open source power quality data visualization

July 15, 2014

Open Source PQ Data Visualization

2 © 2014 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

EPRI Smart Distribution and Power Quality 2014 Conference and Exhibition

Presentation Overview

• GPA

• Open Source Software (OSS) Trends and Value

• Dashboard vs Analytic Software

• Unique Values of a Dashboard

•PQ Dashboard Beta

• Questions



Grid Protection Alliance

• Mission – to improve the reliability and resiliency

of the electric grid

• Purpose – to advance the technology of the

electric grid by providing services and systems

that create lasting value for electric energy

producers, transmission & distribution companies,

and consumers.

GPA is a not-for-profit corporation creating open source software, and

advancing electric grid operations through the development of secure,

extensible, high-performing, and freely available production-grade solutions.



GPA Timeline

• Formed in 2010

• NERC contract to support and refine the openPDC

• Development clients include:

DOE, EPRI, WECC, FP&L,

Entergy, MISO, Dominion, NSF,

ISO-NE, PG&E, Duke, TVA, and others

• Currently 7 employees

• 4th Annual User’s Forum – August 12&13, 2014

Richmond, VA – Hosted by Dominion Virginia Power



Open Source Software (OSS) Trends

shared by infografik on Apr 10, 2013 in Technology

http://visual.ly/users/infografik

http://visual.ly/technology-infographics




2014 Future of Open Source Survey http://tinyurl.com/nchua8e

http://tinyurl.com/nchua8e




2014 Future of Open Source Survey http://tinyurl.com/prktjl5




DRIVING TECHNOLOGY

…”in the spirit of the open source movement”



Open Source Software (OSS) Value

• Better security

• Higher quality

• Ease of deployment and

extensibility

• No vendor lock In

• Fosters innovation

• Competitive features /

technical capabilities

• Lower acquisition and

maintenance costs

• Facilitates collaboration

• Lower total cost of

ownership

• Improved efficiency

• Decreased development

time

• Retain competitive

advantage

• Access to source code and

large software libraries

• Employee participation in

development and community



Dashboard vs Analytic Software

http://www.exceldashboardwidgets.com/

Analytics is the discovery and communication of meaningful patterns in

data. Especially valuable in areas rich with recorded information,

analytics relies on the simultaneous application of statistics, computer

programming and operations research to quantify performance. Analytics

often favors data visualization to communicate insight. (wikipedia)

http://www.exceldashboardwidgets.com/



Dashboard

• Easy to read

• Single page

• Graphical

• Current status

• Historical trends of key

performance indicators

• Informed decisions can be

made at a glance

Dashboard vs Analytic Software

Analytic Software

• Desktop or heavy client

• Manual steps

• Graphical or tabular

• Historical investigation

• Historical trends and

details of specific events

• Typically used to gather

reporting information



Unique Values of a Dashboard

• A view of the entire fleet

• Quick assessment of PQ situation

• Saves time compared manual tools

• Identify negative trends and link to management process

for correction

• Present consistent view of information

• Make informed decisions based on specified meter groups

• Quickly identify data outliers




• Beautiful North Carolina Location

• Near US 64 with easy access

• Mountainside Cabin

• Sleeps 2

• Beautiful views

• 100 yards from mountain stream



PQ Dashboard Beta

Background

• PQ monitoring goals:

– Quickly assimilate large quantities of data

– Provide actionable information

– Effectively display data from a large number of sites

– Provide value from a broad context with drill down to

details

– Integrate PQ and GIS displays



PQ Dashboard Beta

Background

• Challenges:

– Increasing number of monitors

– Large data volumes

– Ineffective data distillation

– Bad data



PQ Dashboard Beta

Background

• Objectives

– An OSS application (built on existing OSS where

possible)

– Develop OpenPQ Dashboard framework

– Implement key features as a proof-of-concept

– Demonstrate the value of a PQ Dashboard

– Easily deployable

– Easy integration with legacy systems

– Extensible



PQ Dashboard Beta

Building on Prior OSS Work

• Grid Solutions Framework (GSF) library

– Approximately half a million lines of code

– Highly optimized data management functions

• 2102 EPRI open fault location engine (openFLE)

• 2013 open extensible disturbance analytics (openXDA)

http://GSF.codeplex.com/

http://epriopenfle.codeplex.com/

http://openxda.codeplex.com/







Context

– Initial displays have daily context

– Map and grid display entire fleet

– Default displays show yesterday’s data

– 30 day summary chart

– Limited drill-down for some detail

PQ Dashboard Beta



Where we are now

– Architectural framework complete

– Displays complete:

• Overall layout

• Events

• Simple trends

– TVA Test data positioned

PQ Dashboard Beta



The contract called for a minimum of 6 display ‘widgets’,

we have already exceeded that number.

Additional planned functions

– Complex trend displays

• Summary of trend ‘events’

• Trend chart to include standard and local limits

– Data quality displays

• Next slide for list of possible data quality tests

– Compatibility curves

– Option for automatic Link to PQWeb for analytic detail

PQ Dashboard Beta



Simple Interface with Powerful Controls

• Spark line in grid control indicates events for each site on

the selected day

PQ Dashboard Beta




• Intelligent calendar control shows day selected and which

days have events

• Select base map and category of data to display

PQ Dashboard Beta




• Switch between map and grid

• Standard map zoom and pan

• Drag to zoom

• Flexible site selection, list, click or drag

PQ Dashboard Beta




• Mouse-over tool tip

• Click daily bar for

event detail table

PQ Dashboard Beta



PQ Dashboard Beta Initial test data provided by TVA



PQ Dashboard Beta

Initial test data provided by TVA



Conclusions

• A dashboard approach for visualization brings new value to

PQ data

• OSS development strategy ensures flexibility and

extensibility

• Seamless integration to existing tools such as PQWeb and

possibly the PQ Investigator will enhance the value of the

dashboard and existing tools



Questions

open source power quality data visualization

Data & Analytics

power quality

epri smart distribution

open source movement

dominion virginia power

source code

electric grid operations

electric grid purpose

electric energy producers