Many military power system loads are unique in their characteristics and requirements compared to conventional residential and commercial loads and can be more sensitive to abnormal power quality. Many military installations are documenting cases of multi-million-dollar equipment damage per year due to poor power quality in addition to increased maintenance requirements. Unfortunately, these events are becoming more common due to increasingly sensitive loads and increased demand on an aging electrical grid. To prevent damage or degradation of these critical military systems and maintain mission readiness, it is necessary to ensure that the power reaching the loads is meeting power quality standards. However, most military bases are flying blind because they have limited metering coverage, and where it does exist, logging of power system data is often limited to low-resolution energy usage metering (values logged at 15-minute intervals), which is insufficient for understanding power quality issues that could manifest in transient signals only detectable with millisecond or faster logging. The conventional solution is to install new intrusive power quality meters that require physical connection of voltage and current sensors to power distribution equipment; however, this method can be costly and time-intensive, lead to safety risks, and disrupt the mission because it requires de-energizing power distribution equipment to enable safe sensor installation. To address the need for high-resolution power monitoring to assess power quality without disrupting operations, this project will deliver an integrated non-disruptive sensor platform with the ability to automate data collection, storage, and analysis for power quality and equipment failure detection. This platform will provide a data storage format that enables future research and development of additional application cases.

Previous work on novel non-intrusive load monitoring technologies (including the Mobile Power Meter and GridSweep) will be combined to deliver an integrated solution for non-intrusive power quality monitoring that is easy for operators to use and will not disrupt the mission. The GridSweep measures single-phase voltage at a 120V wall outlet at parts-per-billion resolution. It can be operated in either a passive mode (only measuring voltage) or active mode (modulating a small load at varying frequency while measuring voltage). The Mobile Power Meter (MPM) is a non-intrusive monitor that generates three-phase current and single-phase voltage data for critical loads in areas that are not amenable to conventional intrusive power monitors. The MPM can be installed around a power cable without requiring physical contact with the conductor. Software improvements will be made to each of these metering devices to allow streaming to a central data collection platform where automated data analysis algorithms will be deployed to streamline critical data for decision-makers.

This demonstration will lower the barriers for deploying application-ready, non-intrusive metering technology and inform maintenance of, and improvements to, base power distribution equipment and ensure reliability, mission capability, and the protection of critical military loads. Insights from this demonstration will accelerate development and scaling of monitoring tools across all installations. (Anticipated Project Completion - 2027)