Industrial environments can pose significant challenges to the safety and effective operation of lighting systems. Luminaire selection and system design must meet performance goals where mechanical strength, weight, thermal, electrical, corrosion resistance, hazardous environment and water and dust ingress requirements must be considered. Designers must gain a firm understanding of all environmental factors that can cause system failures to deliver ‘environmental compatibility’ of lighting.

There’s been a lot of negativity about the job market lately, much of which is fuelled by uninformed speculation. I found that it’s not all bad news, as I researched what’s going on at ‘street level’, especially in the electrical industry.

Recently, a friend of mine who operates an excavator tore through a mains cable as he was digging footings on a commercial site. Not only did he get the scare of his life, but he had a few anxious moments afterwards wondering if he would cop the huge repair bill for the damage he had just caused. Fortunately for him, he called Dial Before You Dig before commencing to excavate.

Eaton, an electrical power quality systems supplier, warns that electrical infrastructures across Australia will experience increased weather-related stresses and offers advice on how to protect against power outages during severe weather, heat, electrical storms and cyclones during the upcoming summer season.

Unfortunately, many people base their test and measurement equipment purchasing decision on price, availability and misleading sales information.

Test and measurement equipment is essential to the electrical trade, be it for electrical, data or control systems. Whether it’s for commissioning a new installation or finding a fault in an existing one, electrical tradespeople and technicians put a lot of faith in the readings from these instruments. But how can they be certain what’s being reported is correct?

The push for ‘greener’ electricity through more sophisticated electrical technologies has, in many cases, increased the negative consequences of harmonics on our electrical infrastructure. Electronic ballasts for lighting, switchmode power supplies for PCs and variable speed drives for motor controls are becoming ubiquitous in our homes and workplace. But while they’re improving our energy efficiency, they’re also making the electricity supply dirty.

In today’s economy, many look at the bottom line more than usual and don’t do anything unless it’s mission critical. When we cut costs, we also decrease expenses, but to what end? Training seems to be one of the first things companies eliminate without thinking about the outcome. But why is training and development so important? Why can’t people learn the way that many of us did - by the school of hard knocks?

Maximising power quality in today’s hybrid electrical networks is typically a balancing act between many different factors, all of which must be considered.

The article in September/October 2008 Electrical Solutions raised many questions regarding supply voltage variances. Author Paul Stathis was warned that he could be opening a can of worms. The advice he received was not wrong. In this article, I will attempt to answer some of the issues raised in the previous article and bring attention to more issues that need to be addressed by the electrical industry.

Rising energy costs and concern for our environment are motivating Australians to look for ways to reduce their energy consumption. In recent years, sophisticated energy management systems have been deployed in commercial buildings to help achieve higher energy ratings and lower energy consumption without compromising functionality. The same attitude is now evident with homeowners wanting to make their homes more energy efficient, but without the burden of having to think too hard about it.

The enforcement of privacy laws has recently placed a greater emphasis on maintaining the integrity of personal and confidential information. Not only must data be securely stored, but the enclosures housing the data must also be physically secure. A government specification strictly qualifies the deployment of these enclosures and, as many organisations begin to utilise these cabinets, consultants and installers may find themselves ill prepared to deploy them correctly.

The 2007 Wiring Rules introduced a number of installation directives for halogen downlights because of the high incidence of fires directly attributable to the extreme heat output from them igniting nearby combustible materials. One of these directives is to leave considerable clearance around them from all materials, including insulation. But this introduces the problem of potentially compromising a home’s thermal efficiency. How do electrical contractors deal with this conundrum?

There are literally hundreds of power quality measurements that can be taken on electrical systems and equipment. Predictive maintenance measurements and power consumption measurements can help electrical contractors uncover hidden costs for their end-user customers, protect their equipment from damaging conditions, reduce their unscheduled downtime and improve the system’s overall performance.

Technology developed by CSIRO has the potential to help building owners worldwide dramatically reduce their energy consumption and costs, improve tenant comfort and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.