ABSTRACT
Many power quality problems are caused by inadequate wiring or improper grounding. Long-term power quality monitoring is largely a problem of data management. Most commercially available power quality monitoring equipment attempts to reduce the recorded data to manageable levels. Power quality monitoring is usually done to either solve an existing power quality problem, or to determine the electrical environment prior to installing new sensitive equipment. The chapter discusses the various types of data that may be needed for a power quality investigation, and the characteristics of some commercially available monitors. Commercially available monitors fall into two basic categories: line disturbance analyzers and voltage recorders. Some monitors allow the user to select current thresholds that will cause the monitor to capture both voltage and current when the current exceeds the threshold. Many commercially available monitors are capable of capturing harmonic snapshots. To select the best monitor for the job, it is necessary to understand the characteristics of the available monitors.
