3. Metering Channels
- 1. Introduction
Overview of the Metering Channels guide and its scope.
- 2. Electricity Metering
Device setup for electricity meters (SATEC, Modbus TCP) and metering channel configuration.
- 3. Energy Metering
Energy resource metering setup — coming soon.
- 4. Other Types of Metering
Generating interval values from tags for devices without on-board storage.
- 5. Calculated Channels
Channel from tag, calculated channel, IM-based channels, Excel export/import.
- 6. Receipt of Accounting Data
Manual polling and recalculation of calculated channels.
- 7. Analysis of Metering Data
Viewing historical metering data and making manual data entries.
1. Introduction
CENTO is a multifunctional software platform for data collection, processing, and display. This guide covers the setup of electricity metering, energy resource metering, and other types of metering.
It is assumed that the reader has already reviewed the User Manual and Setup Manual and is familiar with the main interface elements and CENTO configuration basics.
2. Electricity Metering
2.1. Device Setup
CENTO can work with a variety of metering devices that measure and store power profiles. The metering function is enabled by adding the metering protocol on the Device editing page (Settings → Devices, tags, channels → Devices). Communication parameters (RTU address, TCP/UDP port, timeout, polling schedule) and the File# field (storing power and power profiles) are configured here.
The example below uses the SATEC (Modbus TCP) protocol.
Figure 2.1. Settings of the E/E metering protocol
Enabling/disabling time synchronisation on the CENTO side
2.2. Setting Up Metering Channels
Electricity meters often do not require manually adding channels to the tag list — all settings are in the metering protocol. The used accounting channels from the protocol automatically appear on the Tags, channels tab, but without a configured metering point they will not be included in the reports.
Figure 2.2. Display of metering channels
3. Energy Metering (Coming)
3.1. Device Setup (Coming)
Configuration steps for energy resource metering devices will be published here when available.
4. Other Types of Metering
If a device does not have on-board storage for interval values of electricity/power or other metering types, CENTO can generate interval values from real-time tags. This is done by creating channel from tag entries — see Section 5.1.
5. Calculated Channels
Figure 5.1. List of calculated channels
5.1. Channel from Tag
To create a new metering channel from real-time data (tags), click the Add channel from tag button on the metering channels list page.
Figure 5.2. Channel from tag: editing
5.2. Calculated Channel
To create a channel that processes the values of several connections or interval values — for example, summing electricity consumption across a group of consumers — click the Add calculated channel button.
Settlement channel: editing page
Figure 5.3. Metering channel: editing page
5.3. Calculated Channels via Information Model
For calculation channels of the same type, custom formulas can be defined that operate based on Information Model objects and their attributes. In addition to tags and channels, the IM can supply supplementary data (e.g. transformer ratios).
Custom formula templates for same-type channels
Fig. 5.4 – Creating a Formula Template
Figure 5.5. Creating custom formula
Figure 5.6. Calculation formula
Figure 5.7. Using calculation formula
5.4. Downloading / Uploading Calculated Channels
The Configuration files page (Settings → Configuration files) provides import and export of calculation metering channels via Excel files.
Figure 5.8. Excel file for channel import/export
6. Receipt of Accounting Data
The Analysis of the receipt of data page is shared across all metering types and is described in detail in the User Manual.
Figure 6.1. Analysis of the receipt of data
6.1. Manual Polling
To re-acquire data from metering devices, navigate to Analysis → Receipt of metering data. In the device tree, select the required metering point, find the missing data profiles, and initiate polling.
Selecting a metering point for manual poll
Figure 6.2. Message when number of devices or polling depth is exceeded
Figure 6.3. Confirmation of the start of the survey
6.2. Recalculation of Calculated Channels
When data used in calculation channels or calculation formulas change, the channel values must be recalculated. Go to Analysis → Receipt of metering data and use the recalculation function.
Figure 6.4. Recalculation of channels
7. Analysis of Metering Data
7.1. Viewing Metering Data
To view historical electricity and energy metering data, select Metering data from the Analysis menu. The metering data analysis page opens with charts for the selected channel and time period.
Figure 7.1. Charts for electricity channels
Figure 7.2. Charts for energy resources channels
Download button — exports selected metering channels to file
7.2. Metering Data Manual Entry
With appropriate access rights, a user can make manual data entries. Hover over the target cell in the table, left-click, enter the new value, and click the save icon.
Figure 7.3. Uploading file