@Bernard, thnks for the great question on the possibility of skewed data input. My concern has also been that the input must be very accurate and a UPS may not provide the entire information. However, whenever there is a power outage, any generator system if setup correctly must have a warm up period of about a minimum of 30 seconds, else it will switch off on load. This 30 second outage is a strong data indicator on a UPS and will be the data monitored. When power is restored, the generator automatic changover circuit has a slight lag which the UPS again pickps up as a power outage, in miliseconds. This data is a strong indicator on a UPS. These are some of the input parameters that I've looked at in december, and further testing will begin this month. The input data monitored should be an automatic process thus does not requre any human intervention, this was also a design concern and objective.

 

On the domestic front and in my view, unless we are able to create smart monitoring devices that cost say Ksh 100, it is going to be a very difficult sell to the consumer. Even if the hardware monitor is sms or data based, somehow we would need to find a way to provide an incentive to the consumer to buy such a unit and maintain its continuity. That places a monitoring project at least 10 years away from now. In the interim, we may need to work very closely with how we can take the consumer away from investing in anything. There are microprocessors that we can design use off in the Ksh 100 device but how wil the data be transmitted from such a device to a monitoring system? I think Scada used by KPLC may not be a solution, as it is so easy for them to actively monitor their own network at very minimal investment costs but this distribution network is out of public reach, especially for people like us. Our work on any design is very limited to a consumer premises which itself maybe a challenge. If public buildings charge ISPs for bring internet connectivity to the building rather than that the internet is a critical and essential service such as a Telco bringing in pstn lines, then you can imagine the hurdles in getting everyone involved at monitoring power outages.

 

Some thots from me, and please do debate or raise any concers or issues you may see as potential problems or lack proper attention. The design stage is critical.

 

Thank you very much. :-)

 

Rgds.