Paybacks from energy harvesting
22 January, 2009 by Dr Peter Harrop*As more and more energy-harvesting products hit the market, a growing range of commercial applications and benefits is becoming apparent. So how will this growing field of technology impact on current electrical solutions?
Modular switchboards
01 December, 2008The Tabula modular low-voltage switchboard system, originally developed by Holec in Denmark, is now available in Australia and supported by a network of accredited licensed assemblers, backed by Eaton.
Labelled circuit breakers
01 December, 2008The HPM range of circuit breakers, designed for use in residential switchboards, is now supplied with a transparent labelling system.
Advanced ‘smart’ electricity meter developed
08 October, 2008The Power Electronics team at Swansea University's School of Engineering in Wales has developed a highly advanced smart electricity meter that can monitor the energy usage of individual appliances, as well as measure the power generated by micro-renewable technologies.
Mini contactors and relays
01 August, 2008Three miniature components: 100-K contactor, 700-K control relay and 193-K bi-metallic overload relay have been added to the Modular Control System (MCS) product range.
Miniature circuit breaker
01 August, 2008The S200 range of miniature circuit breakers (MCBs) has been increased so that five different tripping characteristics are available across the full range, which incorporates standard short circuit capacities of 6, 10 and 15-25 kA.
Space-saving MCCBs
01 August, 2008The Allen-Bradley 140UE moulded-case circuit breakers (MCCBs) are available in a range of IEC-rated frame sizes and current ranges suitable for standalone electrical protection and distribution, as well as machine front-end switching. Frame sizes available include H, J, L, M and N, with current ranges of 16-160, 20-250, 200-630, 300-800 and 600-1250 A respectively.
Power distribution
01 August, 2008The Dominion PX power distribution unit (PDU) allows IT administrators to remotely control and obtain detailed, real-time information on energy consumed by individual servers. Optional humidity and temperature sensors can also be placed within a rack cabinet to monitor environmental conditions that may degrade server performance or cause equipment failure.
Electronic switch
01 August, 2008An electronic switch has been released by New Zealand company Vectek Electronics. To achieve high reliability it is often necessary to switch to an alternative power supply quickly but without connecting the two supplies together and transferring any fault that may be present.
RCBO circuit breaker
01 July, 2008The MRR series combination MCB and RCD (RCBO), developed by motor control gear manufacturer Mack Electrical, fits all the necessary electronics of an earth leakage trip unit and an over-current tripping mechanism into a single-pole MCB case with a 6 kA fault current rating.
Relay controller
01 July, 2008DDRC1220FR-GL is a relay controller designed to control any type of switched load. The power circuit is a ‘feed through’ design and is electrically equivalent to a 12-pole contactor, with the additional advantage of each pole being separately controllable via the DyNet network.
Auto recloser for RCDs
01 July, 2008The F2C-ARI enables automatic reclosing of a residual current device (RCD) in case of nuisance tripping, eg, after an overvoltage created by lightning, making it particularly suitable for use in unmanned control panels in applications such as communications repeater stations, traffic and signalling control, pumping and irrigation stations, refrigeration and public lighting.
High-power rectifier diodes
01 July, 2008The R700 and R701 rectifier diode series from Powerflex are designed for electrical installations in industrial high-current rectification applications such as welding, battery charging, electro-chemical refining and metal reduction.
Auxiliary contacts for MCBs
01 July, 2008Designed to mount on the bottom of the S200 range of ABB miniature circuit breakers (MCBs), the AC14 and DC13 auxiliary contacts are available as either a ‘1 NO’ or ‘1 NC’ contact configuration. Despite their small size, the switching contacts are full voltage rated at 2 A (AC14) at 230 VAC and 1 A (DC13) at 50 VDC.
ACT considers large-scale solar power
03 April, 2008The ACT government has joined with ActewAGL to fund a feasibility study into a large-scale solar power plant for the ACT.
