Transient event detection for nonintrusive load monitoring and demand side management using voltage distortion

This paper describes a simple system that can be used for autonomous demand-side management in a load site such as a home or commercial facility. The system identifies the operation of individual loads using transient patterns observed in the voltage waveform measured at an electric service outlet. The theoretical foundation of the measurement process is introduced, and a preprocessor that computes short-time estimates of the spectral content of the voltage waveform is described. The paper presents several example measurements demonstrating the ability of the system to obtain estimates of the spectral content of the voltage waveform.