The Importance of Panelboards Regarding Electricity Distribution and Safety

In the modern world, the continuous and reliable distribution of electricity is extremely important for residential, commercial, industrial and infrastructural utilization. At the consumer end of the electrical supply chain switchboards and panelboards are responsible for not only the appropriately regulated energy distribution within an installation, but also for the safety of employees. For this reason, some authors have gone so far as to say that “Panelboards are the glue that holds the United States electrical system together” (Groobs et al., 2004).

A panelboard, which is similar in design to a switchboard, is generally comprised of a ‘can’, as well as standard internal components. The ‘can’ is basically the mounting structure that houses the electrical components, and also serves as a grounding structure for the panelboard by way of a direct connection to the grounding bus. The various internal components in comparison consist of fuses, protective relays and circuit breakers, which in current panelboards are limited to 84 branch circuits (or 84 outgoing connections).

The Importance of Panelboards in Managing Electrical Energy

One of the main advantages of utilizing panelboards in residential, commercial and industrial environments is the fact that the branch circuit design of these devices allows for the ‘selective tripping’ of breakers. Selective tripping permits for the specific faulting branch circuit to be isolated and shut down without tripping the entire system. This is especially vital in the case of a manufacturing plant or data center, where equipment down time can be extremely detrimental to production.

They also play a significant roll in personnel safety regarding electrical faults. One of the main roles these play are regarding personnel safety is the shutdown of electricity in the case of an overload or short circuit. With recent advances in circuit breaker technology, such as ‘arc fault circuit interrupters’ being built into Circuit Breakers, boards can also aid in protecting employees against the threat of arcing faults, such as arc blasts. This may not seem that significant however, thousands of people are hospitalized every year in America due to such events. Some modern boards have also been constructed to withstand and contain an explosion, which is an added advantage in the event of a critical fault.

Although they are extremely useful and highly utilized in modern society, there are still numerous issues regarding their use. Quite often these systems require downtime in the event of a fault in order to repair or replace the effected component. This is due to the fact that they can only be accessed from the front and some components must be moved in order to reach the issue. In other larger systems this issue has been solved and components such as circuits can be changed, and some minor repairs can be undertaken while the system is still live. Although this may not seem like a big issue, depending upon the application, this can be problematic.

Overall however, one can see that panelboards, as well as other components of modern electrical distribution systems; play a pivotal role in maintaining contemporary residential, commercial and industrial operations, as well as much needed infrastructural systems. They also however, play a role in personnel safety and protecting facilities from electrical risks such as fire.