Contribution to the Teaching of Electric Power Quality Through Practical and Extension Activities 1 st Bruno S. Dupczak Electrotechnics Department Federal Institute of Santa Catarina Florianopolis, Brazil bruno.dupczak@ifsc.edu.br 2 nd Vitor F. de Borba Metal-Mechanics Department Federal Institute of Santa Catarina Florianopolis, Brazil vitor.borba@ifsc.edu.br 3 rd Jackson Lago Electrotechnics Department Federal Institute of Santa Catarina Florianopolis, Brazil jackson.lago@ifsc.edu.br Abstract—The importance of power electronics (PE) in society is indisputable, providing comfort and productivity with energy efﬁciency and the use of alternative power sources. However, with the beneﬁts of PE, there are also challenges to maintaining the quality of electrical energy, affected by the intermittency of renewable sources, the presence of harmonic distortions, ﬂuctuations, and voltage imbalances, among other adverse effects. Thus, teaching concepts about power quality is essential for the training of future electrical engineers, making them able to identify and correct problems that may interfere with the correct functioning of electroelectronic equipment. In this sense, the purpose of this work is to share the actions that have been carried out in the electrical engineering course to complement the teaching on power quality in such a way that they can be used by other educational institutions. Extension activities involving industries and companies in the region are presented, in which power quality data are collected for later analysis and the return of results by students. In addition, a didactic workbench is proposed to carry out experimental activities, where the student can install and observe through a power analyzer the inﬂuence of different types of load on voltage and current waveforms and on quality indicators. In this way, students are provided with comprehensive and applied training in this area, seeking to connect theoretical knowledge to real-world situations. Index Terms—power quality, teaching, didactic workbench, extension activities I. I NTRODUCTION Power electronics (PE) is an essential area in modern soci- ety, allowing the development and application of technologies that beneﬁt us daily. Whether in the generation and distribution of electricity, in the automotive industry or in residential electronic equipment, PE plays a crucial role, providing energy efﬁciency and environmental sustainability. On the other hand, PE has direct impacts on power quality (PQ), generating voltage and current disturbances that can affect the proper operation of the equipment [1]. Therefore, teaching about power quality should be part of the curriculum of electrical engineering courses, presenting concepts and regulations that can contribute to the identiﬁcation of problems. Teaching about power quality initially consists of the theo- retical presentation of the phenomena involved, such as steady- state voltage variation, the occurrence of voltage ﬂuctuations The autors would like to thank the IFSC for the ﬁnancial support granted through public notices 02/2022/PROPPI and 34/2022/PROPPI. or imbalances, the existence of harmonic distortions, among others. However, the assessment of power quality depends on the availability of data on voltages and currents in the installation or electrical network under analysis, which implies the use of dedicated equipment for this purpose (PQ meters). Therefore, checking the power quality implicitly depends on a practical activity, related to the installation and conﬁguration of the PQ meters, as well as the subsequent extraction and analysis of the collected data. This analysis must be based on the indicators and limits proposed in the regulations and technical guidelines [2], [3], allowing to conclude whether the available electrical energy has adequate quality. Normally, commercial or industrial consumers are only concerned with the quality of service provided by distributors, related to the availability of electricity in their facilities. However, when economic losses start to occur, due to improper operation or equipment damage, the interest in power quality becomes relevant and electrical parameters are monitored. In this sense, the purpose of this work is to share practical experiences carried out in the Electrical Engineering course, aimed at improving teaching on power quality. For this, a prepared laboratory environment will be described so that students can carry out measurements safely, observing the inﬂuence of different types of load on PQ indicators. Addition- ally, reports are presented on extension activities that involve the analysis of PQ in local industries and businesses, showing the importance of this type of action for student training and productivity of external agents to teaching intuitions. II. THEORETICAL ACTIVITIES In the Electrotechnics Department at the Federal Institute of Santa Catarina (IFSC), theoretical knowledge about power quality is taught to students in-person classes in the Electrical Engineering undergraduate course and master’s degrees in Electrical Energy Systems. In these courses, the subjects of Energy Quality and Efﬁciency (60 h) and Electrical Energy Quality (30 h) are offered respectively. In theoretical classes, information is provided about the causes and consequences of the main power quality phenom- ena, involving steady-state voltage, current and voltage un- balance, current and voltage harmonics, short-term dips, over- voltage and interruptions, ﬂicker, power factor and frequency Authorized licensed use limited to: Instituto Federal de Santa Catarina (IFSC). Downloaded on November 01,2025 at 13:38:44 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.