New concepts for steady state voltage standards

The new Australian steady state voltage standard AS 61000.3.100 “Limits - Steady State voltage limits in public electricity systems” is introduced. Several innovative features of the standard are described including a preferred median voltage (V
_50%
) range that is designed to provide for greater customer equipment end use efficiency, increased equipment life and the continuing installation of distributed small scale embedded photovoltaic generation. Also described is the concept of voltage spread (V
_99%
- V
_1%
) which is used to place limits on steady state voltage variations in medium voltage networks.