How to integrate a Pressac CT Clamp with akenza

In this tutorial, you will learn how to integrate a CT Clamp device from Pressac on akenza.

CT CLamp device

Applications

• Circuit-level energy monitoring across facilities

• Machine and equipment energy use on a production line

• Sub-metering by zone, tenant, or department for cost allocation

• Spotting equipment left running outside working hours

• Load monitoring across phases to catch imbalance

• Condition and predictive maintenance from shifts in current draw

Before you start

You'll need:

• A Pressac Three Channel CT Clamp (LoRaWAN).

• The device's OTAA credentials: DevEUI, AppEUI, and AppKey. Pressac supplies these with the device.

• LoRaWAN coverage from a LoRaWAN Network Server (LNS) connected to akenza. You can integrate your existing accounts from Swisscom LPN, Loriot, Netmore, The Things Network/Industries, Cibicom, and ewz. No network operator contract? Use our Connectivity-as-a-Service (CaaS) and skip the account setup.

The CT Clamp runs LoRaWAN 1.0.4, Class A, and joins by OTAA on either EU868 or US915. Make sure your network server uses the frequency plan that matches your region.

Step 1: Add your network server to akenza

Open Integrations and select your LoRaWAN network server. Enter the credentials from your network server account and save. akenza starts syncing your device inventory. Depending on the size of your deployment, this can take a few minutes.

Using Connectivity-as-a-Service instead? Skip this step. akenza manages the connectivity for you, and you select CaaS directly in the data flow.

Step 2: Create a data flow

A data flow tells akenza how the device's data arrives, how to decode it, and where it should go. It has three parts.

Device connector

Go to Data Flow and select Create Data Flow. Choose LoRa as the device connector. If you have integrated your connectivity account, you will see it listed here. If you do not have your own account, can make use of the akenza Connectivity-as-a-Service. In this example, we choose the CaaS offer of The Things Stack.

Device type

Search for CT Clamp and select the Pressac CT Clamp device type. This loads the decoder that turns the raw payload into current readings for each of the three channels, so you don't have to write one yourself.

Output connector

Choose where the data should land. In this tutorial, we proceed with choosing Akenza DB. With this connection, we ensure that all data passing through this data flow is saved in the akenza database and thereby becomes accessible to you. You can add more outputs later. Save your Data Flow and give it a name.

Step 3: Register the CT Clamp

Open Device Inventory and select Create Device. Give it a name, and add a description, tags, or custom fields.

You will then need to select the data flow you created in Step 2.

Enter the connectivity parameters from the device: DevEUI, AppEUI, and AppKey.

Finalize the device creation by clicking on Create device.

Your CT Clamp LoRa device will now be displayed in the Asset Inventory Overview.

Step 4: Power up and join the network

The CT Clamp has no battery. It draws power from the current in the conductor you clamp it around, so it only joins the network once enough current is flowing.

Clip a sensor around a live conductor and connect it to the transmitter, matching the channel numbers on the device label. Mount the transmitter outside the metal enclosure so the radio signal can get out.

Joining needs at least 1.5 A on the conductor. The more current, the faster the join: roughly 15 minutes at 1.5 A, under 2 minutes at 10 A. A brief green LED flash confirms it.

Testing on a bench with no load? The device won't join. That's expected. It needs real current before it powers up.

Follow Pressac's installation guide for mounting and electrical safety.

Step 5: Verify the data

Back in akenza, open the device from Device Inventory and go to the Data Overview. Once the CT Clamp has joined and sent its first uplink, you'll see current readings for each of the three channels. In standard operation it reports every 30 seconds; in low-power mode, every 15 minutes.

Your Pressac CT Clamp data is now flowing into akenza, ready to visualize on a dashboard or wire into a rule.