Power Quality Monitoring Techniques

In a smart grid, the efficiency and reliability of the electrical power supply is very important for desirable operation of equipment and devices. Power Quality Monitoring (PQM) is an important practice that plays a vital role in maintaining these parameters in a specified limit.

In a smart grid, there are several power quality monitoring techniques are used, the two most widely used are GPRS-Based Power Quality Monitoring and Web-Based Power Quality Monitoring.

In this chapter, we will learn about the definition of power quality monitoring, its significance in smart grid, and the GPRS and web-based power quality monitoring techniques.

What is Power Quality Monitoring?

In the context of smart grids, power quality monitoring is a practice that involves the measurement of grid parameters like voltage, current, supply frequency, waveform distortion, etc. Power quality monitoring allows grid operators to keep all the characteristics of the system within a standard limit so that the power supply can be used to operate equipment without any failure.

For this purpose, a specially designed monitoring system is employed that can continuously record and analyze the grid parameters in real-time.

Why Power Quality Monitoring is Important?

In smart grid systems, power quality monitoring is crucial to avoid power quality issues and their impacts on equipments operation, performance, and life. Power quality monitoring is also important for utility companies to avoid issues related to regulatory compliances and to optimize the performance of electric grid.

Power Quality Monitoring Techniques

The most commonly used power quality monitoring techniques in smart grid are as follows −

• GPRS-Based Power Quality Monitoring
• Web-Based Power Quality Monitoring

Let us discuss about each of these two types of power quality monitor techniques in detail.

1. Power Quality Monitoring using GPRS

GPRS stands for Global Packet Radio Service, is a wireless communication channel used for data transmission in smart grid systems. It communicates power quality data or grid parameters by using cellular networks.

The GPRS based power quality monitoring system monitors the grid in real-time with the help of sensors placed across the grid and transmits the data from sensors to a central monitoring system by using GPRS network as their communication channel.

It consists of three layers namely, equipment layer, data layer, and information layer. The equipment layer is responsible for real-time and precise monitoring of the system, then data layer collects and analyzes the monitored data. The information layer then provides the analysis results through internet.

At the same time, the GPRS network provides a communication link between all these three layers of this PQM technique.

2. Power Quality Monitoring Using Web-Based Technology

In this power quality monitoring technique, the power quality monitoring system uses internet as the communication channel for transmission of power quality data.

In this type of PQM system, smart sensors are installed across the grid to collect grid data like voltage, current, frequency, harmonics, waveform distortion, and more. Then, this monitored data is uploaded to a cloud-based web server using an internet connection.

Then, utility companies can access the data and analyze using web-based tools and interfaces. The web-based power quality monitoring technique offers several advantages over the GPRS based technique, major of them are accessibility from remote locations, flexibility, high-speed and real-time communication, easy integration with other smart grid components, etc.

Conclusion

Power Quality Monitoring (PQM) techniques are systems that are used to monitor and maintain the smart grid parameters within a specified range. These techniques are crucial for making the smart grid system reliable, stable, and efficient.