Triplex Meter

Triplex meters provide similar functionality for triplex systems that meter objects do in three-phase systems. A triplex meter provides a measurement point for power and energy on the system at a specific point. Coupled with a recorder or collector, the triplex_meter object provides a method determine how much power and energy have been used by downstream connections, as well as how much current is flowing through the meter object at the present time. A typical implementation would be

object triplex_meter {
    name TrplMtr1;
    phases AS;
    nominal_voltage 120.0;
    }

Triplex Meter Parameters

triplex_meter objects are derived from triplex_node objects, so any parameters of the triplex_node object are available as well.

The I/O column indicates whether a property is user-settable input (I), simulation-computed output (O), or both (IO).

Meter Configuration Properties

These properties control meter behavior and are input only. They are not modified by the simulation at runtime. Timestep properties must be set to a positive value (in seconds) to activate their corresponding measurement features; the default value of -1 disables them.

Table 1: triplex_meter table 1
Property Name Type Unit I/O Description
meter_power_consumption complex VA I Power consumed by the meter itself (standby, communication).
measured_energy_delta_timestep double s I Interval for delta energy calculations (measured_real_energy_delta, measured_reactive_energy_delta).
measured_stats_interval double s I Interval for voltage and power min/max/average statistics.

Instantaneous Measurement Properties

These properties report the meter's current electrical state. All are computed during the postsync pass of each powerflow iteration and are output only, except measured_demand which can also be set by the user to establish an initial floor value. The measured_demand property can be reset to zero by calling the meter reset function.

Table 2: triplex_meter table 2
Property Name Type Unit I/O Description
measured_power complex VA O Total complex power across all phases.
indiv_measured_power_1 complex VA O Complex power on phase 1.
indiv_measured_power_2 complex VA O Complex power on phase 2.
indiv_measured_power_N complex VA O Complex power on phase N.
measured_real_power double W O Total real power across all phases.
measured_reactive_power double VAr O Total reactive power across all phases.
measured_demand double W IO Greatest real power recorded during the simulation.
measured_voltage_1 complex V O Line-to-neutral voltage on phase 1.
measured_voltage_2 complex V O Line-to-neutral voltage on phase 2.
measured_voltage_N complex V O Neutral voltage.
measured_current_1 complex A O Current on phase 1.
measured_current_2 complex A O Current on phase 2.
measured_current_N complex A O Current on phase N.

Energy Measurement Properties

These properties track energy consumption over time. Cumulative values are both input and output. They accumulate from the start of the simulation using +=, so a user-set initial value will offset all subsequent readings (the simulation logs a warning if initial values are nonzero).

Delta values are output only. They report the change in energy at each interval boundary defined by measured_energy_delta_timestep and are only updated when that property is set to a positive value.

Table 3: triplex_meter table 3
Property Name Type Unit I/O Description
measured_real_energy double Wh IO Cumulative real energy consumption.
measured_reactive_energy double VAh IO Cumulative reactive energy consumption.
measured_real_energy_delta double Wh O Change in real energy since the last interval boundary.
measured_reactive_energy_delta double VAh O Change in reactive energy since the last interval boundary.

Interval Voltage Statistics

These properties report voltage statistics computed over a repeating interval defined by measured_stats_interval. They are only active when measured_stats_interval is set to a positive value, and values are updated at the end of each interval. All properties in this section are output only.

For max and min properties, voltage samples are compared by magnitude at each timestep. The "real" and "reactive" variants report the real and imaginary components of whichever sample had the greatest or least magnitude during the interval. Average properties track a time-weighted average of the voltage magnitude.

Table 4: triplex_meter table 4
Property Name Type Unit I/O Description
measured_real_max_voltage_1_in_interval double V O Real component of peak-magnitude line-to-neutral voltage on phase 1.
measured_real_max_voltage_2_in_interval double V O Real component of peak-magnitude line-to-neutral voltage on phase 2.
measured_real_max_voltage_12_in_interval double V O Real component of peak-magnitude line-to-line voltage on phases 12.
measured_reactive_max_voltage_1_in_interval double V O Imaginary component of peak-magnitude line-to-neutral voltage on phase 1.
measured_reactive_max_voltage_2_in_interval double V O Imaginary component of peak-magnitude line-to-neutral voltage on phase 2.
measured_reactive_max_voltage_12_in_interval double V O Imaginary component of peak-magnitude line-to-line voltage on phases 12.
measured_real_min_voltage_1_in_interval double V O Real component of minimum-magnitude line-to-neutral voltage on phase 1.
measured_real_min_voltage_2_in_interval double V O Real component of minimum-magnitude line-to-neutral voltage on phase 2.
measured_real_min_voltage_12_in_interval double V O Real component of minimum-magnitude line-to-line voltage on phases 12.
measured_reactive_min_voltage_1_in_interval double V O Imaginary component of minimum-magnitude line-to-neutral voltage on phase 1.
measured_reactive_min_voltage_2_in_interval double V O Imaginary component of minimum-magnitude line-to-neutral voltage on phase 2.
measured_reactive_min_voltage_12_in_interval double V O Imaginary component of minimum-magnitude line-to-line voltage on phases 12.
measured_avg_voltage_1_mag_in_interval double V O Average line-to-neutral voltage magnitude on phase 1.
measured_avg_voltage_2_mag_in_interval double V O Average line-to-neutral voltage magnitude on phase 2.
measured_avg_voltage_12_mag_in_interval double V O Average line-to-line voltage magnitude on phases 12.

Interval Power Statistics

These properties report power statistics computed over the same repeating interval defined by measured_stats_interval, with the same activation and update behavior as the voltage statistics above. All are output only. Total split-phase statistics are listed first, followed by per-phase breakdowns. Averages are time-weighted.

Table 5: triplex_meter table 5
Property Name Type Unit I/O Description
measured_real_max_power_in_interval double W O Maximum total real power.
measured_reactive_max_power_in_interval double VAr O Maximum total reactive power.
measured_real_min_power_in_interval double W O Minimum total real power.
measured_reactive_min_power_in_interval double VAr O Minimum total reactive power.
measured_avg_real_power_in_interval double W O Average total real power.
measured_avg_reactive_power_in_interval double VAr O Average total reactive power.

Billing Properties

These properties configure and report the meter's energy billing functionality. Billing is only active when bill_mode is set to a value other than NONE. The monthly bill accumulates during each billing cycle and is finalized at midnight on bill_day, at which point previous_monthly_bill and previous_monthly_energy are updated.

Tiered pricing modes (TIERED, TIERED_RTP) use up to three energy tiers. Energy consumed below first_tier_energy is priced at the base price (or price_base for TIERED_RTP). Energy above each tier threshold is priced at the corresponding tier price. If a higher tier is not defined, the previous tier's price applies to all remaining energy.

Table 6: triplex_meter table 6
Property Name Type Unit I/O Description
bill_mode enumeration N/A I Billing structure. Valid values:
0 - NONE - Billing disabled (default).
1 - UNIFORM - Flat rate from price.
2 - TIERED - Price increases at energy thresholds.
3 - HOURLY - Real-time market pricing via power_market.
4 - TIERED_RTP - Real-time market pricing plus tiered base charges via price_base.
bill_day int32 N/A I Day of month the bill is finalized (1“28).
monthly_fee double $ I Flat monthly service fee included as the base of each bill. This is a recurrent monthly service charge that is added into the bill on the first day of the billing cycle (no pro-rating).
price double $/kWh I Current energy price. Updated from power_market in HOURLY and TIERED_RTP modes.
price_base double $/kWh I Base energy price used in TIERED_RTP mode for energy below the first tier.
power_market object N/A I Market object (auction or stubauction) providing the price signal. Required for HOURLY and TIERED_RTP modes.
first_tier_price double $/kWh I Energy price between first_tier_energy and second_tier_energy.
first_tier_energy double kWh IO Energy threshold between base price and first tier.
second_tier_price double $/kWh I Energy price between second_tier_energy and third_tier_energy.
second_tier_energy double kWh IO Energy threshold between first and second tiers.
third_tier_price double $/kWh I Energy price above third_tier_energy.
third_tier_energy double kWh IO Energy threshold between second and third tiers.
monthly_bill double $ IO Running bill for the current month.
monthly_energy double kWh IO Cumulative energy consumed during the current billing cycle.
previous_monthly_bill double $ O Final bill from the previous billing cycle.
previous_monthly_energy double kWh IO Total energy consumption from the previous billing cycle.

Reliability Properties

These properties report the meter's service interruption status. The customer_interrupted flag is set automatically when a phase loss is detected through the fault check mechanism in the NR solver. The customer_interrupted_secondary flag indicates a momentary interruption and is automatically cleared to false at the start of each timestep.

Table 7: triplex_meter table 7
Property Name Type Unit I/O Description
customer_interrupted bool N/A IO Indicates sustained service interruption due to phase loss.
customer_interrupted_secondary bool N/A IO Indicates momentary service interruption.

The following properties are only available in builds compiled with SUPPORT_OUTAGES defined. All are input only.

Table 8: triplex_meter table 8
Property Name Type Unit I/O Description
sustained_count int16 N/A I Sustained interruption event counter.
momentary_count int16 N/A I Momentary interruption event counter.
total_count int16 N/A I Total interruption event counter.
s_flag int16 N/A I Sustained interruption state flag.
t_flag int16 N/A I Temporary interruption state flag.
pre_load complex N/A I Load value prior to an outage event.

Triplex Meter State of Development

Triplex Meter is considered a highly developed and validated model in terms of powerflow solutions, however, models using billing have not been fully validated. Additional features will be added as needed.