Electrical power

Motor protector teardown

Here is GE MT03M motor protector: Contactor, Miniature, Overload Relay, 5.5-8.0A Range • Control circuit up to 690V • Power circuit up to 690V • Three-pole differential (phase unbalance protection) • Automatic ambient temperature compensation between – 25ºC and + 60ºC • Choice of manual or automatic reset • Direct connection to contactor or independent

Modular LED lamps with IoT

The lighting industry is undergoing a revolution driven by LED technology. LED is is now the dominant lighting technology for all new buildings and retrofits. Yet today, only a small percentage of LED fixtures are supplied with IoT sensors installed. It was estimated 140 million LED fixtures were expected to be distributed in the United

Automatic Circuit Reclosers Probed as Potential Cause of California Fires – IEEE Spectrum

https://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/energy/the-smarter-grid/utilities-probed-as-potential-cause-of-california-fires Automatic reclosers are pole-mounted circuit breakers that can quickly restore power after outages. Reclosers make quick work of many line faults, the great majority of which result from temporary insults such as a tree branch striking a line or the electrocution of an unlucky squirrel. Reclosers usually try restarting a line 2-3 times before giving up

Debunking The Unscientific Fantasy Of 100% Renewables

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2017/06/26/debunking-the-unscientific-fantasy-of-100-renewables/#611600d529f9 Mark Jacobson of Stanford said America could easily become 100% renewable by mid-century. Jacobson published a paper in 2015 that claimed we could get rid of all other energy sources except wind and solar, and a tiny bit of other renewables, by 2050, and that it would be easier and cheaper than any other alternative mix. Jacobson’s paper

How to Build a More Resilient Power Grid – IEEE Spectrum

https://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/energy/the-smarter-grid/learning-from-grid-failures-a-conversation-with-nicholas-abisamra North America’s electric transmission may be an engineering marvel, but that doesn’t make it immune to failure.  Efforts intended merely to harden infrastructure are not enough—the grid also needs to be resilient. Resiliency refers to characteristics of the infrastructure and operations such as strength and the ability to make a fast recovery.  Making system more resilient starts

Circuit breaker teardown

Here is teardown of 10 A DIN rail mounted miniature circuit breaker (Biltema brand) What you see when you open the case Turn around – circuit open/off/tripped Device reseted to “on” position On the left side of mechanism there is bimetallic overcurrent triggering mechanism – load current goes through bimetallic strip and heats it.  On

Circuit breakers for mains panel

A circuit breaker is an automatically operated electrical switch designed to protect an electrical circuit from damage caused by excess current, typically resulting from an overload or short circuit. Its basic function is to interrupt current flow after a fault is detected. In small mains and low voltage circuit breakers, fault current is usually done