Power network analysers & power quality
Power analysers continuously measure energy and supply quality in substations, industry and large buildings: voltages, currents, power, power factor, harmonics, flicker and events. The Amperis range runs from the panel meter for sub-metering to the class A power quality analyser with substation communications.
What do they measure and how?
The analyser samples voltages and currents through instrument transformers and calculates energy and quality values in real time. An energy meter focuses on billing accuracy and on allocating consumption by area or department (sub-metering); a power quality analyser adds high-order harmonics, flicker, unbalance, dips, swells and waveform capture to investigate disturbances. Data is integrated into SCADA or the energy management system via Modbus, DNP3, Ethernet or IEC 61850.
How to choose the right equipment
- Sub-metering and energy: the Shark series offers revenue-class meters, transducer-only versions and Ethernet communication, easy to wire in panels of commercial, industrial and institutional buildings.
- Substation power quality: the Nexus series combines high-accuracy energy metering, disturbance analysis and IEC 61850, with accuracy stable up to 70 °C.
- EN 50160 compliance: the APQM series measures harmonics, flicker and voltage events to assess the supply.
- Confirm the energy accuracy class, the quality measurement class (A or S) and the protocols your SCADA needs.
- Consider logging memory and waveform capture if you will investigate incidents.
The Nexus and Shark series carry a 4-year warranty. Not sure which one? Please get in touch.
Applications
- Energy and quality measurement in transmission and distribution substations
- Sub-metering to allocate or bill consumption in buildings and industrial estates
- Monitoring of non-linear loads, drives and renewables
- Investigation of trips, dips and harmonic problems
Applicable standards
- IEC 61000-4-30 — power quality measurement methods (classes A and S)
- EN 50160 — voltage characteristics of electricity supplied by public networks
- IEC 62053-22 — static meters for active energy, classes 0.2 S and 0.5 S
- IEC 61850 — communication in substations
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between an energy meter and a power quality analyser?
The first measures accurately how much energy is consumed; the second also measures what that energy is like: harmonics, flicker, dips and events, with logging to analyse them.
What does sub-metering bring?
Allocating consumption by area or user makes each pay for what they use and shows where energy is wasted, which usually leads to lasting savings.
What is class A?
It is the IEC 61000-4-30 class that sets defined measurement methods, so two class A instruments give the same result; it is the right choice for contracts and disputes.
Resources and contact
See our technical articles. Quotations: info@amperis.com · +34 982 20 99 20.