Comparison of wavelet and Fourier analysis in power quality

To guarantee high power quality the monitoring of the power grid is essential part of the process. The secure the best possible supervision of the power quality novel methods for the detection of power quality disturbances have to be considered. State of the art of power quality monitoring in the case of harmonics is the Fourier Transform. This kind of transform is basically used for stationary signals. During the last years the wavelet analysis has found some acceptation in the power quality community. This kind of transform is especially used for transient signals. It has the advantage that the transformation allows information about the time and the frequency of the power quality disturbance. The aim of this paper is the comparison of different Fourier and wavelet algorithm. Especially the application on inter-harmonics, transient harmonics and high frequency harmonics in the range above 2 kHz is investigated. The advantages of the different algorithms shall be discussed. The paper will be a help for power quality experts to find the best algorithm out of a set of well-established and novel algorithms for their problems.