Power outage / Blackout

This is a complete interruption of the electrical supply. This anomaly can occur several times within a 24-hour period and where critical processes are constantly ongoing, equipment damage and data loss are common consequences.

Power Sag

This is a sudden decrease in voltage levels which can last for periods ranging from millisecond to several minutes. This condition can result from the coming on line of heavy / motorized equipment. Examples of such motorized equipment are elevators, compressors, etc.

Under voltage or Brownout

This is voltage drop that typically lasts from a few minutes to a few hours and is usually caused by over-demand of electricity during peak demand. It can adversely impact affect critical equipment like computers and other electronic devices and affect sensitive operations.

Spike
A spike is a sudden and significant increase in voltage which can be caused by a direct lightning strike on a power line or when power returns after an outage.

Power Surge
Surges are a very substantial increase in voltage. This increase can last for milliseconds and are often triggered by lightning, high powered appliances being taken off-line or disconnected.

Consequences are electronic components damage, data loss, etc

EMI/RFI Noise

Electromagnetic Interference and Radio Frequency Interference are usually caused by lightning, generators, radio transmitters, improper earthing producing super-imposed high frequency signals on the waveform thereby resulting in disturbances to sensitive electronic equipment, data

loss and processing errors.

Harmonic Distortion

This distortion of the normal power wave is generally transmitted by unequal loads and can result in resonance, overload, and overheating of cables and equipment, among other problems.

Mitigation Strategy

A variety of options are available for mitigating against any or all of the common power problems enumerated above. In many cases, expert advice is needed to assess and correctly identify the issue and the root cause, and consequently, the proper mitigation.