Power BI supports the use of Parquet files as a data source. Parquet is a columnar storage file format that is commonly used in big data processing and analytics because of its efficient compression and performance characteristics.

Here’s how you can use Parquet files in Power BI:

1. Connecting to Parquet Files: In Power BI Desktop, you can connect to Parquet files stored on your local machine or on cloud-based storage platforms like Azure Data Lake Storage, Amazon S3, or Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS). To connect to a Parquet file, go to “Home” in Power BI Desktop, click on “Get Data,” and then choose the appropriate Parquet data source.

2. Power Query Editor: Once you’ve selected the Parquet file, Power BI will load the data into the Power Query Editor. Here, you can perform data transformations, filtering, and other data preparation steps before loading the data into your Power BI report.

3. Data Model: After the data is loaded into Power BI, you can build relationships between different tables, create measures, and perform data modeling activities to create a meaningful data model for your analysis.

4. Visualizations and Reporting: With the data model set up, you can create various visualizations and reports based on your Parquet data. These visualizations can be pinned to a Power BI dashboard for real-time monitoring and sharing with others.

5. Refresh: Power BI allows you to schedule data refreshes, so your reports and dashboards stay up-to-date with the latest data in your Parquet files.