Voltage Distortion Influence on Flicker Severity Measurement by AMI Energy Meters.

This article addresses the problem of proper flicker severity assessment by smart energy meters. Flicker severity occurs for a typical voltage “clipped cosine” distortion caused by operation of power electronic devices in the power grid. The voltage distortion caused only by higher harmonics does not cause voltage fluctuations, and therefore does not cause flicker. This article presents the research results for some models of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) smart meters, for which irregularities are observed in the voltage variation severity assessment if the typical voltage distortion occurs in the power grid. Possible mistakes in implementation of flickermeter signal chain as defined by International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) in smart meters that influence the measurement results have been explained. The analysis of the influence of typical voltage distortion on the indicator $P_{st}$ measurement has been carried out analytically and in numerical simulation studies using the modeled flickermeter signal chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]