Solar inverter equipped with NB-IoT communication module transmits power generation via dedicated network

LG Uplus announced on the 24th (Wed) that it signed a business agreement with the Ulsan Nam-gu Office and the Busan-Ulsan Regional Headquarters of the Korea Energy Agency to create a 'Green Village' through the establishment of a solar power generation monitoring system based on an NB-IoT (Narrowband Internet of Things) network.

This is the first instance in Korea where NB-IoT technology has been integrated into a solar power generation system, and LG Uplus plans to begin full-scale system construction starting in late June, when the dedicated NB-IoT network in the Ulsan region is completed. Under this agreement, LG Uplus will connect inverters equipped with NB-IoT communication modules to the solar panels installed by the Ulsan Nam-gu Office for approximately 500 households in the 'Samho Migratory Bird Village,' and will play the role of remotely transmitting the solar power generated by the devices to its IoT platform server via its dedicated NB-IoT network.

Ulsan Nam-gu Office and the Korea Energy Agency plan to receive data collected on LG Uplus's servers, monitor it, and convert it into data to measure solar power generation as well as predict usage, thereby laying the foundation for efficient energy management.

LG Uplus plans to enable residents of Migratory Bird Village to check solar power usage information through its dedicated IoT app, 'IoT@home'. LG Uplus explained that with air pollution caused by severe fine dust recently emerging as a social issue, the establishment of a solar power monitoring system utilizing NB-IoT technology is expected to serve as an opportunity to improve the energy self-sufficiency of the Ulsan region, while also contributing to greenhouse gas reduction and the realization of energy welfare through the dissemination of renewable energy.

“At a time when the need for the development and management of solar power, a representative renewable energy source, is rapidly increasing, LG Uplus’s NB-IoT monitoring system will play a key role in improving usage efficiency as well as saving energy at the household level,” said Ryu Chang-soo, Senior Vice President of IoT Partnership at LG Uplus. “We will continue to contribute to the government’s energy and climate change response policies through active cooperation with local governments.”