Power Quality & Advanced Technologies

The growing use of sophisticated electronic loads in industrial and commercial networks and their inherent susceptibility to irregular performance, caused by less than optimal quality of electric utility supply, has substantially increased concerns about power quality (PQ). The Power Quality & Advanced Technologies (PQAT) Interest Group, formerly known as the Power Quality Interest Group (PQIG), not only focuses on identifying the harmful aspects of power disturbances, their sources, and finding effective mitigating techniques, but also explores the more advanced uses of PQ data for equipment predictive maintenance, DG integration, and power system automation.

Discovering better ways of integrating renewable sources based distributed generation, effectively mitigating impact of non-linear loads and other sources of PQ disturbances, identifying and correlating waveform signatures with irregular equipment operation, and researching ways of automated notification of such events are only a few examples of the practical applications of this group’s research. The program also provides the technical back-up knowledge as well as the records of relevant measured data required for the development of power quality standards. 

Topics & Focus Areas

• PQ Monitoring & Monitoring System Architecture
• Advanced PQ Data Processing
• Derivation of PQ Information and Notification Process for System Automation
• Integration of Distributed Generation
• Mitigation Solutions at System, Equipment, and Customer Level
• Economic Impact of PQ on Distribution System