What are the consequences of harmonic distortions?
Harmonics can be likened to pollution within your power supply. The consequences of excessive harmonic levels include overheating of distribution boards, de-rating of circuit breakers, degradation of power factor correction equipment, overheating in cables (increasing the risk of damage to cables and electrical infrastructure and potentially the risk of fire), de-rating the output of generators, inefficiencies in the operation of electrical motors and wasted energy consumption. Sources of harmonic distortions can be electronic loads, electronic ballast fluorescent lights, computers, UPS units, Variable Speed Drives (VSD’s), Variable Frequency Drives (VFD’s) etc. Due to the increasing proportion of electronic devices and ‘non-linear’ loads within premises, the occurrence of the problems resulting from harmonic distortions is also increasing.
