Get Your Data into Texture
What to send, how it gets in, and how to tell it arrived
Texture's Solutions team will work with your organization to develop a data intake plan tailored to your exact data sources and requirements. To get started, contact us.
How each kind of data comes in#
| Data | Examples | How it comes in |
|---|---|---|
| Customer devices | Batteries, EV chargers, EVs, inverters, thermostats | Customers connect their own devices with Texture Connect, or Texture syncs your fleet through manufacturer accounts in Integration Hub |
| Sites, customers, and device lists | Your existing portfolio | Bulk Import, under Connect → Bulk Upload |
| AMI meter data | Interval consumption and voltage | Files from your AMI head-end, or a connection to your meter data management system |
| SCADA | Breakers, reclosers, transformers, regulators, buses, and capacitors | Files exported from your SCADA historian |
| Grid topology (GIS) | Substations, feeders, transformers, lines, and service points | A GIS export, a Milsoft WindMil .std file, or both |
| Utility-scale batteries | Front-of-the-meter storage | DNP3 via an RTAC |
How files get to Texture#
When meter or SCADA data arrives as files, Texture picks them up from where your systems already put them:
- SFTP: Texture connects to your SFTP server and collects new files.
- Amazon S3: Texture collects new files from an S3 bucket you give it access to.
Texture checks for new files on the schedule the Solutions team sets up with you, and processes each one as it arrives. The Solutions team loads your grid topology files with you.
If your meters come from a meter data management system, Texture polls that system daily.
What to prepare#
Before your intake plan starts, gather what applies to your sources:
- Access to your file location: your SFTP server details and credentials, or access to your S3 bucket
- Meter data: exports from your AMI head-end, or access to your meter data management system
- SCADA data: exports from your SCADA historian
- Grid topology: a GIS export for names, geometry, and meter numbers (GeoJSON or Esri JSON), a Milsoft WindMil
.stdfile for the hierarchy, or both - Site addresses: a list of service locations and their addresses
- Device access: for fleets, admin access to your device manufacturer accounts
Make sure each meter number in your AMI data exactly matches the meter number on one consumer service point in your GIS. Use the meter number from your GIS data, not from your billing system. Texture uses that match to give the meter a site and a place on the map. If the number matches none, or more than one, the readings still arrive, but the meter has no site and no map pin. If the service point isn't loaded yet, the meter is placed the next time its readings arrive after the service point is loaded.
Check that your data has arrived#
The Solutions team tells you when your data is set up. You can also check it yourself:
- Open Explore. Sites and grid elements are on the map once GIS has placed them. Matched meters show up at their site. To find a meter that didn't match, search for its meter number.
- On a site, each meter card shows Last Reading. On a grid element with SCADA status readings, the time is on SCADA Status.
If something looks missing, see Troubleshoot missing data.
Migrating from another platform#
- Fleet or installer accounts: Add your manufacturer credentials in Integration Hub, and Texture syncs the devices on those accounts.
- Customer reconnection: Send your customers Texture Connect links so they reconnect their devices to you through Texture.
- Existing connections: If you have existing customer authorizations with device manufacturers, contact us to discuss moving them.
Next steps#
- Your grid at a glance: what to expect from each grid data source once it's in
- Devices: how Texture models connected devices
- Ways to connect devices and data: every connection path, from Texture Connect to data sources