amr and other compelling bpl utility applications
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AMR and Other Compelling BPL Utility Applications. Leland Keller E SOURCE Research Services Metering America April 12 2005, Las Vegas, NV. a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies. Presentation Overview. Basic terms of BPL BPL can support AMR - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Leland Keller
E SOURCE Research Services
Metering AmericaApril 12 2005, Las Vegas, NV
AMR and Other Compelling BPL Utility Applications
a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies
• Basic terms of BPL• BPL can support AMR• BPL pilots illustrating AMR and
other utility applications• What applications make sense
Presentation Overview
Defining the terms
Access BPL
Backhaul Collector Repeater “BPL-
ready”
BPL Supports Utility Applications
Northeast Utilities City of Manassas Duke Energy Progress Energy Chelan County PUD
BPL for Residential Fixed Network AMR at Duke Energy
500 home trial “Plug & play”
fixed network receiver uses BPL as backhaul
Main.net BPL technology
BPL for IP Commercial Demand Meters at Duke Energy
Modem power cord wired directly into 240V.Modem power cord wired directly into 240V.
Ethernet from meter routed to Main.Net modemEthernet from meter routed to Main.Net modem
Duke Energy BPL Utility Applications
“To leverage the infrastructure with fixed network AMR looks to be a viable thing to do. It’s not justified on meter reading, but by other operational benefits: rereads, move-in/move-out and outage monitoring”
Duke Energy Capacitor Bank Remote Control
Serial to Ethernet Converter
Serial to Ethernet Converter
Serial PortSerial Port
What makes BPL viable for meter communications
BPL business model Types of metering Physical location Coverage from public
networks
BPL for Mesh Network AMR at Progress Energy
Amperion Griffin injector
WiFi panel antenna 420 homes passed
in 3 counties Market trial ended
Q4 2004
BPL for Mesh Network AMR at Progress Energy
Elster REX collector meter
Serial to Ethernet converter
Ethernet to WiFi Parallel dual socket
meter cabinet REX wireless mesh
network
BPL for Mesh Network AMR at Progress Energy
Progress engineers use the “vertle” for underground systems. “You don’t have hot spots, you have hot zones or neighborhoods” -Matt Oja, Progress Energy
Progress Energy BPL Applications
AMR Outage detection RTU monitoring
and control WiFi access for
field personnel
Why is meter access speed and two-way communication important?
“BPL doesn’t justify AMR, it’s just potentially a faster, hopefully more cost-effective way to get data back from the meters than the existing dial-up or drive-by systems that exist today. If you can get it back in a matter of seconds or a few minutes, does that matter? Why does it matter?”
-Matt Oja, Progress Energy
Other BPL Utility Applications
Underground fault detection Equipment failure prediction Distribution asset management Distribution system optimization Demand response / load control Remote control for RTUs,
capacitor banks, substations Monitoring for security
Hurdles for BPL
Still cost-prohibitive for rural Deployment costs vary for
each utility Equipment durability and
reliability Interference concerns Regulatory issues
