| Abstract |
Early power equipment were designed to withstand disturbances such as lightning, short circuits, and
sudden overloads without extra expenditure. Current power electronics (PE) prices would be much
higher if the equipment were designed with the same robustness. Pollution was introduced into power
systems by nonlinear loads such as transformers and saturated coils; however, perturbation rate has
never reached the present levels. Due to its nonlinear characteristics and fast switching, PE creates
most of the pollution issues. Approximately 10 to 20 % of today’s energy is processed by PE; the
percentage will reach 50 to 60 % by the year 2010, due mainly to the fast growing of PE capability.
The paper shows how PE and electric power quality are related in almost every aspect of commercial,
domestic, and industrial application. |
