Asset Types

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Overview

In Bazefield, an Asset Type defines the general category and functional role of an asset in a power plant. It acts as the first level of classification that describes what kind of thing an asset is — whether it's a wind turbine, a solar inverter, a battery rack, or a substation transformer.

Asset Types are foundational to how data is structured and understood across the platform. They ensure consistency in how different physical systems are grouped, reported, and analyzed, regardless of vendor, site, or configuration.


Definition

An Asset Type is a standardized classification that defines the role, domain, and function of an asset. It describes what the asset is, without yet specifying how it behaves or how it’s modeled.

Every asset in Bazefield belongs to exactly one Asset Type. That type determines what kind of model logic and templates are relevant, and serves as a key organizational layer for analytics, filtering, and system navigation.

Why Asset Types Matter

Asset Types provide the framework for:

  • Structuring large, diverse fleets in a clear and scalable way

  • Grouping and comparing assets that serve similar purposes

  • Driving consistent modeling logic through shared asset models

  • Supporting templated dashboard views and KPI definitions

  • Enabling technology-agnostic reporting (e.g., across all PV inverters, regardless of OEM)

  • Define allowed “attributes” of the assets which belong to them for better modelling and normalization on an asset level.


Domain Categories

To provide rules on when each asset type should be used in creating a digital model of a powerplant, each Asset Type additionally belongs to one of these domain categories. In Bazefield, domain categories help group assets by the type of system or technology to which they belong. Think of them like big buckets that help organize all the equipment across a power plant — or across your entire fleet — based on what part of the system it supports.

Domain Category

Common-Sense Description

Wind

Covers everything related to wind turbines — including towers, blades, nacelles, and the systems that convert wind into electrical energy.

PV Solar

Includes all components in a solar plant that process sunlight into electricity, such as PV inverters, DC combiners, and string monitoring systems.

Hydro

Equipment used in hydroelectric generation — including turbines, penstocks, gates, valves, and flow control systems.

Energy Storage

Represents battery systems and related infrastructure used to store and discharge energy, including battery racks, PCS units, and BMS devices.

Balance of Plant

Shared infrastructure that supports generation and operations — like feeders, transformers, switchgear, and plant controllers. Not specific to one generation type.

Grid

Assets that interface with the external grid — such as point-of-interconnection meters, switchyards, and revenue metering equipment.

Meteorological

Weather and environmental monitoring equipment — including wind met towers, solar weather stations, and non-obstructive measurement assets such as SODAR, LIDAR, and Weather Forecast virtual assets.

Read more here about domain categories and how they are utilized to model different parts of a Bazefield power plant.


Real-World Examples of Common Asset Types

Asset Type

Function

Typical Models

Wind Turbine Generator

Converts wind energy into electrical power

GE 2.5 MW 100m, Vestas V90, Siemens SWT

PV Inverter

Converts DC power from solar arrays to AC

Huawei SUN2000, Sungrow 1500TL

Battery Rack

Stores and discharges energy in a BESS

LG Rack v2, Tesla Powerpack Module

Substation Transformer

Steps voltage between plant and grid levels

Generic Transformer, ABB Step-up 34.5 → 138

Meter

Tracks energy delivery to the point of interconnection

Landis+Gyr, GE Meter Types

Weather Station

Measures local meteorological data

Generic Met Station, Vaisala

Feeder Line

Collects and transmits power to the substation

MV Feeder w/ Strings, Passive Feeder

Wind Farm

A collection of all inter-related assets that make up a wind farm

GE Wind Farm, Vestas Wind Farm

Solar Farm

A collection of all inter-related assets that make up a solar farm

Hybrid Storage Solar Farm, Utility TMEIC Solar Farm

Storage Site

A collection of all inter-related assets that make up a storage site

Generic Storage Site

Each of these types may have multiple Asset Models under them — allowing different OEMs or configurations to be represented accurately while staying within a common category. For a complete list of supported Bazefield Asset Types, please continue to the subsequent sections.

Note that the “site level” assets also have an equivalent object type describing the type of “site” they are, along with generic models representing the data for those sites. It is common, for example, for a GE Wind Farm to have similar site level data models, hence, the modelling strategy works on either a low-level asset, or a grouped asset like a site.


Valid Child Asset Types

In Bazefield, each Asset Type can be configured with a list of allowed child asset types — a powerful feature that provides both structure and validation when building out a site.

As shown in the image, the Solar Farm asset type is configured to allow specific child types such as Capacitor Bank, Feeder Breaker, Power Plant Controller, Battery Inverter, PV Inverter, and others. These represent the valid subcomponents that are typically found within a solar plant's architecture.

Valid child asset types apply only to the immediate children of a given asset type. For example, a Solar Farm could be configured to allow only a Substation as a direct child, while the substation itself may define its own valid children — such as transformers, breakers, or meters — independently.

This configuration serves two key purposes:

  1. Guidance – It helps users and implementers follow domain-relevant modeling practices by suggesting which types of equipment are appropriate within a given site or system type (e.g., solar, wind, storage).

  2. Control – It enforces modeling consistency by restricting the use of invalid or irrelevant asset types, ensuring clean hierarchies, easier navigation, and higher data integrity.  For example, a user can not add a “Substation” asset to a “Wind Turbine” asset, as that configuration does not exist in reality.

This capability is especially valuable in large-scale or multi-technology deployments, where ensuring consistent structure across dozens or hundreds of sites is critical for scalable analytics, reporting, and operations.

📌 In short, allowed child asset types create a smart, enforceable framework for building digital twins of renewable energy plants — reflecting how real-world systems are physically and logically organized.


Attributes

In Bazefield, each Asset Type supports a configurable list of attributes, which define the metadata fields available for all assets of that type. These attributes can represent identification details, physical specifications, or operational parameters and are used for search, filtering, reporting, and display across the platform. Numeric attribute types can additionally be used in calculated points, and are a common way to normalize data across small variations in assets of a given asset model or type.

Attribute values are always manually inputted fields to the system that occur during installation or configuration.

The image above shows the an example of a Battery Rack asset type and its attribute configuration.

Each attribute will either be:

    • Standard (core) attributes, pre-installed as part of Bazefield

    • Custom attributes, defined by users to meet project- or fleet-specific needs

  • Attributes can be configured with several value types (see image below), the most common being

    • Value types:

      • String: for text input like names, tags, or codes

      • Integer: low precision numbers with no decimals

      • Number: for numerical values, often with limits and decimal precision

      • Child Domain Object: List of allowed child assets to do cross referencing and relationship building between assets on a site

      • Domain Point: Dynamic reference of a domain point as an attribute for an asset (e.g. the “Curtailment Setpoint” could be an attribute on an asset, with the mapping to the actual Curtailment setpoint time-series point as the attribute value).

      • Time Zone: list of pre-approved global time zones

      • Date:  Tracking things like installation or operation dates

    • Value constraints: including max/min values, character limits, or decimal places that control what

    • Display preferences: such as sort order, visibility, and whether the field is required or read-only

  • Once defined, these attributes are:

    • Inherited by all assets of that type

    • Editable per asset to reflect unique values (e.g., location, rated power, manufacturer)

Once attributes are defined on asset types, they are then changeable (one by one), or in bulk through the Object Manager application.

Relationship to Other Concepts

Concept

Role in Relation to Asset Type

Asset

An instance that inherits its classification from an Asset Type

Asset Model

Defines how assets of this type behave, including telemetry and calculations

Domain Category

High-level group (e.g., Wind, Solar, Grid) that the Asset Type belongs to


Key Benefits of Asset Types

Fleet-wide analysis: Run consistent KPIs and reports across all assets of the same type

Simplified configuration: Use shared logic, templates, and dashboards by type

Clear UI structure: Navigate and manage assets more intuitively across technologies

Scalable modeling: Add new OEMs or configurations without redefining categories

Filter enabled: Asset Types show up clearly in the Right hand side asset filter across all applications.


Summary

An Asset Type defines what an asset is in terms of its role and function within the plant. It is a critical organizing layer that supports scalable modeling, cross-asset analytics, and consistent reporting in Bazefield.

Whether you're tracking 10 or 10,000 assets, asset types ensure you speak the same language across your renewable fleet.