A one-phase, distribution-level phasor measurement unit for post-event analysis

Phasor measurement units (PMUs) are devices which provide near real-time synchronized data (synchrophasor data) at widely separated points across the power grid and are mainly installed at the transmission level. The widespread installation of PMUs across the power grid is gradually becoming a reality - and promises new capabilities to significantly improve real time knowledge of the power grid's operating state. Archived synchrophasor data provides a wealth of high-fidelity data to aid power system model sustainability analyses and to reconstruct unusual power system events. While the PMU device concept is well known in the power industry, the challenges of designing and implementing a PMU which integrates field measurements to deliver Global Positioning System (GPS) synchronized phasor data to the power industries' networks are not as well known or understood. This paper describes the steps, challenges, and reasoning involved in building a single-phase, distribution-level PMU. Our efforts have provided a fundamental understanding of a PMU's inner workings and direction to future efforts to improve PMU performance.