As the energy transition accelerates under the impetus of the “dual carbon” goals, and as the digital economy places unprecedented demands on power supply reliability, intelligent operation and maintenance of distribution systems has shifted from being “optional” to “essential.” Electrical contact temperature, as the most direct and critical parameter for assessing equipment health, is witnessing explosive growth in its online monitoring technologies.

Why has online temperature monitoring become critical at this very moment?
Currently, we are undergoing two major structural changes that are jointly driving up market demand for online temperature monitoring of electrical connections:
Drastic Changes in Load Characteristics and Surge in Equipment Stress:With the widespread integration of nonlinear and impulsive loads such as electric vehicle charging stations, data centers, and electrochemical energy storage systems, the harmonic content of currents in distribution networks has increased, and load fluctuations have become more severe. This results in electrical contacts—such as circuit breaker contacts and cable joints—that were designed with ample margin—being subjected over long periods to electrical and thermal stresses far exceeding their design expectations, thereby accelerating their aging and degradation. A typical example is a charging station that, after six months of operation, experienced a failure due to overheating caused by loose busbar connections; its temperature-rise profile could not be detected at all during routine inspections.

The digital transformation of operations and maintenance is driving:In today’s era where “less‑staffed” and “unmanned” operations have become mainstream, power grid companies, large industrial parks, and data centers alike are vigorously building digital twin platforms and intelligent O&M systems. The lifeblood of these systems is real‑time, high‑value data. As one of the most critical state variables in a physical system, missing or discontinuous temperature data can render digital twin models inaccurate and predictive maintenance algorithms ineffective, turning costly smart O&M platforms into mere castles in the air.

 

Industry Technical Challenges: Deep-Rooted Obstacles Beyond “Temperature Measurement” Itself

Many newcomers to this field assume that online temperature measurement is simply “sensor + transmission + display,” but in reality, achieving highly reliable, maintenance-free, and easily integrable deployment in complex industrial environments faces the following industry‑recognized challenges:
The fundamental contradiction between high-voltage insulation and reliable power extraction: In switchgear rated 10 kV and above, sensors are mounted directly on live components, making their long-term power supply a core challenge. Battery-powered solutions have limited lifetimes and require periodic replacement, which is unacceptable in critical circuits. While CT‑based power extraction appears ideal, it faces the dilemma of “unable to draw power under light load and being damaged by short circuits.” Ensuring stable, safe energy harvesting across an extremely wide current range—from 5 A to 5,000 A—is the primary criterion for determining whether a high‑voltage temperature‑measurement product is practical.

The Dilemma of Low-Power Wireless Communication Under Strong Electromagnetic Interference:Switchgear enclosures act as natural Faraday cages, with intense electromagnetic interference pervasive inside. In such environments, the communication range of conventional wireless modules deteriorates sharply, often resulting in complete failure. This not only demands that sensors achieve an exceptionally high level of electromagnetic compatibility but also necessitates an intelligent, adaptive communication strategy—such as frequency hopping, retransmission, and relay—to carve out a reliable “data channel” in harsh conditions.

Engineering bottlenecks in handling massive sensor deployments and system scalability:A medium-sized data center may have thousands of temperature‑sensing points. This means the system must simultaneously manage tens of thousands of sensors, placing immense demands on network topology management, ID address allocation, and concurrent data processing. Many solutions perform well in the lab, but as soon as they are scaled up in real‑world environments, issues such as packet loss, refresh latency, and system crashes quickly emerge. The system’s scalability directly determines whether a solution can transition from a “showroom prototype” to a “mass‑market product.”
Barriers to Multi-Source Data Fusion and Value Extraction:Isolated temperature data has limited value. Only when temperature data is analyzed in conjunction with real-time current, switch status, ambient temperature and humidity, can we accurately determine whether the current temperature rise is due to a normal load increase or to deteriorating contact resistance. This requires the temperature measurement system to have open interfaces and robust data-fusion capabilities, enabling seamless integration with protective devices, power-quality monitoring equipment, and more, thus establishing a unified fault‑prevention logic at the platform level.

 

Acrel Solutions: Addressing Industry Challenges with a Comprehensive Product Portfolio

I. Conventional Application Scenarios

1. High-Voltage Switchgear

2. Low-voltage switchgear

 

3. Transformer temperature measurement

 

 

4. Distribution boxes, indoor cables, indoor/in-cabinet, etc.

 

 

5. Motor temperature measurement

 

 

6. Data Center

 

 

7. Energy Storage Container

 

 

II. Conventional Hardware Products

 

1. Temperature Sensor

 

 

 

2. Wireless Transceiver

 

 

3. Display Terminal

 

 

4. RFID Temperature Measurement

 

 

Case Sharing

1. Jilin Lüxian Biomass-Based New Type of Artificial Silk Projec

 

2. CNOOC 10kV Distribution Project

 

 

 

Conclusion

 

Online temperature monitoring of electrical contacts is no longer a mere optional feature; it has become a cornerstone technology for ensuring the safe, reliable, and efficient operation of modern power systems. The technical barriers extend far beyond sensing itself—they lie in delivering long-term, stable, and integrated data services within real‑world industrial environments that are harsh and ever‑changing. Leveraging its deep understanding of industry pain points and a fully self‑developed, end‑to‑end product ecosystem, Ankure Electric is helping numerous critical customers—including Suzhou Rail Transit, China Mobile’s data centers, and CNOOC platforms—successfully bridge the gap between “wired” and “wireless,” and between “manual” and “intelligent” operations and maintenance, jointly ushering in a new era of unattended distribution systems and predictive maintenance.