PQ meters looking for trouble!

“Electricity comes out of the socket” and why should it be of different quality? Does this mean that not all electricity is the same?

When talking about electricity, or even about power quality, one could dare to make a comparison with supposedly pure water. On the surface it looks nice and clean. However, when you start to analyse it, you are sometimes amazed at how contaminated it is.

In today’s electrical distribution systems, the situation is often similar. However, in contrast to legally and strictly controlled water protection, the condition of the electrical distribution systems is steadily suffering and the level of contamination is increasing. This is sometimes caused by phenomena from electromagnetic compatibility, EMC for short, which generate harmonics (harmonics, interharmonics, supraharmonics) in the network, among other things. But also interruptions, fluctuations (e.g. flicker, rapid voltage change), transients as well as widely increasing unbalanced phase loads cause problems for the grid on a distribution and micro basis.

Why are we seeing increasing power quality problems?

The problems are often generated in-house. So they also come from the consumer side. The IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) has already covered the topic under the term “Demand Side Power Quality“. Thus, it also demonstrates the need to address the issue internationally. This results, among other things, from the increasing use of power electronics, e.g. in motor starters, AC/DC converters, frequency converters, etc. It is also driven by the massive saving of energy, e.g. through LED lighting, as well as the politically and climate-driven reduction of CO2 through the use of renewable feed-in technologies, such as photovoltaics. All this causes a massive change in power quality.

Again in comparison to water: If you throw a stone vertically into the water, the mass is displaced and forms rings, i.e. small waves, which usually do not reach the shore. At the site of the event, however, turbulence occurs which influences the system.

In terms of power quality, this means that problems that arise within an industrial complex can easily be transferred to other production lines or neighbouring operations. Poor power quality manifests itself, for example, through overheating of cables, motors and transformers. Especially in sensitive areas, such as robotics, labelling and printing processes, automatic and fast handling, etc., malfunctions can occur and the specialists are suddenly faced with new challenges.

Added to this is the expansion of the charging infrastructure for e-mobility. For energy suppliers, e-charging stations are large and still less deterministic electricity consumers. This infrastructure can cause unwanted spikes in power consumption and resulting voltage drops. In addition, these are set up with AC/DC converters (on the charging device or directly in the vehicle), which contribute to an increased level of harmonics (THD), i.e. possible contamination.

The expansion of photovoltaic systems also generates changes in power quality. Industrial photovoltaic systems, for example, are not infrequently large, decentralised power generators that are often installed in industrial zones or rural areas. During connection and switching, as well as during the operation of the inverters, these often contribute to the destabilisation of the broadband supply networks.

Do I have to react to this?

Not surprisingly, the answer isyes.
Because problems resulting from the power quality can lead to high costs, inexplicable disruptions and thus to production losses.

Who can help me?

Camille Bauer Metrawatt AG with its partner network offers you the necessary expertise, products and solutions in the field of energy management and power quality.

Contact us today!

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