Harmonic Interaction among Electronic Loads and Its Effects on the Electrical Quantities and Billing: Case Study with Lighting Devices

This paper presents an investigation of the harmonic interaction among lighting devices and its effects on the electrical quantities, billing and power quality. In this study, two types of bulbs, a programmable AC power source, a power quality analyzer, and an oscilloscope were used. Aiming to analyze the impact of the massive introduction of the LED bulbs in the electrical energy system, simulations were realized and several scenarios were considered. The results show that the electrical quantities, such as power factor (PF), displacement power factor (DPF) and total harmonic current distortion (THDi) are function of the harmonic interaction between each harmonic order of each load. Therefore, the characteristics of each load will influence directly in the results. Another contribution of this paper is to show the necessity of reviewing the electrical energy billing rules.