IEC 61800-2:2015 applies to adjustable speed electric a.c. power drive systems (PDS), which include semiconductor power conversion and the means for their control, protection, monitoring, measurement and the a.c. motors. It applies to adjustable speed electric power drive systems intended to feed a.c. motors from a BDM connected to line-to-line voltages up to and including 1 kV a.c. 50 Hz or 60 Hz and/or voltages up to and including 1,5 kV d.c. input side.
NOTE 1 Adjustable speed electric a.c. power drive systems intended to feed a.c. motors, and with rated converter input voltages above 1 000 V a.c. are covered by IEC 61800-4.
NOTE 2 Adjustable speed electric d.c. power drive systems intended to feed d.c. motors are covered by IEC 61800-1.
NOTE 3 For adjustable speed electric a.c. power drive systems having series-connected electronic power converter sections, the line-to-line voltage is the sum of the series connected input voltages.
Traction applications and electric vehicles are excluded from the scope of this standard.

For some aspects which are covered by specific PDS product standards in the IEC 61800 series, this document provides a short introduction and reference to detailed requirements in these product standards.

IEC 61800-2:2015 is intended to define the following aspects of an a.c. power drive system (PDS):
- principal parts of the PDS;
- ratings and performance;
- specifications for the environment in which the PDS is intended to be installed and operated;
- other specifications which might be applicable when specifying a complete PDS.
This standard provides minimum requirements, which may be used for the development of a specification between customer and manufacturer. This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous edition.
a) Clause 1 (Scope) has been updated,
b) Clause 2 (Normative references) has been updated,
c) Clause 3 (Definitions) has been updated including fundamental definitions to be used across the IEC 61800 series of standards,
d) Clause 4 has been updated with respect to:
1) description of the basic topology for BDM/CDM/PDS (4.2);
2) ratings and performance (4.3 and 4.4);
3) reference to applicable standards within the IEC 61800 series with respect to EMC (IEC 61800-3), Electrical safety (IEC 61800-5-1), Functional safety (IEC 61800-5-2), Load duty aspects (IEC TR 61800-6), Communication profiles (IEC 61800-7 series) and Power interface voltage (IEC TS 61800-8) to avoid conflicting requirements (4.5, 4.6, 4.7, 4.10, 4.11, 4.12);
4) update of requirement for ECO design (4.8);
5) update of requirement for environmental evaluation (4.9);
6) implementation of requirement for explosive atmosphere (4.13).
e) Clause 5 has been updated with test requirement in order to provide a clear link between design requirement and test requirement.
f) Clause 6 has been updated to harmonize the marking and documentation requirement within the IEC 61800 series.
g) Existing Annexes A to G have been deleted and replaced with new Annexes A to C.