IAEEL newsletter 3-4/97
CFL Harmonics found negligible in field test
CFL Harmonics found negligible in field test
A field test in Stockholm including all 17 single-family houses connected to a substation concluded that the adverse effects of CFLs on the power network appear to be negligible. These are the findings of a paper presented at Right Light 4 in Copenhagen in November 1997.
The investigation, commissioned by Nutek and Stockholm Energi, Stockholmıs municipal utility, aimed at predicting how the utility power system would be affected if households were to install up to six electronic CFLs each. Before the test, reference measurements concerning the power quality at the substation feeding the neighborhood were taken. First, CFLs were installed in a single house, and measurements were taken. Thereafter, all 17 houses connected to the substation were given three CFLs, and a week later approx. three more CFLs per household were installed. An average of 6.23 CFLs per household were installed. Only one house had electric resistant heating. The rest were connected to district heating; thus, lighting made up a significant share of the households electricity consumption.
Some conclusions: the harmonic currents at the 400-V busbar from up to 6 CFLs per household appear to be negligible compared with those generated by TVs, VCRs, low-voltage adapters, etc. At the sub-station, harmonic currents only increased by 0.63A, which is negligible. More surprisingly, the study found that installing CFLs resulted in a reduction in voltage distortion of 0.2 percent.