The Automatic Voltage Regulator – AVR:
Guide and Comparison
The Operation, Application and Comparison of Automatic Voltages Regulators in AC Power Applications
2 Automatic Voltage Regulators and Power Conditioners
An AVR is at the heart of devices often called power conditioners or power stabilizers. The typical power conditioner is an automatic voltage regulator combined with one or more other power-quality capabilities such as:
- Surge suppression,
- Short circuit protection (circuit breaker),
- Line noise reduction,
- Phase-to-phase voltage balancing,
- Harmonic filtering, etc.
Power conditioners are typically used only in low voltage (< 600V) applications and sizes below 2,000 kVA. See Power Quality versus Line Drop Compensation.
Since there is no official definition of a power conditioner, there are some devices marketed as power conditioners that do not provide automatic voltage regulation. This fact and the wide variation in capability between products make it imperative the buyer does his or her homework to match product functionality and application needs.
Quick Links
1 The AC Automatic Voltage Regulator
2 Automatic Voltage Regulators and Power Conditioners
3 The Need for Automatic Voltage Regulation
4 Automatic Voltage Regulator Function
5 The Ferroresonant Transformer (Type) Voltage Regulator
6 The Mechanical (Type) Voltage Regulator
7 The Electronic (Type) Voltage Regulator
Complete Table of Contents...