On Sun, Jan 1, 2012 at 10:00 AM, Agosta Liko <agostal@gmail.com> wrote:

We should have a meeting just so that we can meet and socialise

Ama Aki ?

He he he

Hi @Agosta, thanks much and we must meet at some point. Hopefully a few months from now, we will definately meet and toast to a new beginning of a process that could shape significant change in the power sector. For example, eventually even policy makers and all kenyans will be able to monitor online the real water levels at dams and power stations thus there will no longer be the usual surprises. I know its going to be very tough to achieve some of the goals, but the beginning has already begun. Rgds. :-) -- Follow projects and progress on : https://groups.google.com/group/dotnetke?hl=en

Aki I think months will not work... Now that bwana Rad is buying... Si you harakisha kidogo ? Am free the first sato of the year :) Ama ? On 1/1/12, Rad! <conradakunga@gmail.com> wrote:

I'll buy a round of drinks on that day Aki graces us with his presence

On Sun, Jan 1, 2012 at 1:17 PM, aki <aki275@gmail.com> wrote:

...

On Sun, Jan 1, 2012 at 10:00 AM, Agosta Liko <agostal@gmail.com> wrote:

...

We should have a meeting just so that we can meet and socialise

Ama Aki ?

He he he

Hi @Agosta, thanks much and we must meet at some point. Hopefully a few months from now, we will definately meet and toast to a new beginning of a process that could shape significant change in the power sector. For example, eventually even policy makers and all kenyans will be able to monitor online the real water levels at dams and power stations thus there will no longer be the usual surprises. I know its going to be very tough to achieve some of the goals, but the beginning has already begun.

Rgds. :-)

-- Follow projects and progress on : https://groups.google.com/group/dotnetke?hl=en

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TweetaWat seems interesting.A simple home monitoring tool that measures all power usage and stores results in a file or a database. Check it out : http://goo.gl/laIJa ./bernard On Sun, Jan 1, 2012 at 1:43 PM, Bernard Mwagiru <bmwagiru@gmail.com> wrote:

Some interesting read on the Smart Grid http://goo.gl/jRhtu

./bernard

On Sun, Jan 1, 2012 at 1:34 PM, Rad! <conradakunga@gmail.com> wrote:

...

I'll buy a round of drinks on that day Aki graces us with his presence

On Sun, Jan 1, 2012 at 1:17 PM, aki <aki275@gmail.com> wrote:

...

On Sun, Jan 1, 2012 at 10:00 AM, Agosta Liko <agostal@gmail.com> wrote:

...

We should have a meeting just so that we can meet and socialise

Ama Aki ?

He he he

Hi @Agosta, thanks much and we must meet at some point. Hopefully a few months from now, we will definately meet and toast to a new beginning of a process that could shape significant change in the power sector. For example, eventually even policy makers and all kenyans will be able to monitor online the real water levels at dams and power stations thus there will no longer be the usual surprises. I know its going to be very tough to achieve some of the goals, but the beginning has already begun.

Rgds. :-)

-- Follow projects and progress on : https://groups.google.com/group/dotnetke?hl=en

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There is something worth millions/billions (I am not sure) that KPLC has been rolling out countrywide, and from what I heard on TV, I should think it has something to do with this that @Aki has initiated discussions over. Can someone please first find out what it is before a wheel is reinvented ... unless this @Aki Initiative is specifically meant for the public, not in house KPLC consumption. On Sun, Jan 1, 2012 at 14:38, aki <aki275@gmail.com> wrote:

@Rad, @Agosta, thnks much. I promise to make good on my word about meeting up with yourselves and celebrating some success of any projects. For the time being and until we have achieved our goals on the design, let it be as it is now. I toast to you *online* that, despite a very hectic schedule this year, I'm very commited to getting projects off the ground. :-))

@Bernard, many thanks for those links. I'll go through them to see where I left out. Actually most of my thoughts on the online monitoring of grid is based on a self understanding that we must do it and create our own standards and goals. Within these, all the parameters are automatic e.g. from how deep we can go. Lets assume that at some point KPLC allow us to design an active monitoring system linked to transformers, low and high voltage lines, we can create a complete grid monitoring system that will be very uselful to KPLC from Mulika Mwizi to maintenance alerts. This data will be real time but closed due to security reasons. It is very possible, even hardware devices that monitor these. From an electronics point of view, this is not too difficult as we can build on power sensing chips and the info relayed via 3g or GSM. For example, how can we create a standard for smart monitoring so that not only is it online but KPLC is also able to get involved and cross match its own data so that the results are verified. Some thots, and thanks again for sharing the links. :-)

Rgds.

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The most important thing I see is some kind of hardware that can first pick the common issues you've highlighted elsewhere: Blackouts, brown outs, spikes, duration, location/coordinates,etc. Stuff that are directly consumer affecting. From there, It may start non-realtime then further interest will be built on that. Although via SCADA, KPLC can locate major issues on the main grids, beyond that i.e. last mile, they have a real problem. I spent a long time directing Kenya Power technicians to a faulty transformer in my neighbourhood. Most of the last mile issues depend on customer feedback rather than automation. This is where we'll come in, in due course. So lets start small first: hardware required such as the tweetawatt thingy. ./bernard On Sun, Jan 1, 2012 at 2:38 PM, aki <aki275@gmail.com> wrote:

@Rad, @Agosta, thnks much.  I promise to make good on my word about meeting up with yourselves and celebrating some success of any projects. For the time being and until we have achieved our goals on the design, let it be as it is now. I toast to you online that, despite a very hectic schedule this year, I'm very commited to getting projects off the ground.  :-))

@Bernard, many thanks for those links. I'll go through them to see where I left out. Actually most of my thoughts on the online monitoring of grid is based on a self understanding that we must do it and create our own standards and goals. Within these, all the parameters are automatic e.g. from how deep we can go. Lets assume that at some point KPLC allow us to design an active monitoring system linked to transformers, low and high voltage lines, we can create a complete grid monitoring system that will be very uselful to KPLC from Mulika Mwizi to maintenance alerts. This data will be real time but closed due to security reasons. It is very possible, even hardware devices that monitor these. From an electronics point of view, this is not too difficult as we can build on power sensing chips and the info relayed via 3g or GSM. For example, how can we create a standard for smart monitoring so that not only is it online but KPLC is also able to get involved and cross match its own data so that the results are verified. Some thots, and thanks again for sharing the links. :-)

Rgds.

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@Areba, a happy new year to you too. :-) Thnks and will take a look into Scada. What interests me more is the OFC project they have running. It could really help in the long term. Cheers. On Sun, Jan 1, 2012 at 3:00 PM, [ Brainiac ] <arebacollins@gmail.com> wrote:

Happy new year @aki.... I hope this year we do make some significant progress in our debate on energy...

With regards to your project, I would like to bring it to your attention that KPLC has been in the process of implementing the very thing you describe. SCADA<http://www.google.co.ke/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=scada&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCwQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FSCADA&ei=50kAT83OO9OzhAfQ0KGSDA&usg=AFQjCNGKEZ04UtZBXmR1Rm9U5nanZgHy7w>is the industry standard and their laying a fiber optic cable has been for more or less this reason...

You might want to look at how that works for inspiration if indeed what you intend to deploy crowdsources data from you and me.

@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. On Sun, Jan 1, 2012 at 3:23 PM, Bernard Mwagiru <bmwagiru@gmail.com> wrote:

Question on the Smart UPS systems in major companies. Wouldn't the data be little skewed? For instance, in the deployments I've witnessed, KPLC->Online Generator->Smart UPS->appliance and KPLC->Smart UPS->Appliance.

Data from the two deployments might give different results? I'm looking towards deployments at the normal consumer. However, that's a start.

./bernard

@sohan, much thanks for the input and an excellent idea. :-) Your idea is a very strong contender for implementation. This will depend on whether any standards bodies, consumer groups or other well wishing Kenyans' will fund the necessary R&D into such a project so that we can realize the critical impacts of a National Electrical Grid Monitoring. Am a hobbyist person when it comes to programming, so creating client apps that will run on all OSes will require people to create these and sustain them during the lifetime of the system. On my part, when am done creating the basic system, I'll have to look for the necessary groups to take it over and move it to the next level, so I'll pass on the idea and basic system to them. I can commit to a part time 5 year cycle for keeping the idea alive and working on various input methods, but money talks especially when we have many ways to go deeper into how we can move data and improve on active monitoring. If I had the same funds that are needed to achieve a modern and excellent monitoring system, I'd breakdown the monitoring into High Voltage>LowVoltage>Distribution>Termination>Active Sensing. Each of the above stages would have temperature, stresses, active load, automatic re-distribution methods, remote sensing as part of the monitoring system. This means, we are able to effectively knock heads at KPLC and power sector management levels that they are killing Kenya and its chances of growth with every outage lasting even a minute. It is a big responsibility that must at be maintained 99.9% per annually, not matter what. I hope that we will be able to achieve our expectations and even exceed them in the long term. If we have a stable and reliable electricity distribution network, then whatever the power generation inputs for future growth will see immediate impacts when implemented at reduced costs. Rgds. On Mon, Jan 2, 2012 at 3:04 AM, rsohan@gmail.com <rsohan@gmail.com> wrote:

...

If all you're looking for is to identify power outages what's wrong with using any Internet connected PC to monitor its own power status? The basic idea would be that I register on a website and download/run-in-browser a piece of software that sends a heartbeat message every so often (once a minute would be fine). If you get skipped heartbeats it's the case that the (1) machine died (due to a power cut), (2) was turned off (due to user request or in response to a power cut) or (3) Internet connectivity was interrupted. Location placement may be achieved via Geolocation.

(1) may be easily inferred by having the client software register a shutdown event handler, (2) is trickier but I suspect if you had it pop up a dialog box on shutdown asking for the reason for shutdown you'd get some reasonable data and (3) is easily mitigated by using a monotonically increasing periodic counter whose value is sent with the heartbeat and that continues to tick in absence of connectivity.

If you're not particularly interested in real-time information you can simplify this base design even further; just have the software run in the background ticking along periodically and uploading the log whenever connectivity is established. You can then easily distinguish between power cut based and user request based shutdowns by correlating inputs from co-located users. You may further insulate against transient/unidentified error or malicious tampering by basing your power-availability model on a statistical commixture of all input received.

While this solution doesn't address the brown-out or oversupply issues previously mentioned it gets you approximately 50% of the way there with zero capital expenditure on client hardware design and very little on software (both on the client and server side). Furthermore, with this approach the barrier to entry is very low which means you're more likely to get people downloading and installing it.

It's a good idea and one that has the potential to make an impact if executed well. Best of luck realizing it.