A distributed system for electric power quality measurement

The problem of measuring power-quality is becoming an impelling need due to the proliferation of disturbing loads in the electric power systems. Unfortunately, the identification of the sources disturbing the system cannot be achieved by means of measurements in a single metering section of the electric network. This paper proposes a distributed measuring system, able to monitor a number of power-quality indices on every load connected to the same Point of Common Coupling, transmit the measured values to a master device that processes them in order to locate the sources of disturbances and quantify the effects of such disturbances on power quality. The results of some experimental work performed on a real, low-voltage network are reported.