## 5 Results and Discussion  
After several months of operation, it can be stated that the proposed system provides a new tool for the control of energy usage, capable to autonomously decide when each task can be performed under optimal conditions of efficiency.  
The use of a WSAN makes the deployment of this system non-intrusive, as the data collection process does not require a direct connection to the elements being controlled. For the test case shown above, it was important for the management of the factory not to have any new system added that would tamper with the LAN and Wi-Fi being used in production. Furthermore, the data collection had also to be as non-intrusive as possible, for which the use of contactless probes for measuring values such as current, temperature and humidity was a key factor. While collecting other data such as voltage or battery charge is usually simple enough and often directly provided by existing equipment such as the battery charging stations (to which the nodes can be easily connected individually).  
The factory where tests were performed is located at the east of Spain and by the sea. Therefore the environmental conditions of temperature and humidity are rather badly suited for meat processing. The results of the analysis provided by the proposed system helped improve the performance in some specific areas such as the processing rooms. However, the main overall result in this case was to ascertain that the high levels of energy consumption compared to other plants were mostly due to environmental conditions, which was duly justified to the investors.  
The proposed system is also capable of providing control capabilities that act directly over the power supply of the different machinery without any modifications being required on them, only  
Figure 10: Charging process of a forklift and wind energy production as reported by the supplier.  
relays directly operating the sockets (Figure 4). Furthermore, this control is performed wirelessly and does not require any complex set-up operations.  
The overall system provides the advantage of a fast adaption and use of peaks and excesses of energy that are produced regularly. This behavior is very important for electricity grids with a significant share of renewables, because of the intrinsic instability these sources produce. Therefore, the widespread deployment of the proposed system can easily contribute to make a greater share of renewable energy possible without destabilizing the energy grid.  
On the other hand, from a business management point of view, the system helps taking full advantage of the collected information, making possible to choose the most appropriate policies or actions, and to decide new strategies to achieve a significant energy saving.  
A further advantage of the system is that users can know in real time the energy state of their resources and processes. Also, thanks to the communication with electrical companies, it is possible to consume cheaper energy. Which will allow companies and users to reduce their energy consumption costs. The proposed system automates all actions and processes required for an efficient management of energy consumption.  
Regarding the performance of the system in different scenarios, and taking into account the results obtained in the tests, it could be concluded that although its deployment can benefit a number of applications, its use can be specially justified for big consumers such as manufacturing plants.