Comparison of Algorithms for Flicker Irritation Assessment

Several changes and adaptions in the design of the current IEC flicker meter (IEC 61000-4-15) were proposed in literature. These changes relate mainly to Block 5 of the flicker meter, i.e., the calculation of the flicker severity index (
P
_st
). This paper provides some background knowledge on the rationale behind the proposed changes and identifies and quantifies the differences between the two flicker meter implementations. The comparison is based on measurements in laboratory and field as well as experiments involving human observers. The aim is to contribute to the ongoing discussion in IEC SC77A WG2 about the suitability of the current and proposed implementations for voltage quality monitoring and its capability to reflect the irritation level of human observers for artificial lighting.