What is a Power Analyzer?

Power Analyzers measure the flow of electrical energy within a system and quantify this in units of a Watt, which is equal to one joule per second. Power is directional and its magnitude can vary over time, flowing both into and out of a circuit, and is therefore usually time averaged.

Most devices and distribution systems run on Alternating Current (AC), which have a nominally sinusoidal waveform, and typically the power is averaged over a full cycle.

Traditional measurement devices and ‘power meters’ approximated the average power by taking a small number of measurements and deriving the power using the assumption of a pure sinusoidal waveform. Modern power analyzers take many instantaneous power samples and analyse them to capture the high frequency components and distortion present in a system being measured.