DAQs-based wattmeters for high accuracy measurements. Comparison with the Italian power primary standard

•The proposed wattmeters are based on commercial data acquisition boards (DAQs).•The developed metrological characterization confirmed high accuracies.•The proposed wattmeters are simple, portable, easily reconfigurable and low cost.•The voltage can be sensed directly thus avoiding expensive voltage dividers.•The proposed wattmeters can be used for the development of transfer standards. This paper is focused on the use of data acquisition boards (DAQs) for the development of high accuracy PC-based instruments for the measurements of electrical power. The proposed systems are simple, portable and low cost because they are based on commercial data acquisition boards (DAQs) connected to a common personal computer. Data processing is carried out by a commercial software based on an interpolating windowed FFT. In the paper it is shown how the voltage can be sensed directly, thanks to the DAQ input range, thus avoiding expensive voltage dividers. The set up of the DAQs-based solutions is described and the evaluation of their metrological features is made by means of a comparison with the Italian power primary standard, which was built at INRIM with a complex solution and expensive with two high precision digital voltmeters.