My last several articles have looked at the changing electrical environment. (Editor's Note: see "Both Sides Now?" and "Where Are We Going?") New types of generation include some connected at the distribution level and others linked to the transmission system. Distribution is affected by these and sectionalizing switches to limit the effect of interruptions from breaker operation at substations.

The electrical characteristics of loads keep evolving to more nonlinear types, such as electric vehicle charging stations and LED lighting. Power quality problems haven’t gone away, since the delivery of electricity hasn’t become completely reliable and manufacturers aren’t making loads immune to PQ phenomena.

Despite the ongoing need for monitoring and troubleshooting power quality issues, it has been a difficult place for many electrical contractors to compete in. Traditional PQ monitors tend to be pricey, and many facility managers don’t see the need until there is a major disruption to their operation from a PQ disturbance. There is a shift worth noting, an alternative path to getting in the door of facilities, that has the potential to be a significant revenue stream with less capital expenditures for electrical contractors.

Market trends

The first results of an internet search do not provide a statistically valid basis for a conclusion on real market trends. However, they might support information from recent discussions with people in the PQ monitoring business. Instruments that “save you energy and money by providing insight into your home’s energy use and activity” make up the majority of the hits.

When I asked the CFO of a PQ instrument company what reasons she would have for buying a PQ monitor, she had two answers. One: if it is required by law, and two: if it clearly reduces costs or earns money. 

In the United States, there isn’t much in the regulations relating to power quality from the consumer side. Even though IEEE 519 is now a standard (rather than just a recommended practice) and has been adopted in some areas to limit harmonic pollution affecting neighboring facilities, the majority of the PQ phenomena aren’t written into public utility commissions regulations.

What those two points have in common is money—energy consumption and power quality relating to the issues of savings and expenditures. Electrical energy consumption is a significant portion of the operating expenses in many industries. To monitor for energy (and power quality), the voltage and current must be measured and recorded. All power parameters, such as watts, power factor, demand and energy, are calculated from voltage and current. Knowing the actual levels of these parameters during different times of day and in different seasons is then augmented with what equipment is consuming the most and when. With time-of-use billing or real-time pricing, the facility manager needs to know where the biggest savings can be made—and there are plenty.

Facilities with distributed energy resources, such as photovoltaic panels on the roof or property, add another area of information to see if the original cash-flow proposal from the equipment supplier is what’s really happening.

The processing power of many instruments today allows for some PQ analysis to be done while computing demand and energy consumption parameters. While the price tag for buying even a used PQ instrument is often beyond the budget of smaller EC companies, the tools that first popped up in the search for PQ monitors are generally affordable. Most of these tools focus on energy monitoring and can provide a lead-in that a facility manager can understand. The voltage and current data recorded during the energy survey often point to potential or ongoing power quality issues that might require using a more powerful instrument, and will justify a higher price for that monitoring project.

NEC compliance

Another potentially profitable entry point is to confirm a distribution panel’s capacity in compliance with the National Electrical Code Article 220.87, or meeting the requirements for uniform load calculations in accordance with the requirements of the individual state electrical codes. These relate to the aforementioned “required by law” comment from the CFO. 

The calculation of a feeder or service load for existing installations can be done by recording the actual maximum demand to determine the existing load level for a one-year period, or by exception, for 30 days. Instruments available for less than $1,000 can perform the necessary functions or combine that functionality with some PQ monitoring under $3,000. Examples include the METSyS panel capacity analyzer, Hioki power logger PW 3360, AEMC PEL 103 power DD and Dranetz DranXpert, which has a PQ detector and the NEC 220.87-required monitoring parameters.

Like they say about the lottery—you can’t win unless you play. Get in the door by making a proposal with a payback the facility manager can understand. Then move into what might be a bit less obvious, but potentially much more profitable, return on investment by monitoring or troubleshooting PQ problems.

stock.adobe.com / Irina