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.
| 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.
| 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.
| 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.
| 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.
| 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.
| 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.
| 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.
| 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.