Testing Solutions for Harmonics and Flicker

Pacific Power Source (PPS) has a rich history of providing Harmonics & Flicker test solutions to perform compliance testing to commercial (IEC) test standards. With a large number of precision AC Power supplies installed in both commercial and defense related applications, PPS offers a broad spectrum of software and hardware solutions that help our customers meet regulatory product requirements.

More recently, Pacific Power has developed a turnkey line of IEC Compliance power line emission and immunity test systems. These Harmonics & Flicker Test Systems are called ECTS2 for “EMC Compliance Test Systems, gen 2.” ECTS2 systems are available in a range of power levels and output phase configurations and are all based on Pacific Power’s programmable AC and or AC+DC power sources and our Harmonics and Flicker measurement and Flicker Reference Impedance modules.

IEC compliance test

The EMC Directive is one of the “New Approach” directives and is applicable in all 27 member states of the European Union (EU). The directive applies to all electronic or electrical products that may cause or be interfered with by electromagnetic interference (EMI). As a result, many manufacturers in the electronics and electrotechnical industry must ensure that their products meet the requirements of the directive and must be able to demonstrate that this is the case in order to affix the CE mark.

To verify compliance with these guidelines, the International Electrotechnical Commission has issued a number of harmonized standards that describe test methods, test levels, and pass/fail criteria. These include both Power Line Emissions (IEC 61000-3-nn) and Power Line Immunity (IEC 61000-4-nn) standards.

The emission standards for power cables are commonly called Harmonics & Flicker standards and cover single- and three-phase products up to 75 A per phase.

Immunity test standards for power cables address immunity to commonly encountered abnormalities of AC power cables known to occur on the public low-voltage (LV) network. These standards for conducted immunity are numbered IEC 61000-4-nn. The IEC is one of three global sister organizations (IEC, ISO, ITU) that develop international standards for the world. Pacific Power Source offers a comprehensive range of IEC 61000-3 AC emission test solutions and pre-programmed IEC 61000-4 AC (and DC) immunity test suites.

For an overview of all the specific IEC test standards supported with the different hardware configurations, please refer to the ECTS2 brochure.

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