OPC to Excel bridges the gap between industrial data and everyday analysis by directly streaming real-time and historical OPC data into Microsoft Excel. With a simple drag-and-drop interface, users can bypass complex configuration, scripting, or third-party reporting tools to access the needed data—right where they need it.
Designed for engineers, technicians, and analysts, OPC to Excel eliminates manual data entry, simplifies reporting, and enables dynamic monitoring without admin rights or external dependencies. It’s a lightweight, efficient way to turn Excel into a powerful process data viewer.
Specifications
Live OPC Data in Excel
You can read and write real-time data directly from OPC DA and UA servers in Excel. This lets you monitor live process values without switching tools.
Historical Data Retrieval
Query and analyze historical data from OPC HDA or UA HA servers. This is great for post-event analysis, trend discovery, and reporting.
Drag-and-Drop Tag Selection
Add data points to Excel using a simple drag-and-drop interface—no scripting, no macros—just fast configuration.
No Admin Rights Needed After Setup
Once installed, any user can connect to OPC servers without needing elevated permissions, making it ideal for secure environments.
Broad Compatibility with Excel Versions
It works with everything from Excel 2003 to Office 365, including 32—and 64-bit. There is no need to standardize on a specific version.
Automatic Network Recovery
If your OPC server connection drops, the tool automatically reconnects and resumes data flow without user intervention.
Multiple Server Connections
Connect to several local or remote OPC servers at once. This is useful for sites with distributed systems or mixed architectures.
Custom Report Output
Export collected data in CSV, XML, or SQL formats for reuse or integration with other systems.
Dynamic Update Rate Management
Adjusts polling rates automatically based on server and system performance, helping maintain efficiency without losing precision.
Unlimited Tag Support
There’s no cap on how many data points you can pull in. Whether you’re testing a single sensor or trending hundreds of variables, the tool handles it.
Write Data to OPC UA and DA Servers
- Create complex calculations using OPC real-time data and write results back to any OPC server
- Use any of Excel’s built-in functions or even create custom calculations in Excel using a familiar interface
- Enables users to quickly change setpoints and control a process as in this case study
- Compatible with both OPC DA and UA servers
Connect to Remote OPC Servers
- OPC Expert handles network connections and OPC server nuances
- Automatically manages connection loss and retries due to network faults (disconnections), server failures (crashes), tunneling, etc
- OPC Expert connects to OPC UA and DA server, which are either local or remote
- Enable Excel to exchange data (read/write) with local and remote OPC servers
Automated Real-Time Displays
- Generate real-time trends and charts
- Create history tables without a historian
- Quickly create real-time data snapshot reports
- Configuration is visual and fast using OPC add-in
- Use Excel’s built-in features without specialized vendor tools
OPC Server Configuration
- Record OPC server parameters in Excel
- Does not require administrator credentials or privileges
- Use at project beginning to help with mass item configuration
- Use at project end to record all item configuration and final state
- Excel receives all OPC server item configuration information including item name, path (ItemID), data types, current value, current quality, current timestamp, etc
Create Historical Data Reports
- Access historical data from OPC HDA and OPC UA HA servers
- Access both raw and processed (calculated) data to easily create reports
- Supported historians include OSIsoft PI, AspenTech InfoPlus.21, Honeywell PHD, Microsoft SQL (MS SQL), Wonderware InSql, Yokogawa ExaQuantum, Emerson Enterprise Historian, Canary Labs, etc
- Includes build-in OPC UA historian, enabling data storage in CSV and XML files, or even Microsoft SQL server
Support and Troubleshooting
OPC Expert supports Microsoft Excel versions as follows:
- Microsoft Office 365
- Excel 2003 to Excel 2021
- All 32-bit and 64-bit releases
- Unlimited number of individual items
- Unlimited number of OPC server connections
See also:
