Grid Field Guide

Follow the power, then the decisions.

Four interactive chapters that follow electricity from the power plant to the customer's meter, then up into the control room. For program managers and other non-engineers who work around the grid. No engineering degree required.

Start with chapter 1 Sheet index
CHAPTER 4 GRID OPERATIONS → SCADA real-time path ADMS OMS · FLISR · VVO DERMS DER dispatch 5 MIN TO MILLISECONDS CHAPTER 1 POWER MIX → Gas plant Wind Solar PV Battery BUS · SUPPLY = DEMAND CHAPTER 2 DISTRIBUTION → SUBSTATION R RECLOSER SWITCH FEEDER · ~12 kV FUSE TRANSFORMER 120/240 V CUSTOMER CHAPTER 3 DER + MICROGRIDS → TWO-WAY M PCC METER 250 kW PV 750 kW BESS

Line legend · same on every chapter

  • InkWhite · generation and high voltage
  • Orange · primary distribution, ~12 kV
  • Blue · secondary and site voltage, 120/240 V to 480 V
  • Blue, double · DC side of an inverter
  • Violet, dashed · data and control, never power (chapter 4 colors each kind)
  • Red · faults and alarms, only when something is wrong

Notes

  1. Click a region to open that chapter.
  2. Simplified on purpose: one feeder, one lateral, one DER site.
  3. Line color means voltage class, never fuel type. Fuel colors appear only in charts.

Title

Grid Field Guide

Plant → meter → control room

Drawn by

F. Lan

Sheets

4 chapters

Scale

Not to scale

Status

For learning

Checked

Values are typical. Confirm with your utility's engineers before using a number for a real decision.

Sheet index

Chapters 1 to 3 follow the electricity. Chapter 4 steps back to show the systems that watch and steer it.

  1. Chapter 1: Power mix

    Where does the power come from?

    15-minute dispatch

    A small town runs on one gas plant. Add wind, solar and a battery, then scrub through a 24-hour day to see who supplies each megawatt, why solar gets curtailed at noon, and how a battery's MW rating differs from its MWh.

    Includes · Diagram · Playground · How the math works

    Lines

  2. Chapter 2: Distribution

    How does power get from the substation to the meter?

    12 kV primary · 120/240 V

    A clickable one-line diagram of a feeder, overhead and underground. Insert a fault, watch the recloser or fuse respond, then open switches and close a tie to restore as many customers as you can.

    Includes · Diagram · Playground · Glossary · Flashcards · Quiz · Build the Circuit · Reliability · Costs

    Lines

  3. Chapter 3: DER + microgrids

    What changes when a customer makes power too?

    1,000 kW nameplate

    A worked example: a municipal site with 250 kW of solar and 750 kW of battery storage tied into one feeder. Follow the interconnection from the utility side to the inverters, see who owns what, and what it costs.

    Includes · Diagram · Glossary · Playground · Costs · Quiz

    Lines

  4. Chapter 4: Grid operations

    How do the software systems run all of it?

    50 quiz questions

    A layered model from wholesale markets down to field devices: what OMS, FLISR, SCADA, DERMS and MDMS each do, what data moves between them, and how fast. Then step through five situations, from a storm outage to a heat-wave peak.

    Includes · Explore the model · Real-life scenarios · Concepts quiz

    Lines

General notes

Note 1

Go in order, or jump in

Each chapter builds on the one before it, but every chapter stands on its own. The bar at the top of each one moves you between them.

Note 2

Click everything

Every diagram is live. Click a piece of equipment to see what it does, then try it in the Playground.

Note 3

Simplified on purpose

Voltages, costs and device behavior are typical values for learning. Check with your utility's engineers before using a number for a real decision.