Grant: Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)

IEC61850-based Substation Automation System (SAS) and smart grid are the recent upcoming developments in the area of power system, and the University of Western Ontario is the only university in Canada to initiate the research related to power system protection in these important areas. Existing laboratory facilities at the University of Western Ontario are used for accomplishing valuable research projects in the area of power system protection. Since IEC61850 is a new technology for power system protection and automation, most of the existing laboratory facilities do not have IEC61850 capabilities. Currently, there are three PhD students working in this area under my supervision, and the successful completion of their PhD program will not be possible without the laboratory facilities with IEC61850 capabilities. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to purchase new additional equipment for the power system laboratory at the University of Western Ontario. Minimum laboratory facilities needed to implement and test all important aspects of an IEC61850-based SAS include five embedded computers, five network interface cards with IEEE 1588, two DSP boards equipped with Ethernet ports, three Ethernet switches, and network analyzer. These facilities are not only essential for the current PhD students, but also it will be critical to conduct future research in the areas of IEC61850 and smart grid. The proposed system will also contribute to train highly qualified personnel in these areas to meet power industry needs.