capacity during summer, has also referenced the dashboard and adjusted air conditioner temperatures and lighting, allowing them to cut electricity expenditures by 10-15 percent,” Chou said.

The intended recipients of the information are the travelers in hopes that they will slowly change their minds on issues of power generation and carbon emission.

Future Projects and Aspirations

ECS is currently working on the next phase with EPC partners with aims to:

1. Help the property owner scale near-city stations for environment monitoring and energy saving.
2. Add-on features for emerging services, such as smart EV charging and Energy storage systems (ESS)  
3. Enhancing the efficiency of device management and enact digital transformation via use of ECS services of AI, IoT, and Cloud-edge technologies.
   
   

“The strength of ECS is our industrial AIoT services that is built and based on our domain experts’ knowledge and experience. Our AIOT platform provides the flexibility for customization and integration to cater to existing and future business requirements and ideas of our partners.

We keep thinking forward for our partners.

ECS is currently developing a smart fleet management platform that will enable our partners to efficiently manage not only their vehicles but also their drivers and fuel consumption, according to ECS Associate Vice President TA Chang (張子安).

Selling Points

• Leveraging AIoT technologies and Cloud Management Platform to promote sustainable energy and carbon footprint reduction
• Enabling Cloud Platform and Wireless transfer of data to remove clunky wires and improve the efficacy of data gathering.
• Supporting cloud-based and near-real-time service provisioning, troubleshooting, and system modification or changes without the need for local-based personnel or travel expenses.
• Providing essential services and platforms to pave the way for sustainable energy generation, green transportation, and the Internet of Things (IoT).