Control Theory
Control theory looks at how systems work and are controlled from a mathematical view. This note gives a brief introduction to some of the concepts – more...
Switchboard - Forms of Internal Separation
IEC 61439 'Low-voltage switchgear and controlgear assemblies', specifies standard arrangements of switchboard (call forms of internal separation). The...
Arc Flash Calculations
Working in the vicinity of electrical equipment poses an hazard. In addition to electric shock hazard, fault currents passing through air causes Arc Flash...
The ac resistance of conductors
In a previous article I looked at the dc resistance of conductors and in this article we turn our attention to ac resistance. If you have not read the...
Low Voltage Switchroom Design Guide
Low voltage (LV) switchrooms are common across all industries and one of the more common spatial requirements which need to be designed into a project...
Gas Insulated or Air Insulated Switchgear
Various arguments exist around SF6 Gas Insulated (GIS) and Air Insulated (AIS) medium voltage switchgear. Recently we had to change a GIS design to AI...
Photovoltaic (PV) - Utility Power Grid Interface
Photovoltaic (PV) systems are typically more efficient when connected in parallel with a main power gird. During periods when the PV system generates energy...
Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla was born exactly at midnight on July 10, 1856 in the tiny village of Smiljan, Lika in Croatia. In his late teens, Tesla left the village to...
What does N+1 mean?
The term 'N+1' relates to redundancy and simply means that if you required 'N' items of equipment for something to work, you would have one additional...
Lighting - Lamps
Lamps are the essential part of any luminaire. These are the light generating components. Since the advent of electrical lighting in the middle of the...