Every little bit of magnitude and phase error matters for high precision instruments and sometimes it’s very difficult to tell where these problems are hiding. We have a collection of reference instruments, tools and methods and are happy to work with your staff to efficiently get the answers you need.
Generally power wiring already goes where the data needs to and the promise of “free” power line carrier communications (PLC) can be attractive for some applications. We can help make PLC work for you or make sure you avoid it when it isn’t appropriate.
With today’s emphasis on secure communications and data privacy of Smart Grid equipment being offered to utilities, some vendors pay less attention than they should to the quality of electrical measurements actually being done. In the end a neutral, third party evaluation of the quality of data being delivered can expedite Smart Grid equipment trials and help avoid costly mistakes.
Ideally any measurement instrument installed on the grid would present no hazard of any kind. Safety assurance becomes a major issue for electric utility instruments operating where megawatts of power and 1000’s of amp of fault current are available. Safety testing for utility medium voltage (4KV – 25KV) measurement systems requires specialized equipment and techniques.
Measurement systems intended for established markets (e.g. utility revenue meters) are governed by an array of standards from various organization such as IEEE in the US and IEC in the rest of the world. Extracting what one needs to understand from standards is rarely easy and some important ones (notably IEC 61000-4-30) are downright daunting. Some vendors of Smart Grid equipment legitimately complain that an excessively rigid standards framework discourages innovation.
Reported results are never better than the quality of the analog transducers used by the measurement system. Unfortunately there is a huge selection of transducers on the market with complicated and confusing specs. Creative Smart Grid applications sometimes need non-standard transducers as well.
The basic structure of modern sampling instruments ranging from inexpensive home energy monitors to critical system protection equipment installed on utility medium voltage circuits is similar but the requirements for and processing of the sampled data is vastly different. We are experts in both time and frequency domain methods. Integrated ASSP solutions from several silicon chip vendors also offer some remarkable options for new designs.
