POWER QUALITY

The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) defines power quality as: “The concept of powering and grounding electronic equipment in a manner that is suitable to the operation of that equipment and compatible with the premise wiring system and other connected equipment.”

Making sure that power and equipment are suitable for each other also means that there must be compatibility between the electrical system and the equipment it powers. There should also be compatibility between devices that share the electrical distribution space. This concept is called Electromagnetic Compatibility (“EMC”) and is defined as: “The ability of an equipment or system to function satisfactorily in its electromagnetic environment without introducing intolerable  electromagnetic disturbances to anything in that environment.”

The best measure of power quality is the ability of electrical equipment to operate in a satisfactory manner, given proper care and maintenance and without adversely affecting the operation of other electrical equipment connected to the system.

Power quality difficulties can produce significant problems in situations that include:

• Important business applications (banking, inventory control, process control)
• Critical industrial processes (programmable process controls, safety systems, monitoring devices)
• Essential public services (paramedics, hospitals, police, air traffic control)

Power quality problems in an electrical system can also quite frequently be indicative of safety issues that may need immediate corrective action. This is especially true in the case of wiring, grounding and bonding errors.