Centre
for Apparent Energy Research
Tapping 'Effectively' the
Potential of Electrical Energy
|
|
|
|
Centre for Apparent Energy Research's (CAER's) major contribution has been towards successful introduction of Apparent Energy Tariffs after a 14 year long struggle beating all odds.
On August 27, 2010, at a function hosted by the students of ICCT Engg. College, the 1st Electricity Bill based on kVAh was delivered by an electric utility (MGVCL) to a consumer (Anand Municipality) in the presence of GERC officials. Click here to compare with kWh Bill. ![[New!]](images/General/smallnew.gif){kind=small} On
September 06, 2011, the success story got a boost, as GERC changed the
scope of the kVAh tariff from its experimental pilot status to an Optional
Tariff for the entire street lighting segment in the state of GUJARAT.
Click here to read more...
By just porting a different software on an Active Energy (kWh) meter hardware, the same was simply transformed into an Apparent Energy Meter. What is Apparent Energy? Apparent Energy is the technical name for ‘total’ electrical energy, that includes both its ‘useful’ and the 'lossy' components. The unit of Apparent Energy is kilo-Volt-Ampere-hour or kVAh. There has been a lot of confusion due to multiple definitions of Apparent Energy in use. CAER aims to put to rest this confusion, and is happy to note that the latest IEEE Std. 1459:2010 definition is consistent with its own. CAER had launched its first indigenously developed kVAh meter based on this definition in 1996 (see figure alongside). Why Apparent Energy?Every other commodity is charged on the basis of ‘cost to deliver’. Why not electricity? The electrical tariff system is flawed, unfair, and inefficient due to the wrong choice for unit of electrical energy measurement for over a century. Read More... Lack of Respect to Electrical Parameters
Fighting the War of Currents - IIRecall the War of Currents in the
1880s between Edison (DC) and Tesla (AC) and how AC won on the basis of
simplicity and efficiency. In this decade we are going to once again fight the
War of Currents. Regardless of whether the consumers convert the supply in their
premises, from AC to DC or not, the War of Currents-II, that we have
initiated through the launch of Apparent Energy Tariffs and Metering in
opposition to the well established Active Energy Tariffs is significant. While ‘simplicity’ was the theme Tesla chose to win the War of Currents – I (WC-I), we choose ‘power quality’ to be the theme for winning the War of Currents –II. While WC-I focused on AC vs. DC currents, our focus during WC-II is on Fundamental AC current vs. Harmonic currents and reactive currents. Read More...
Correct Definition of Apparent EnergyIn the year 1996, after conducting
experiments using micro-controllers, CAER identified that apparent energy need
not be computed in the same manner as it was done using electro-mechanical
meters. It took the first bold step of computing apparent power S in
Volt-Ampere (VA) as a product of the RMS values of voltage and current
and successfully implemented it in low cost apparent energy meters.
In the year 2010, two important documents, namely, (a) IEEE Standard 1459 – 2010 released by the IEEE Power and Energy Society (PES), and (b) Datasheet of the Energy Metering Chip – EM773 with a builtin metrology engine by NXP Semiconductors, has re-affirmed that our choice of definition for kVAh and the algorithm for its computation (that we had implemented in 1996) are both correct. Read More...
VA Labeling
A change to VA measurement and tariffs would also mandate a change in labeling
of electrical appliances. CAER is of the strong opinion that the VA
parameter which reflects the current drawn should be compulsorily displayed. It
is not sufficient anymore to simply label the appliances in terms of Watt, as it
hides information related to current particularly when the appliance is
inductive in nature or one that is injecting harmonics. Both these categories of
load are commonly observed in practice.
|
|
Send mail to
vk@kvah.in with
questions or comments about this web site.
|
Recently developed Apparent Energy Meters based on NXP and TI chips are shown
alongside. These meters were developed to shatter the old mindset of
the electric utilities and their outdated perception that Apparent Energy is
difficult to compute and that it needs to be computed indirectly from other energy parameters, or
that the meters are more expensive than the kWh meter. 
