icona Gen 4 Electric Meter Overview Presented by: Michael Logue, Director Electric Market, Sensus Rick Daniel, Director System Testing 1

Transcription

1 icona Gen 4 Electric Meter Overview Presented by: Michael Logue, Director Electric Market, Sensus Rick Daniel, Director System Testing 1

2 AGENDA Industry Issues What We ve Learned Addressing Industry Issues with icona Gen 4 2

3 Industry Issues 3

4 Industry Meter Failure Modes Over Voltage A large line surge event like dropping transmission line on a distribution line Lightning Over Heat Hot Socket Conditions Over Current Contamination such as water intrusion Excessive loading 4

5 Hot Socket Causes Electric meter socket jaws not properly gripping meter spades Lost their spring memory Jaws spread out and do not firmly connect to the full surface area of the meter blade creating air gap between meter spade and socket jaws Screwdriver used to spread socket jaws to make installation easier Socket jaws are loose and need to be tightened Corrosion on jaws, corroding metal of jaws and impeding current flow Socket jaws are old and the metal is fatigued increasing connection impedance Wiring to meter socket or socket jaws are damaged Increasing resistance to current flow 5

6 Industry Meter Failure Modes 440 ppm overall 6

7 Industry Meter Failure Modes meter socket failures occur about 0.05% (500PPM) of the time 7

8 What We ve Learned 8

9 Analysis of Gen 3 Hot Socket Failures Poor contact between the meter jaws and meter blade results in higher impedance and/or limited surface area contact Heat is conducted to the meter causing a variety of failure modes Melting of the meter base around meter blades Melting of the RD switch CAM Delaminating of the PCB board or components Sensus has not seen a definitive case where a hot socket has led to consumption of the meter while using the new TAO Firmware in Gen 3 or Gen 4 9

10 Causes of Water Intrusion Unsealed meter box Inadequate sealing of top-side service connection Open punch outs Improper drip line installation Services installed on poles using an unsealed meter box Services in positions where water pours on the service box and meter during rain Meter locking band installed with connection not in the 6 o clock position Spray pressure water combined with an unsealed meter box All Sensus Electric Meters meet and exceed ANSI standards and testing for water intrusion 10

11 Analysis of Water Intrusion Failures 2.07 Sensor Board Triac Failure: Transistor at 6 o clock position vulnerable to water intrusion Water, contamination, or both can form short across transistor Transistor permanently on, switches Triac control to Solenoid driving Solenoid to failure 2.10 Sensor Board Triac Failure: Removal of transistor greatly reduced vulnerability by 99.3% making it close to non-existent Water, contamination, or both form shorts across the bus bars that may result in arcing All Sensus Electric Meters meet and exceed ANSI standards and testing for water intrusion 11

12 icona Gen 4 3 yrs in Development Delivering Analytics Data Addressing Industry Issues Industry Leading Testing 12

13 Gen 4 More & Better Data Net 6 Registers Voltage Accuracy Hot Socket Detection and Reaction 15 Snapshots Up to 6 Demands, Flexible Demand Reset 15 Snapshots +/- 0.1% Data Analytics Conservation Voltage Reduction Quality of Service Advanced Rate Structures Safety 4 Channels of Load Profile 5 minute intervals Min, Max, Avg last 1 min interval Voltage Accuracy +/- 0.1% 7 TOU Tiers, 8 Seasons 24 Holidays Mechanical Hardening/UL Outage & Restoration Remote Service Switch Meter Reading Automation 13

14 Addressing Hot Sockets Industry Leading Identification and Protection Distinguish between Sun loading and Socket issues Sensus patented technology uses algorithms to monitor for hot socket signatures and take action Dual sensors work in tandem to report continuous, real time, accurate temperature data 24/7/365 14

15 Customer Experience Customer 1 Approximately 25K meters with High Temperature Detection TAO firmware TAO is enabled Automatically opening the switch when threshold is met 150 Meters have opened the switch with TAO, 12 the first weekend All 150 sockets required repair and were hot sockets in progress Customer 2 Approximately 10K meters with High Temperature Detection firmware 74 High Temp Alarms were identified in May/June 27 Customer Visits did not show any sign of heat damage or corrosion in the meter box 47 Customer visits showed signs of heat damage at meter box and corrective action taken to repair the meter box 15

16 Increase in Material Ratings Description Gen 3 GEN 4 Comments icona Gen 4 RD, Form 2S Base PBT UL94-V0 PBT UL94-V0 UL94-V0 is highest flame class icona Gen RD, Outer Cover PC UL94-HB PC UL94-V0 HB is lowest flame class, V0 is highest flame class, both f1 rated for outdoor suitability icona Gen 4 RD, Foam Pad N/A Closed-cell Silicone UL94-V0 Foam icona Gen 4 RD, Foam Plugs for N/A Closed-cell Silicone UL94-V0 back (outside) of meter base Foam icona Gen 4, Base Gortex Patch N/A Acrylic adhesive on eptfe membrane w/polyesterpolyethylene scrim UL94-V2 minimum icona Gen 4 RD Cam POM (PTFE lubricated) UL94-HB PPS glass-filled UL94- V0 & 5VA HB is lowest flame class, V0 is highest flame class. icona Gen 4 RD Retainer PBT UL94-V0 PBT UL94-V0 UL94-V0 is highest flame class icona Gen 4 RD Register Cover PC UL94-V2 PC UL94-V2 UL94-V2 is the second lowest flame class 16

17 Barrier to Address Hot Socket and Line Events High temperature barrier / Electrical barrier between sensor PCBA bus bars 17

18 Water Intrusion Protection We designed the icona Gen 4 to exceed ANSI standards and take water and humidity protection to the next level. 18

19 under extreme conditions 19

20 Eliminating Points of Intrusion Bus Bar Slots (4 slots) Additional Vents 20

21 and preventing condensation Breather Vent Holes Breather Pad 21

22 Interrupter Circuit Before Interrupter Circuit After Interrupter Circuit - Simple and reliable for complete protection of Solenoid and remote disconnect switch and circuitry - When combined with High Temperature firmware capability, provides industry leading protection against Hot Sockets and other external triggering events 22

23 another Line of Protection Triac cycle timing Normal Mode: 8.3 ms Normal Triac cycle Interrupt Circuit: ms activate Interrupt Fail Mode: > ms range Coil Damage High Temperature detection firmware continues to function providing protection from other hot socket events, even with the Interrupter Circuit added. Meter continues to measure and report up to FlexNet system. 23

24 icona Gen4 Electric Meter Testing 24

25 Key Gen 4 HW/SW Meter Testing Areas FCC / EMC Compliance Testing UL Safety Testing ANSI C / C Metrology, Environmental and Transportation Testing Meter Operation specification testing for Temperature / Humidity Hot Socket Meter Tests Material Durability Tests Remote Disconnect Life Cycle Test End-to-end Meter / RNI Alarm Verification Tests

26 Gen4 External UL/ANSI Testing Gen4, Gen4A and Gen4RC meters UL Certified to Testing Performed by Certified UL Testing agency

27 icona Gen4 Gutter Down Spout Testing Greater then 2 Gallons Per Minute flow 1 hour Continuous Test Cycle

28 icona Gen 4 Hot Socket FW Testing Summary 121 meters tested across 9 meter forms Testing from low load to > 200 amps Line & Load side initiated Hot Sockets All Test Passed as expected Testing summary Test Setup Block Diagram *** CONFIDENTIAL SETTLEMENT DISCUSSIONS ***

29 icona Gen 4 Pad Barrier Testing 130 meters tested across 6 meter forms Testing from low load to > 200 amps Line & Load side initiated Hot Sockets All test passed as expected Testing summary Test Setup Block Diagram *** CONFIDENTIAL SETTLEMENT DISCUSSIONS ***