We’re excited to announce the release of the Quasar Portable Meter.
 
When you need to quickly collect data for decision making or to find power quality issues, a portable meter is a cost-effective solution.
 
Our portable meters gather power and energy data including high-speed transients that are often hard to capture and provide you with real-time data from your system.

Don't wait for transient voltage excursions to take your network, plant or process down! ION power meters monitor critical electrical parameters and spot trouble so you stay in control.

As new more efficient equipment is connected to electrical distribution systems, voltage quality degrades. Much of the new equipment is non-linear, drawing power from electrical systems in ways that increase distorting harmonic currents. Transient voltage excursions can destroy microprocessor-based equipment, snarl communications, and wipe out valuable data. Highly distorted voltages waste power, overheat motors and transformers, and shorten equipment life. ION power meters capture and log data in real-time. This data can lead to predicting, preventing, and resolving power quality problems.

ION7550/ION7650 high end revenue and power quality meter meters are certified by KEMA to meet the IEC 61850 specifications.

Applications:            

• Power  systems  in  electrical  utilities
• Oil & Gas industry
• Large  industrial  sites 
• Any  industry that needs to monitor,  control and automate their power system

Multi-vendor Benefits:
IEC  61850  was  developed  as  a utility substation automation protocol, enabling easy incorporation of products from multiple  vendors in the same SCADA system.

Overview of ION7550/ION7650 meter IEC 61850 functionality:

• Operational metering data (V, I, F, PF, Power, Energy)
• Some Power Quality values (harmonics, unbalance)
• Access to read and write meter digital and analogue I/O
• Time synchronization via SNTP
• Reporting service for 61850 data
• COMTRADE formatted waveform data, transferred via FTP
• Custom mapping of ION values into 61850 in addition to standard models
• Up to 4 client connections, 1 buffered and 5 unbuffered reports per client connection

 What meters will support the new feature:
         ION7550 - with Ethernet card and 5MB memory option
         ION7650 - with Ethernet card and 5MB memory option

Upgrade existing Meters:
It is possible to upgrade installed meters to support IEC 61850 protocol. Contact Quasar for details.

The new ION8650 advanced revenue & power quality meter was recently awarded ‘Electricity Industry Participation Code 2010, Schedule 10.1, Code of Practice 10.4’ compliance with this certification, these meters are now ready to be sold into Revenue compliant installations within New Zealand.

Used to monitor electric energy provider networks, service entrances and substations, PowerLogic ION8650 meters are ideal for independent power producers and co-generation applications that need to accurately measure energy bidirectionally in both generation and stand-by modes. These meters give utilities the tools to manage complex energy supply contracts that include commitments to power quality. Integrate them with our ION Enterprise™ operations software or other energy management and SCADA systems through multiple communication channels and protocols, including our PrimeRead MDM solutions as well as Itron MV-90 and Stark RT.

Realtime Load Monitoring

Realtime monitoring of Peak Load by Northpower’s ION7700 and ION7650 meters became hot news in the Northern Advocate newspaper following a recent cold snap. Mike Hayes, Commercial Manager - Network of Northpower reports that the cold weather event imposed a peak load on Northpower’s network, and that the data from their ION meters enabled them to control peak demand and keep a close watch on events as they progressed during the day.

Quasar’s Unique Solution

Quasar supplied ION meters and an ION Enterprise Energy Monitoring system in 2008 which it supports remotely. This ensures that Northpower always has reliable, real-time and historical network information readily at hand. 

Transformer Loss Compensation is used when a revenue meter’s actual location is different from the electrical location where a change of ownership occurs; for example, where meters at a power station are connected on the low-voltage side of power transformers when the ownership change occurs on the high-side of the transformer. This physical separation between meter and actual billing or reconciliation point results in measurable losses. The most common implementation of this technology is in relation to 2 winding transformers.

Providing a solution for 3 winding transformers is a considerably more complex scenario as the delivered power may flow in more than one direction. Quasar’s solution was developed and proven using ION 8800, ION8600, and ION7650 meters and ION Enterprise™ software.