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L01 / Course & power-system overview

Course Orientation & Logistics

People, course expectations, tools, assessments, and the power-system design workflow.

Available27 slides
Course workflow and system modeling

01 / UNDERSTAND & PREDICT

Understand the model, then predict the result

Finalized lecture slides

Open / download original PDF ↗

Follow the original explanations, diagrams, derivations, and examples in slide order, then use the companion experiment below.

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Slide text
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Figures and page order follow the student PDF for this lecture.

A load requires 80 MW and 30 Mvar. Can the generator supply only 80 MW when equipment has losses? Predict which quantity shunt capacitors change.
  • Explain generators, transformers, lines, buses, loads, and shunt compensation.
  • Distinguish MW, Mvar, and MVA and reconcile power with a declared sign convention.
  • Declare data, reference directions, and assumptions before interpreting a result.
Course introduction & power-system overview: concept and calculation route
Course-authored concept route; the numerical experiment follows below.

Working through the course

Estimate orders of magnitude by hand, reproduce them in editable Python, then check units, signs, balances, and limits. Slides, the textbook, Python, and PowerWorld support the course; these web experiments explain steady-state models.

Baseline example: check each step

  1. Receiving bus: Qnet = 30 − 10 = 20 Mvar.
  2. Line sending end: P = 83 MW and Q = 25 Mvar.
  3. Generator: P = 84 MW and Q = 27 Mvar.
  4. Using 138 kV line voltage and sending-end |S| gives balanced current ≈ 362.657 A.
Original slide headings for this lecture26
  1. 2Meet your instructor
  2. 3Research Mission
  3. 4Meet your teaching assistant
  4. 5Course overview
  5. 6Course goals
  6. 7Reading
  7. 8Course outline
  8. 9Suggested problems
  9. 10Course logistics
  10. 11Getting help
  11. 12Course tools
  12. 13Grading
  13. 14Workload and practice
  14. 15Early-semester dates
  15. 16Final-month dates
  16. 17Problems and late work
  17. 18Final Project
  18. 19Responsible AI use
  19. 20Prohibited AI use
  20. 21Three-phase foundations
  21. 22Prerequisite check
  22. 23Power-system history
  23. 24Physical power system
  24. 25Grid transformation
  25. 26Reliability challenge
  26. 27Design workflow
Cross-check the original slides

02 / EXPLORE

Change one input and explain the response

Compare current at 69 and 138 kV. Explain why physical I²R losses require a line-impedance model.

Advanced parameters / test readings

Preparing the model.

Generator P—
Generator Q—
Net receiving Q—
Transmission current—

Power at the declared boundaries

Current intermediate values and numerical checks
This account uses prescribed equipment losses and a balanced three-phase current estimate. Voltage changes the estimated current; loss values remain input data.
03 / EDIT & COMPUTE
Edit code to reproduce the model independently
Reproduce the baseline, then modify the parameter scan. The source contains reusable independent model functions; edit the current function and inspect numerical checks.
case is a snapshot of the controls when you press Run. Call solve(case) and assign the final solution to result to plot it.
 
Download teaching models
The first run needs internet access to download Python. Computation stays in your browser; the solver uses only the standard library.
Ready to run.
Output appears here.
Inspect and edit the model source (advanced)
Edit this module's function and run again. case.module selects the module; solve(case) returns values, plots, and checks. The parameter experiment keeps the original JavaScript reference for comparison.
04 / CHECK & EXPLAIN
Companion experiment practice and feedback
Fixed practice inputs
Load 80 MW/30 Mvar; capacitor 10 Mvar; line loss 3 MW/absorption 5 Mvar; transformer loss 1 MW/absorption 2 Mvar.
Practice uses fixed baseline inputs independently of the controls. Each field displays its tolerance.
±0.05 MW
±0.05 Mvar
±0.05 Mvar
  
What happens when capacitor injection increases from 10 to 20 Mvar with prescribed losses unchanged?
Finally, explain in your own words
  1. What are the inputs, references, and main assumptions?
  2. Compare current at 69 and 138 kV. Explain why physical I²R losses require a line-impedance model.
  3. Did your code edit change physical parameters, the method, or representation bases? Which check helps identify that?
Passing numerical and understanding checks records this lecture’s companion practice as “practice checks passed.”