Harmonic measurements and customer loads

Power quality topics ebb and flow like the tides at the shore - problems arise due to changes in technology, then subside as technology finds a way to overcome them. Harmonics are still a concern, even if they don´t cause a particular problem for a particular customer anymore. Harmonics still cause utilities concern over capacitor installations and today, that concern reaches to distributed generation, like wind farms. A research project built the magic instrument, deployed it to sites of known and unknown distortion, and developed a method to tell that difference. Three different recognition protocols were studied to determine which gave the best results. When applied to the test results, these gave an indication of the nature of the harmonic flow detected. One method seems to be appropriate for determining the utility customer´s contribution to a problem.