Power Standards Lab Unveils Grid Thumper at DistribuTECH: Patent-Pending System Actively Tests Grid Stability

ALAMEDA, Calif. and SAN ANTONIO, Texas, Jan. 23, 2018 -- Power Standards Lab Inc. (PSL), a leader in grid instruments, today announced Grid Thumper™, a breakthrough solution for testing the stability of microgrids, distribution grids, and back-up power systems.

PSL’s Grid Thumper: a new way to test the stability of microgrids, distribution grids, and back-up power systems

When subjected to stand-alone certification testing, individual pieces of grid equipment (generators, inverters, UPS, transfer switches, etc.) almost always operate correctly. When they’re connected together as a system, exactly how their control loops will interact is unknown.  

Grid Thumper rigorously tests complete, connected systems, including active distribution grids, detecting harmful instabilities that would otherwise be invisible. It uses patent-pending technology to briefly connect large, time-synchronized resistive and reactive loads – up to a megawatt, often for a tiny fraction of a second – then ultra-precise PSL PQube 3 and microPMU sensors record the grid’s system response.

Grid operators, data centers, hospitals, military bases, sports and entertainment venues, can all gain peace of mind that their critical power systems will perform as expected when needed most.

“Our company designs and integrates fail-safe power solutions for the defense and broadcast industries,” said Bill Wenzlau, CEO of Wenzlau Engineering. "With Grid Thumper, we are able to test sophisticated power scenarios to validate system reliability and availability. We can now provide the military with objective evidence that tactical radars will identify threats, and assure national television networks that major sporting events will remain on-air. Through our partnership with PSL, Wenzlau Engineering and our customers operate with a heightened sense of confidence.”

Researchers at U.S. National Labs have already shown interest in using Grid Thumper to examine PV system stability and detect sophisticated grid cyberattacks. Military suppliers, hospitals and data centers will rely on the non-disruptive Grid Thumper stability tests on mission-critical live grids. Utilities are discussing how to use Grid Thumper to map out distribution grids, and even to increase the amount of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs), such as solar PV, that is permitted on a given distribution line. Operators of island grids have plans to use Grid Thumper to measure actual control loop response and damping in a large population of installed inverters.

“It’s difficult to characterize in steady-state, so let’s perturb and observe. For the semiconductor industry, PSL has a long history of precisely disturbing power, then using it to test high-value sensitive loads,” said Mario Barbaresso, President and CEO of Power Survey, parent company of Power Standards Lab. “At last, with Grid Thumper, the power industry can also take advantage of this approach. Information from non-disruptive intentional disturbances, measured with our ultra-precise instruments, will improve grid stability.”

To learn more about Grid Thumper, and the innovative power quality solutions offered by PSL, please attend our panel discussion at DistribuTECH: Lessons Learned: Defending the Grid from the Unintended Consequences of DERs (#D0237), moderated by Alex McEachern, PSL's founder, Fellow IEEE, Convenor IEC, and Chair SEMI, in room 213B on Tuesday, January 23, 2018, from 3:00 to 4:30 pm. Also, please visit our booth (#1111) and website: www.powerstandards.com.

About Power Standards Lab, Inc.

Power Standards Lab Inc. (PSL), a subsidiary of Power Survey and Equipment Ltd., is a global leader in the design and manufacture of easy-to-install, ultra-precise electric power instruments for monitoring power quality and energy, and performing data analysis. PSL partners with Fortune 500 companies in the power and energy, transportation, medical, semiconductor, telecom, and manufacturing industries, as well as government agencies, to help diagnose and solve electric power problems, provide power quality testing, and certification. PSL employees speak over 15 languages, providing localized support to customers in 58 countries. The company is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area. For more information: www.powerstandards.com.  

Power Standards Lab, PSL, PQube 3, PQube 3e, and PQube 3v are registered trademarks of Power Standards Lab, Inc. Grid Thumper is a trademark of Power Standards Lab, Inc.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b48ac998-6f60-48e5-891a-c934da0917eb

Contact:
Joanna Hamblin, Global Director of Marketing
Power Survey and Equipment/Power Standards Lab
Phone: +1-510-522-4400 x 846
Email: [email protected]