Electric Energy Meter Power Quality Analytics Controller
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current electric energy meters lack advanced capabilities to accurately determine the quality and reliability of power delivery across multiple phases, often attributing power quality issues to either the utility or consumer without clear distinction, and fail to efficiently track and store transient events and harmonic frequencies.
Innovation Solution
An electric energy meter with a controller and power quality monitor registers that measure and differentiate power quality issues across phases, attributing problems to either the utility or consumer side, and includes features for detecting sag/swell, phase unbalance, short interruptions, flickering, harmonics, and frequency deviations, with communication capabilities for data transfer.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional electric energy meters are used to monitor power consumption, then billing purposes are served, but power quality issues cannot be accurately differentiated between utility and consumer sides
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments power quality monitoring into separate functional blocks: voltage monitoring block, current monitoring block, and control block. Each block independently monitors specific parameters and stores data in separate registers (V1-V4 for voltage, I1-I4 for current), enabling precise measurement and clear attribution of power quality issues to either utility or consumer side without information loss
Solution Approach 2:
The control block acts as an intermediary that receives data from both voltage and current monitoring blocks, processes the information, and determines power quality issues. This intermediary block stores differentiated information in separate registers (PQ1-PQ8 for power quality parameters, UT1-UT2 for utility side, CT1-CT2 for consumer side), enabling accurate attribution of issues to the responsible party
2Reliability
If advanced power quality monitoring capabilities are added to electric energy meters, then power quality parameters can be accurately tracked, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The electric energy meter is designed with multi-functionality, serving both traditional billing purposes and advanced power quality monitoring. The same hardware structure (controller, memory, communication interface) handles multiple functions including energy measurement, voltage/current monitoring, power quality analysis, and data communication, thereby improving reliability without proportionally increasing device complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges power quality monitoring functions with the existing electric energy meter structure. The control block integrates voltage monitoring, current monitoring, and power quality analysis into a single unified system, storing all data in integrated memory registers. This combining approach enables comprehensive power quality tracking while avoiding the complexity of separate standalone monitoring devices
3Measurement precision
If multiple monitoring registers are implemented to track different power quality parameters, then measurement accuracy improves, but data storage requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements local quality by creating specialized monitoring registers for specific power quality parameters: V1-V4 for voltage, I1-I4 for current, PQ1-PQ8 for power quality metrics, and separate UT1-UT2/CT1-CT2 registers for utility/consumer attribution. Each register is optimized for its specific function, enabling precise measurement of individual parameters while organizing data efficiently to minimize overall storage requirements
Data Source
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AI summary
An electric energy meter includes a plurality of first terminals for receiving a measure of current of each of one or more phases of power and a plurality of second terminals for receiving a measure of voltage of each of one or more phases of power. A controller is configured to analyze the measure of current and the measure of voltage of each of the one or more phases of power in order to detect power quality issues in one or more of the one or more phases of power. For each of the detected power quality issues, the controller is configured to determine whether the detected power quality issue is caused by a utility generating the power or a consumer consuming the power and to communicate a message indicating the detected power quality issues via a communications port operably coupled to the controller.