Power quality, the volts and amps of electricity supply

Concerns over power quality are no longer restricted to the technical specialist. The author outlines a topic increasingly recognised as crucial to the smooth operation of modern business and manufacturing. The term power quality refers much more to the electrical parameters of the supply-the volts and amps on the system. Thus, power quality includes the frequency of the supply, its voltage level as well as the presence of waveform abnormalities such as harmonic content, flicker or voltage transients. Power factor and (voltage) balance between phases on a three-phase system may also be of interest. From an end-user perspective, it is usually the short duration voltage dips which cause the most problems when they result in the frequent maloperation of equipment. The author discusses the problems of voltage dips and solutions to the problems.