Future analysis tools for power quality

Traditional power quality analysis tools have proven very useful in power system steady state distortion analysis. However, considering the ever growing utilization of electronically controlled loads and system devices, such as SVCs, ASDs, and FACTS devices, and the consequent dynamics of distortion generation, propagation and interaction with the system, one would need a more powerful technique to efficiently analyze the system performance in the presence of non-stationary distortions. Recently new techniques have been unfolded which in the future may help us to better categorize and analyze in a more effective way many types of voltage distortions or power quality deviations. This paper presents the basic concepts for some of these new tools, their similarities and differences with respect to traditional techniques and investigates the potential for its application in power system distortion analysis. Specifically, wavelet theory, genetic algorithms, expert systems and neural network concepts are reviewed for their potential applications in power quality analysis.