Some considerations about the different possible approaches to the study of the electrical power systems under nonsinusoidal conditions

The study of electrical systems under nonsinusoidal conditions has undergone a thorough revision. Different approaches have been proposed aimed to discuss the several facets of this problem: line loss evaluation, compensation, identification of the sources producing distortion, revenue metering, etc. Unfortunately, very often the different proposed approaches contrast, sometime only apparently, because of the different goals they have, the different domains they are developed in, the different operating conditions they consider and so on. This paper focuses on the fundamentals of the theory, outlines the approaches that are expected to provide an in-depth insight into power phenomena, and stresses the approaches that, despite their supposed simplicity, seem to lead to a dead end.