A recent Powerside webinar provided a rare opportunity to see actual customer data of power quality events impacting performance. The key to identifying, pinpointing and reacting to these issues, seen in real-time, is power quality (PQ) data monitoring. Such data can also guide proactive maintenance and mitigate issues altogether.
That’s why monitoring PQ data with power analyzers is so important. But did you know that rather than collecting information piecemeal from individual machines, you can pull insights from across your enterprise as a whole?
That’s precisely what QubeScan monitoring software offers. In our webinar “QubeScan, A Powerful Cloud-Based Solution for PQ Analytics,” Kamron Tangney, VP of Sales–Monitoring Business, and Nick Nakamura, Director of Sales–Monitoring Business, explored how connecting your Powerside power analyzer fleet to QubeScan maximizes power quality management, no matter your industry.
Keep reading to discover the 5 biggest advantages QubeScan offers, and watch the full webinar below.
Advantage #1: Your power quality data, all in one place
Power quality monitors, like PQube® 3 and PQ Edge®, are essential for understanding your facility’s electrical health — potentially saving you millions by avoiding downtime, equipment malfunction and utility penalties. But reading individual analyzers for insights can be cumbersome, especially if you have a large fleet. QubeScan — a free, cloud-based platform — offers a central repository of your PQ data. Easily access the granular information from each of your power analyzers in one place, from anywhere.
Advantage #2: Reactive, proactive and predictive insights with real-time monitoring and long-haul trending
Traditionally, power quality monitoring is a reactive service that helps identify the causes of power issues and equipment failures. Advanced, permanent monitoring and fleetwide visibility provides this and more, including:
- Real-time diagnostics
- Grid health checks
- Pre-fault conditions for improved decision-making
- Recommended mitigation actions and equipment (e.g. harmonic filters, capacitor banks, etc.)
Advantage #3: Ability to focus on the measurements you need, fast
The various inputs on PQube 3 and PQ Edge can be wide-reaching, with hundreds of readings and capabilities. Rather than wade through nonessential data, focus only on what you need with custom visualizations, alerts and triggers for your chosen inputs (e.g. harmonics, power factor, voltage sags and swells).
For instance, one Powerside customer set a custom QubeScan alarm for high-frequency impulse events. After 1 month, they observed 383 HF impulse events, allowing them to predict an upcoming outage and take preventive measures.
Advantage #4: Easy compliance reporting
Ensuring your power consumption meets government rules and regulations can be a difficult task. QubeScan software offers at-a-glance pass/fail grades and automatic report generation and sending, so you can free up time while ensuring compliance with IEEE 519, EN 50160 and more.
The above graph shows how QubeScan provides immediate grading of harmonics compliance. This example arose from a solar 20MW solar application that affected nearby residents of the community, who complained to the utility of malfunctioning lights, fans turning on and off and GFCI nuisance tripping. Beyond the pass/fail compliance grade, QubeScan revealed that supraharmonics were being produced.
Advantage #5: Deeper visibility into power quality, even as grid instability increases
As the previous example illustrates, mass deployment of distributed energy resources and electric vehicles is creating instability in the electrical system. As the prevalence of DER farms, EVs and data centers increases, more noise is added to the system. Having enterprise-wide visibility into your power quality helps you understand when, where and why issues arise, improving resiliency and helping you mitigate issues with grid instability.
Meet the Experts
Learn more about protecting your equipment with fleetwide power quality monitoring.