General overview of power quality and power conditioning. This article also offers definitions of related terms.

Power Quality is a term used to broadly encompass the entire scope of interaction among electrical suppliers, the environment, the systems and products energized, and the users of those systems and products. It is more than the delivery of "clean" electric power that complies with industry standards. It involves the maintainability of that power, the design, selection, and the installation of every piece of hardware and software in the electrical energy system. Stretching from the generation plant to the utility customer, power quality is a measure of how the elements affect the system as a whole.

Businesses and organizations are now totally dependent on electricity to run their data and voice processing systems. Power failures - short or long - can be devastating if they are not protected by UPS (uninterruptible power supplies). More...

List of articles relating to power quality issues, solutions and technology.

To many of us, the utility power grid is a vast system of unknowns. Its performance can make unprotected electronic equipment useless. Why? Because grid voltage values, higher or lower than guaranteed nominal values, have an effect on electronic intelligence processing equipment. Incoming grid power “sees” the equipment's DC power supply, which bears the brunt of any AC grid voltage variation.

When it comes to understanding and solving power quality problems, training is the key. There are currently more than 100 power quality courses available through universities, equipment manufacturers, and technical training organizations. But how do you know what medium (classroom instruction, CD-ROM, etc.) is right for you? What knowledge should you expect to gain, and what are the pitfalls?

North Star Steel confronted low power factor (PF) and harmonics problems prior to installing a new ladle furnace by conducting a computerized analytical study using harmonic and power factor software. This study included field measurements of harmonics and PF on various feeders in the system. The Beaumont, Tex. company determined the characteristics of existing equipment and conductors. The objective was to bring the overall plant PF to a value above 0.90 lagging, which would eliminate utility penalties.

This article explains the complexities of protecting high end security equipment from power surge damage by employing the proper surge protection equipment to safeguard components from the various elements security systems must endure.

We seem to know so little about how power grid values that are higher or lower than guaranteed nominal values affect unprotected electronic equipment. Equipment that process intelligence (computers, communications, etc.) rather than power (adjustable speed drives, electroplating rectifiers, etc.) have a common denominator. The incoming grid power "sees" the equipment's DC power supply, which, in turn, bears the brunt of any AC grid variations.

This article explains how to use variable speed drives with out negatively impacting power quality, power factor and harmonic content as well as the basic theory of VSDs.

After deregulation began allowing competition for power quality contracts in the “new” electric utility industry, energy service companies (ESCOs) have been able to bid for power quality work in certain states alongside electric utilities and electrical contractors.

This article provides consumers with a detailed explanation of how to read and interpret power quality measurement data including RMS variations and harmonics and how to apply that data to surge protection systems and make effective adjustments.

An article describing how to effectively construct a sound power protection system through proper grounding, neutral sizing, protection coordination, proper load segregation, wire separation, training and cable routing.

Most solutions to our so-called power quality related events have come from attending to little things around the shop. In almost every case involving a power quality investigation or site analysis, the first items that show up in need of correction are those in the area of wiring and grounding. These include "daisy-chaining" of neutrals and grounds, undersizing of ground wires (which are expected to carry electrical noise away from sensitive equipment), and even, believe or not, loose or missing connections.

This article provides a 10 step checklist to promote reliable power assurance in complex power systems.

This article offers advice on setting up computer monitors in positions that reduce jitters generated by magnetic fields from power protection equipment and other electronics.

Are your equipment failures due to "bad power?" How bad can your power be, before being a problem? What electrical yardsticks can you use, and how reliable are they? Often, using these yardsticks will reveal simple, inexpensive solutions.

This article offers an explanation of power sags and how they differ from interruptions as well as how to prevent them using surge monitors and optional ride-through modules.

These quick checkpoints can help consumers prevent lightning-induced damage by inspecting grounding electrode systems, monitoring separately driven electrodes, repairing bonding between grounding electrodes and being aware of connections between buildings.

This article provides advice on how to identify and eliminate transient voltage using power monitors equipped with current probes.