Aclara Technology Supports Additional Commercial Meter

Aclara Technologies LLC, part of the Utility Solutions Group of ESCO Technologies Inc., announced its TWACS power line communications technology will now support the Landis & Gyr E330 Focus AX Polyphase commercial meter, an advanced meter for light commercial and industrial applications. Other commercial meters supported by Aclara’s unique Universal Metering Transponder for TWACS technology include General Electric kV2c and Elster A3 Alpha meters.

The universal metering transponder (UMT) for the Focus AX Polyphase meter allows Aclara’s TWACS power line communications technology to take advantage of unique characteristics of the meter such as its ability to handle over-the-air firmware upgrades. The UMT also utilizes an algorithm that provides improved module communications.

Support of four channels of interval data lets the UMT handle the advanced communications capabilities of Aclara’s new enhanced TWACS (eTWACS) protocol, which offers simultaneous, two-way communication on all three phases of the AC electrical distribution feeder as well as on all busses and substations. The eTWACS protocol can triple the communications capacity of an Aclara power-line communications system and add significant capacity for future communication needs.

The UMT performs daily demand reads and pulls five major types of consumption data—forward, reverse, reactive, net and secure—directly from 64 mapped meter registers, providing utilities with more data to make accurate decisions. It also includes counters for collecting power reliability data including power-down counts as well as momentary and sustained outages.

The UMT for the Focus AX Polyphase meter is factory-installed in the meter and is available in 120V as well as 240-277V modules. 

Source: Aclara