As a Power Quality experts, they see challenges hindering reliable power delivery.
- Sags/swells
- Harmonic distortion and inter harmonics
- Micro cuts and outages
- spikes/transients
- Undervoltage/overvoltage
- Voltage imbalance (unbalance)
- Voltage fluctuations (flickering)
- Under/over frequency
- Poor power factor
Using techniques like equipment maintenance, load balancing, and high-quality power supplies can minimize these issues. We must prioritize power quality management and invest in modern power systems to achieve a more sustainable and reliable power system.
Voltage sag
Voltage Swell
Voltage transients
Voltage Notching
Voltage Interruption
Harmonic Voltage
Harmonic Current
Downtime cost for business
A 2018 survey found that one in four companies experience a power outage at least once a month in the US and power outages are becoming the, unfortunate, norm for businesses.
Data centers: studies show that the average cost of a data center outage has grown to $8,851 per minute
Manufacturing: a recent survey found that more than a quarter of manufacturing businesses experienced an outage at least once a month in 2017, with 58 percent reporting an outage lasting longer than an hour. For large manufacturing companies a single hour of downtime tops the $5 million mark
Retail: a power outage in a supermarket could see hundreds of thousands of dollars lost by perishable goods being spoiled by lack of refrigeration. For instance, a supermarket in Pennsylvania lost power for more than a day in February 2019. The owner estimated losses to be up to $30,000 in merchandise; for large retailers, that cost is even higher, reaching upwards of $5 million.
Source: Bloom Energy 2019
