Ecozen keeps its cool with Quectel LTE modules
Ecozen, which designs and manufactures deep-tech, industry facing products with a focus on solar energy has selected the Quectel EC200U and M66 modules to power its uninterrupted cold chain solutions. The Indian-headquartered company provides cooling systems for the farm-to-fork value chain for perishables. It also supplies efficient and smart motors and controllers for the irrigation sector. Operating in more than ten countries including India, Afghanistan, The Philippines, Myanmar, Indonesia, Kenya, Namibia, Uganda and more, all ecozen products are powered by its IoT systems and processes.
Having focused initially on providing IoT solutions for the cooling and pumping systems it makes, ecozen has now opened up its platform to make it available for industry-agnostic motor controls, electric vehicles and devices across the manufacturing industry in general. The company’s technology stack enables remote monitoring, remote control, remote diagnostics, over the air updates, predictive analytics and complete product lifecycle management over cloud. These capabilities come in addition to the direct benefits the products offer which include helping to irrigate using solar energy and keeping fruits and vegetables fresh and enhancing their lifespan.
“We have powered more than 80,000 devices across India, South East Asia and Africa and are projected to grow five-fold in the sector in the next 12-24 months,” says Vivek Pandey, the co-founder and CTO of ecozen. “We consider Quectel a key strategic partner for us to achieve this expansion of our business.”
To power its platform, the company relies on connectivity and utilizes Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), 4G, 2G, GSM and GPS to keep its products connected. Ecozen selected the Quectel modules for its solar-powered cold room, pump controller and industrial IoT devices. It selected Quectel for its reliability, good support and Indian market presence.
The Quectel EC200U is an LTE Cat 1 wireless communication module that offers a maximum downlink rate of 10Mbps and a maximum uplink rate of 5Mbps. The EC200U-CN also supports a standard Mini PCIe package to meet the application requirements of products in different industries.
The Quectel M66 is a quad-band GSM/GPRS 2G module measuring 17.7mm × 15.8mm × 2.3mm which uses LCC castellation packaging. Based on the latest 2G chipset, it is optimized for data, SMS and audio transmission, and is designed for low-power IoT use cases that operate in harsh conditions. The M66 uses surface mounted technology, making it ideal for large-scale manufacturing, which can have strict requirements on cost and efficiency. The M66’s ultra-compact profile makes it particularly suited to size-sensitive applications, and the module can serve a range of applications such as wearable devices, automotive, PDAs, asset tracking, POS, smart metering and telematics.
“Quectel has helped ensure that are our products are as smart and connected as we want them to be,” adds Pandey. “The Quectel support system is active and more often than not the support team and engineering is proactive in supporting us or releasing bug fixes as per our requirements.”