Impact of Voltage Harmonics on the Drawn Current and Reactive Power of Appliances

Recent measurements indicate that low-voltage networks are often sources of reactive power, contributing to reverse reactive power flows.These issues are largely influenced by the increasing use of appliances with power electronic components, which typically exhibit capacitive consumption characteristics and supply reactive power to the network.Therefore, this study explores the impact of higher-order voltage harmonic components, focusing on their magnitudes and phase angles, on reactive power variations.Four appliances: a CFL fluorescent lamp, an LED linear tube, and two LCD monitors were tested using a laboratory power supply configured to supply a fundamental harmonic along with selected higher-order harmonics.The investigation evaluates the influence of these appliances on three key parameters: reactive power, active power, and the total harmonic distortion of current (THDI).The findings provide insights into how specific voltage harmonic components and their phase angles affect drawn current and consumed reactive power.