Wind and solar SCADA glossary.
Short, plain-English definitions of the terms plant owners meet when monitoring wind turbines and solar plants in India — and how each one shows up in Rook SCADA.
- SCADA
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Supervisory control and data acquisition: a system that collects live data from remote equipment, shows it to operators and lets them send commands back.
In Rook SCADA · Rook SCADA is a web-based SCADA for wind and solar plants. See solutions.
- RTU (remote terminal unit)
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A field device that connects a machine’s controller to a central SCADA system, reading data and carrying commands.
In Rook SCADA · The Rook RTU is designed and supplied by Rook.
- M2M SIM
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A machine-to-machine SIM card that lets equipment send data over the mobile network without a cable.
In Rook SCADA · Rook introduced remote wind turbine SCADA over the mobile network in 2006 and manages SIM renewals for clients.
- SLDC (State Load Despatch Centre)
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The authority that operates the electricity grid within an Indian state, scheduling and despatching power using real-time data from generators.
In Rook SCADA · Rook is a recognised data aggregator for the Tamil Nadu SLDC. See SLDC data aggregation.
- CEA (Central Electricity Authority)
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India’s national technical authority for the power sector, which sets standards including communication and cyber-security requirements for grid-connected plants.
In Rook SCADA · Rook’s solution meets CEA and SLDC communication and security requirements.
- Data aggregator
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An organisation that collects real-time data from many generators and delivers it to the SLDC on their behalf.
- Machine availability
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The share of time a turbine or inverter was able to generate, excluding time lost to its own faults or maintenance.
In Rook SCADA · Reported on demand in reports and charts.
- Grid availability
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The share of time the grid was able to accept power from the plant. Low grid availability means energy was lost for reasons outside the machine.
- PLF / CUF (plant load factor, capacity utilisation factor)
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Energy actually generated over a period, divided by the energy the plant would produce running at full rated capacity for the whole period.
- Generation loss
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Energy a plant could have produced but did not, usually broken down by cause: machine faults, grid outages, curtailment or maintenance.
- Forecasting, scheduling and DSM
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Wind and solar generators in India submit generation schedules, and differences between scheduled and actual generation are settled under deviation settlement mechanism (DSM) regulations. Accurate live data supports better schedules.
- Setpoint
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A target value sent to a machine, such as a power limit, that the controller then works to.
In Rook SCADA · Authorised users can change setpoints from the dashboard. See remote control.
- Alarm vs warning
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An alarm signals a fault that needs action now; a warning signals a condition to watch before it becomes a fault.
In Rook SCADA · See alarms and warnings.
- String monitoring
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Monitoring each string — a series-connected group of solar panels — so underperforming strings can be found.
In Rook SCADA · See solar inverter monitoring.
- OEM
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Original equipment manufacturer: the company that built the turbine or inverter.
In Rook SCADA · Rook SCADA works across 12 wind and 8 solar OEMs. See OEM compatibility.
- AMC (annual maintenance contract)
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A yearly service agreement covering maintenance and support after the warranty period.
In Rook SCADA · Rook offers a 1-year warranty, extended warranty and AMC.
SCADA Glossary: common questions
Supervisory control and data acquisition. In wind and solar plants, a SCADA system collects live data from turbines and inverters, raises alarms and lets authorised users send commands remotely.
Machine availability measures how much of the time the turbine or inverter itself was able to run. Grid availability measures how much of the time the grid could accept its power. Together they show whether lost generation came from the machine or the grid.
Plant load factor (PLF), also called capacity utilisation factor (CUF), is the energy actually generated divided by the energy the plant would have produced at full rated capacity over the same period.
The State Load Despatch Centre operates the state grid and needs real-time generation data from renewable plants to schedule power and keep the grid balanced.
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