A Testbed for Static Electricity Meter Testing with Conducted EMI

In this paper we present the design and implementation of a new flexible testbed for testing electricity meters with conducted EMI in the frequency range up to 150 kHz. This testbed is based on separate generation of voltage and current test signals with arbitrary waveforms. Different transconductance amplifiers were characterized for their suitability to generate the highly-distorted current waveforms required for advanced testing of electricity meters. The complete setup was validated by comparing test results on a meter showing error readings under conducted EMI with earlier test results obtained using a setup based on a power source in combination with real physical loads. The good validation results of the new testbed proof the setup is very suitable for advanced calibration or testing of static electricity meters under wideband conducted EMI. The setup and waveforms presented in this paper will be used as input for improved standardization of electricity meters type testing.