Active Energy Meters Tested in Realistic Non-Sinusoidal Conditions Recorded on the Field and Reproduced in Laboratory

Alessandro Cultrera (), Gabriele Germito, Danilo Serazio, Flavio Galliana, Bruno Trinchera, Giulia Aprile, Martino Chirulli and Luca Callegaro
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Alessandro Cultrera: INRIM—Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica, Strada delle Cacce 91, 10135 Torino, Italy
Gabriele Germito: INRIM—Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica, Strada delle Cacce 91, 10135 Torino, Italy
Danilo Serazio: INRIM—Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica, Strada delle Cacce 91, 10135 Torino, Italy
Flavio Galliana: INRIM—Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica, Strada delle Cacce 91, 10135 Torino, Italy
Bruno Trinchera: INRIM—Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica, Strada delle Cacce 91, 10135 Torino, Italy
Giulia Aprile: INRIM—Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica, Strada delle Cacce 91, 10135 Torino, Italy
Martino Chirulli: VERIFICA S.p.A, Via Sant’ Annibale Maria di Francia 29, 70010 Locorotondo, Italy
Luca Callegaro: INRIM—Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica, Strada delle Cacce 91, 10135 Torino, Italy

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 6, 1-12

Abstract: Metrological characterisation of static energy meters under realistic low power quality conditions is a basic requirement for proper grid control and fair energy billing. The paper reports about a new proposed methodology, where the meters are tested under conditions directly recorded at installation sites. The waveforms of voltages and currents are sampled using a portable instrument; they are reproduced in laboratory conditions with a phantom power generator, with a bandwidth covering up to the 40th harmonic. The recording site is a photovoltaic energy production facility, having a a nominal power of 50 kW, at the coupling section to the grid. These waveforms were then reproduced in the laboratory, and tested on different models of single- and three-phase commercial static energy meters; the models chosen represent both energy meters used by energy providers at the point of common-coupling, and also meters typically used for in-line monitoring by end users. The quantity of interest is the reading error of the measured energy, when tested with the conditions reproduced from the on-field measurements, in comparison with a reference meter. All tested energy meter models comply with the present international documentary standards, which require tests under low power quality conditions; nevertheless, there are models that show unacceptable errors (up to 25%) in the measurement of active energy when tested with the on-field recorded waveforms. This suggests that the standardised testing waveforms might, in some cases, be not fully representative of the actual conditions encountered in the field.

Keywords: calibration test bed; revenue energy meters; power quality; distorted conditions; harmonics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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