Voltage fluctuations are sudden and undesirable changes in voltage that can affect the life of our machines and appliances. All equipment is constructed to function in a particular range of voltage. Voltage fluctuations are changes in this bandwidth to an extent that can damage the electrical equipment.
Why does voltage fluctuate?
Voltage fluctuations occur mainly because of two reasons:
- Demand Supply Dynamics
- Natural Causes
Demand Supply Dynamics
- Similar to the world of economics, demand supply is one of the most potent determinants of voltage fluctuations. The changes in demand supply dynamics can be attributed to various different reasons when it comes to voltage, including climatic conditions, aged equipment or poor infrastructure.
Global warming has resulted in excessive climate unpredictability, and this has significantly affected the usage patterns among electricity consumers, whether it is an industry or a household. Sudden changes in weather affects the demand, which causes an unbalance in the demand supply dynamics, thereby causing voltage fluctuations.
The demand is also affected by the usage of worn out or aged equipment which competes in efficiency with the innovative equipment, further contributing to the unbalance by increased electricity requirement.
Lastly, poor infrastructure can be another major determinant of imbalances in voltage. Whether it is from the demand side or the supply side, inefficient, faulty, poorly connected or worn-out infrastructure can seriously impact the supply demand dynamics. On the supply side, fluctuations in the power generation system can contribute to voltage fluctuations. Improper or loose connections on either supply or demand side can affect the power distribution, thereby furthering the imbalance in usage.
Natural Causes
- Another major reason can be natural causes like lightning or change in the renewable energy generation patterns. Lightning strikes provide a sudden surge of electric current and voltage, which can cause a remarkable increase in power through the grid. This can affect the voltage received by structures and cause sudden spikes in received voltage.
Additionally, power generated through renewable sources of energy is often fluctuating, owing to changes in the rhythm of the natural resources used, whether it is solar energy generation from the sun, or hydro-electric power through dams, or wind energy. This method of power generation is dependent on weather and natural resources, which are accompanied by high unpredictability.
Why are voltage fluctuations bad for you?
Voltage is the primary source of power for industries or households. With the advent of electronic components in electrical machinery over the last few years, voltage fluctuations have become particularly detrimental for our equipment, owing to the fact that electronics, especially the semiconductor-based ones, are highly sensitive to voltage surges and sags, which can end up causing major machine failure.
Reasons:
- Damage to equipment – Voltage fluctuations can damage electronic chips, components and electrical and electromechanical parts in a machine. This can cause equipment failure, irreparable damage to machines or even fires.
- Disruptions in workflow – Big businesses, especially industries, require a constant supply of power. Loss of electricity supply or failure in equipment can affect workflow to a huge extent, resulting in losses worth thousands to millions of dollars. Voltage fluctuations in such scenarios can negatively impact operations and disrupt workflow for businesses and industries.
- Dangerous for people – Fluctuating voltage can damage equipment to such an extent that it can cause fires, explosions or even increase the possibility of electric shocks. This can be dangerous for people operating the machines, working around the machines or in fact for anyone in the building in vicinity of the electrical appliance.
- High costs of repair – Voltage fluctuations can increase your repair and maintenance costs for your electrical machines, thereby costing you a ton of money. Especially in the case of modern-day electrical equipment, voltage fluctuations can largely affect your chips and PCBs, which are electronic in nature and are very expensive.
How to know if you are receiving fluctuating voltage?
The first and foremost sign of voltage fluctuations is always a change in behaviour of your electrical machines. If it is a light, it will flicker rapidly. If it is a machine, it will react to the fluctuation in its own way, either by making some sort of noise, or by sparking, or by displaying a change in functioning.
Acknowledging these signs is important as taking the right action at the right time can protect your machines or even you yourself from the damaging effects of voltage fluctuations. The best action is to immediately turn off and unplug the machine from the main power source to prevent any further damage. Unplugging the machine is important as there could be some sort of leakage current passing through the circuit which can contribute to damaging the equipment.
In case of a voltage fluctuations, not just the fluctuating appliance but all other equipment should be turned off and disconnected. This is because certain machines, like a refrigerator, cannot indicate a fluctuating voltage, and any other indication, like a flickering light, can be a sign that voltage being received is unstable and it is advisable to disconnect everything immediately.
Types of fluctuations
- Surge – A sudden increase in voltage that goes on from microseconds to milliseconds. During this time frame, current drops suddenly and this can damage electrical equipment.
- Sag – The most dangerous form of voltage fluctuations, a voltage sag can cause the current to rise to extremely high levels which can prove to be destructive for machines, especially the electronic components.
- Spike – A spike is an event of sudden rise in voltage that lasts for nanoseconds. This is again a rapid change which can contribute to equipment damage.
- Swell – A swell is a sustained supply of high voltage, higher than the usual.
- Noise – Line noise, or noise, is a noisy supply of voltage. In this, the voltage received is within range but not steady enough for the appliances to function properly.
- Transients – Transients are short, sudden changes in voltage that occur through the voltage patterns during supply. They exist for a very short time, but have a significantly higher magnitude.
How to deal with voltage fluctuations?
- The single best method to deal with voltage fluctuations is to get a voltage stabilizer for your place. A voltage stabilizer is a device that helps to tame the fluctuating voltage and provide a steady supply to your electrical equipment. When the voltage goes above the desired range, a stabilizer brings it back down and when the voltage falls below a desired level, the stabilizer brings it back up. This way it ensures that the voltage supply is always within a fixed range, thereby protecting your equipment.
In an industrial setting, there are two main types of voltage stabilizers used:
- Servo Voltage Stabilizer
- Static Voltage Stabilizer
Servo Voltage Stabilizer
A servo voltage stabilizer tames voltage fluctuations with the help of electromechanical processes. It consists of electrical motors that are used to position a transformer coil is such a way that fluctuations can be managed with the movement of the coil to generate or limit voltage as and when required. A servo stabilizer can take upto 30-40 seconds to correct voltage. However, it is an obsolete technology that doesn’t work well for modern day electrical equipment which consists of electronic components, making them highly sensitive to fluctuations as short as a second.
Static Voltage Stabilizer
A static voltage conditioner or stabilizer is an advanced, innovative solution to voltage fluctuations in modern day electrical equipment. A static voltage conditioner is an IGBT based voltage stabilizer that corrects voltage within a short time of 20 milliseconds (1/50th of a second), or one waveform of electric current. This technique ensures that machines consisting of small electronic components stay damage free in an event of fluctuating voltage.
For more information as to which stabilizer should you choose, read our article here: Voltage Stabilizer
FAQs
Q1: Is getting a stabilizer necessary to deal with fluctuating voltage?
Answer: Getting a voltage correction system is now more important than ever. With increasing climate unpredictability, especially in summers in India, power distribution is significantly impacted. Poor infrastructure and supply and demand variations have resulted in major voltage fluctuations, causing destructive damage to electrical equipment. Additionally, with increasing use of electronics in electrical equipment, a rapid voltage correction system in the need of the hour.
Q2: How does a change in voltage affect current through a machine?
Answer: Every machine or equipment has a power rating which is constant. Power is a product of voltage and electric current. This makes the two parameters inversely proportional to one another. When voltage rises, the current drops in order to keep the power steady. Similarly, when voltage drops, the current increases. However, every machine has a limited capacity to deal with fluctuations, and rapid voltage fluctuations can cause major damage.
Q3: Do I really need a static voltage stabilizer or is a servo stabilizer good enough?
Answer: A servo stabilizer is an excellent technology; however, it was built for electrical equipment. Today, almost all electricals are electronic dependent, whether it an LED lamp, or an inverter AC, or industrial machine. Using an old technology like servo with modern machines is not advisable since within the time a servo would take to correct voltage, the machine would have already been damaged. To solve this problem, using a static voltage stabilizer like the VRP is better as it can correct voltage within 20 milliseconds, thereby protecting the appliance from any significant damage.
For more information about the VRP, visit the official website of TSi Power.
Conclusion
Voltage fluctuations are a dangerous event for you and your electrical equipment. Managing them is important to ensure a smooth workflow, ensure seamless operations, protect electrical equipment, protect yourself and save a lot of money. Modern day electricals consist of electronic components, which are highly sensitive to changes in voltage. Any sort of fluctuations in voltage can cause irreparable damage to these components, thereby damaging your machines to a significant level. Installing a voltage stabilizer, especially a static voltage conditioner, is the ideal solution for all your voltage related problems as they can protect your equipment and help solve the problem of fluctuating voltage within 20 milliseconds.
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