Observability and estimation uncertainty analysis for PMU placement alternatives

The synchronized phasor measurement unit (PMU), developed in the 1980s, is considered to be one of the most important devices in the future of power systems. While PMU measurements currently cover fewer than 1% of the nodes in the U.S. power grid, the power industry has gained the momentum to advance the technology and install more units. However, with limited resources, the installation must be selective. Previous PMU placement research has focused primarily on the network topology, with the goal of finding configurations that achieve full network observability with a minimum number of PMUs. Here we present a new approach that also includes stochastic models for the signals and measurements, to characterize the observability and corresponding uncertainty of any given configuration of PMUs, whether that configuration achieves full observability or not. We hope that this approach can provide planning engineers with a new tool to help choose between PMU placement alternatives.