Electrical drives account for almost two-thirds of industrial power demand. With continuously rising energy prices, this cost factor is driving up production costs. This represents an enormous savings opportunity for practically all companies.
It has been demonstrated that the use of conventional PROFINET- and PROFIBUS-capable drives alone can reduce energy costs by up to 60%. The additional use of PROFIenergy optimizes energy consumption even more. Non-required loads can be switched off selectively at defined times, and a simple OFF/ON switching operation of technologically-related plant sections can be automated.

 

To further advance PROFIdrive and to enable efficient implementation of the profile, development support in the form of source code will be made available to device manufacturers in the near future. PI (PROFIBUS & PROFINET International) welcomes this action because it will contribute greatly to the wide dissemination of the profile and of PROFIBUS and PROFINET in drive applications.

With the help of the tested source code, device manufacturers will be able to implement PROFIdrive in their products much more quickly and easily. The community will support interested device manufacturers as they integrate the source code by answering related questions and by providing a platform for exchanging experience with all aspects of PROFIdrive. Initial products are anticipated at SPC/IPC/DRIVES 2011.