Overview of impulse current test standards and the impact on test equipment

Today's economy and daily life rely more and more on a stable and always present power supply. Additionally, electronic components have spread into all areas of our life. Various protection devices are necessary to ensure the availability and functionality of all these components. This is reflected in various standards for testing of these protection devices. Since September 2010 the new horizontal standard IEC 62475 has been released dealing with high current test and measurement techniques. This paper compares this standard with the established IEC standards and points out to physical limitations of impulse current generators (ICG).