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...
Star-Delta Motor Starting - Performance
Many questions sent in to the site are in connection with motor starting and in particular star-delta. For all but the simplest application, there is...
Autonomous Vehicle Challenge
Two driverless and solar power vans have departed from Italy on their way to China via the silk road. During the 13,000 kM trip the vans will drive themselves...
Batteries
A battery consists of one or more cells, each of which use stored chemical energy to produce electrical energy, There are many types of cells and these...
Understanding LV Circuit Breaker Fault Ratings
I think this post is going to be helpful to several of our readers. While the IEC low voltage circuit breaker Standard [IEC 60947-2, Low voltage switchgear...
Power Factor
Power factor is the ratio between the real power (P in kW) and apparent power (S in kVA) drawn by an electrical load. The reactive power (Q in kVAr)...
Understanding electric motor insulation & temperature
Anyone specifying or using electric motors should have a basic understanding how the insulation is related to temperature. Three classes of insulation...
Why a Sine Wave?
I received this question by email a few weeks. First thoughts was that it is a product of the mathematics of rotating a straight conductor in a magnetic...
Capacitors - Energy Storage Application
Capacitors have numerous applications in electrical and electronic applications. This note examines the use of capacitors to store electrical energy....
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...