Low voltage micro-phasor measurement unit (μPMU)

Phasor measurement units (PMUs) installed in the power grid are currently positioned mainly on the transmission system or in substations. A PMU creating real-time synchrophasor data from the consumer voltage level, called μPMUs, could provide new insight into modern power systems. These units can be created more cheaply, an order of magnitude less, than current commercial PMUs. For this reason, many more PMUs could be deployed and provide a much higher resolution of the distribution grid. There are many new applications for such a visible grid in post-mortem event analysis and identification, as well as near real-time monitoring. This paper describes the hardware limitations impact on developing an accurate synchrophasor along with considerations for μPMUs placement within the distribution grid.