Services We Provide
Assessment of Power quality is essential for commercial and industrial loads in order to diagnose and solve complex power system issues. However, it usually takes place in response to a pre-existing problem, and here at IPEC, we don’t believe this is the most effective way of managing power quality.
By the time a power quality survey has been commissioned in response to a problem, significant amounts of damage or lost production time could have happened. We commit to a pragmatic approach where regular power quality health check are the norm. This way, potential problems could be identified before costly issues arise.
Power Quality Checklists
The initial consultation involves gathering site-specific data, such as:
- Site history; details of changes to the electrical load and/or infrastructure in recent years or since the previous power quality health check. This helps to discover whether there could be power quality issues now that there may not have been noticeable before.
- The makeup of the load; documenting harmonic producing load that could potentially compromise the power quality (e.g. inverter drives, UPSs, LED lighting, Capacitor Banks, etc).
- The presence of power factor correction and its configuration to gain a fuller understanding of any potential harmonic resonance issues.
- The presence of existing power quality equipment such as active harmonic filtration, surge arresters and voltage conditioners and how they are performing.
Having gathered the appropriate site information, the final part of the survey is the connection of a power quality analyser that will monitor and record all of the important power quality parameters over a period of at least one week.
The parameters monitored during the power quality analysis include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Voltage dips / swells
- Harmonics
- Voltage transients
- Voltage unbalance
- Voltage flicker
The main deliverable of the Power Quality Health check is a comprehensive report detailing the findings of the power quality analysis and how this is influenced by the load and any mitigation measures already implemented on site.
The report will conclude with an iPEC PQ Health rating, stating whether the site passes our recommended levels of power quality or whether we’d suggest improvements. Should we discover any issues or areas for improvement, we’ll provide our recommendations with a no obligation quotation for mitigation equipment.
Here at iPEC, our aim is to help customers concentrate on the things that matter to them. Power Quality issues are often an unwanted surprise and as we’ve highlighted above, can cause a huge amount of costly disruption.
We’d like nothing more than to remove this element of surprise by taking the pragmatic approach. Yes, we’d suggest annual or bi-annual assessments to do this, but the very first step is the most important.