Housing for Switchgear Power Systems

Switchgear power systems are used as part of an overall electrical power supply system in order to conduct electricity, as well as provide a reliable and safe power supply to its customers. An important part of keeping switchgear power systems, and the electricity they provide, safe is the type of housing used for the entire system.

Understanding switchgear power systems

Switchgear power systems can include a wide variety of electrical switching devices that can control, measure, protect and regulate power equipment. When assembled with various inter-connections, enclosures and their supporting structures, electrical energy can be transmitted through switchgear power systems to the system’s customers. Additionally, if a problem is perceived, switchgear power systems will most often switch a building’s power supply over to generator power through either “break before make,” or “make before break.”

A “break before make” circumstance occurs when a generator disengages from commercially-generated power prior to switching to a generator-based power supply. If a break before make switch is manual in lieu of automatic, fuel will not be wasted due to false detections of commercial power supply problems. This can be a common issue when automatic switches are in use.

“Make before break” switchgear power systems are more common than the former when it comes to keeping locations that require preserving critical functions online. In a make before break circumstance, a building will switch to generator power when signs are present that could result in a power outage in the commercial power supply. This will avoid a complete power outage. This type of system can be most commonly found in locations such as hospitals and defense centers in order to keep those critical functions online and available for use.

switchgear power systems Housing

The housing used for switchgear power systems will vary, depending on the total amount of voltage flowing within the system. For example, the housing used for low voltage switchgear power systems is often located within a building. For a higher voltage level, on average over 66 kV, switchgear power systems will be outdoors, insulated by air, and will require a large amount of space around it. If gas insulated switchgear is used for transmission-level voltage, space is saved, as opposed to utilizing air-insulated systems. However, this results in a higher equipment cost. Oil insulated switchgear is another option, however, this can present an oil-spill hazard, so it is not a preferred insulation method.

At smaller substations, switches and switchgear power systems can be operated manually. However, switchgear power systems at major and more important switching stations on a transmission network, will most often be motor-operated, which allows for remote control.

switchgear power systems

switchgear power systems represent an important part of a commercial power supply system. switchgear power systems not only help to move electrical power downstream to its customers, they are an important step in the power supply safety process that should be tested and receive maintenance regularly in order to ensure the system will be available when needed.