CVSR required a comprehensive integrated security system where products from different manufacturers needed to talk to each other and report to AISG’s monitoring facility for alarm response and health check. AISG’s engineering and design team put together an environmentally sound, efficient, yet powerful solution.
Giving customers the latest smart energy solutions, NRG Energy believes that its California Valley Solar Ranch (CVSR), not only generates clean energy but does so in the most environmentally friendly manner. A vast and expansive location of over 19 miles, CVSR is often unattended. The client was concerned that it could be a target for theft and terrorism.
The solution
CVSR’s ten solar PV arrays, substation and facility buildings are confined to a footprint of just 1,500 acres. The remaining 3,200 acres—about 70% of the site—is permanently conserved and managed to meet conservation objectives for a range of species. CVSR also includes a plan for protecting and conserving more than 12,000 acres of land in and around the facility. Working with experts to design the solar farm’s layout around the critical habitats to allow species migration, NRG installed 19 miles of fencing surrounding the perimeter and an alternate wildlife corridor designed to minimize visual, grading and species impact.
NRG called on American Integrated Security Group, a leading integrator with vast experience in the energy vertical, to secure the 19 mile-perimeter of fencing with fiber optic vibration sensing technology and put the necessary infrastructure in place for maximum security. The integrator, in turn, chose WavestoreUSA for the project’s storage and video management requirements.
CVSR required a comprehensive integrated security system where products from different manufacturers needed to talk to each other and report to AISG’s monitoring facility for alarm response and health check. AISG’s engineering and design team put together an environmentally sound, efficient, yet powerful solution. The system included analytics, video storage and management, thermal surveillance cameras, access control and intercom, perimeter alarms and 24/7 surveillance monitoring from AISG’s College Point, NY, state of the art central station.
To provide CVSR and its Eastern San Luis Obispo County solar power customers with the utmost assurance that their site is being protected at all times, AISG’s integrated surveillance system utilized an overlapping technology approach with WavestoreUSA as a pivotal part in securing the critical infrastructure, deterring theft and limiting disruption of power. A Fiber Sensys fiber optics system is installed on the 19 miles of fence. At any point a vibration is sensed, a signal is sent to two systems.
The WavestoreUSA P4 Video Storage and Management System operates a physical security management platform, integrating with the FLIR cameras. When vibration is sensed by the FiberSensys, an Event is initiated on screen in WavestoreUSA’s WaveView client. Preset Actions begin, allowing AISG operators to immediately locate the appropriate video of the Event. Before, during and after searches are easily accessed. Meanwhile, the overlapping technology uses video analytics and upon a vibration, a recording of the alarm is immediately sent to the central monitoring station at AISG.
Client testimonial
“We had to cover this large site with as little hardware and infrastructure as possible, keeping in mind the impact on the environment. It meant integrating the security and integrating the surrounding environment in a sustainable manner,” said AISG President, Levy Acs.
“The WavestoreUSA system installed seamlessly. The utility finds the overlapping technologies most useful in function and peace of mind,” said the integrator partner, “and, they love the reliability of thermal imaging. The entire system ensures an integrated outdoor solution to enable better monitoring of vulnerable areas.
Product Adopted:Other