Power quality: a perspective of system problems and solution considerations

Power quality is concerned with the standard of the received supply waveform and traditionally this has not been regarded as a fundamental issue. The principle circumstances resulting in the increased awareness of power quality issues can be attributed to several factors which include: increasing demand on the existing supply system; changing customer load characteristics, the transition from electromechanical to microprocessor applications; sensitivity of electronics to small supply fluctuations, affecting automation, control systems and IT applications, the system is as sensitive as its weakest component; new production techniques and philosophies, these demand robust and stable power supplies. The authors discuss the problems involved in power quality, customer load profiles for industrial, commercial and residential environments, and the solutions to the problems. IT resources for power system evaluation are also discussed