Smarter, safer and cost-effective automated LV network? Let ALVIN do the job
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02 March 2017
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William G. Higinbotham
Nowadays, it’s all too easy to take electricity for granted. At the flick of a switch we have the power to light and heat our homes, catch up on our favourite TV shows, boost our businesses, and even charge our electric vehicles. So, what happens when a bad storm hits, or the electrical equipment deteriorates and we’re left in the dark? Losing power in our homes and businesses can be costly, dangerous, and above all else, very frustrating.
In most cases, power outages happen when a fuse blows in the local substation. However, before the fuse can be replaced, an engineer must make a visit the substation and check whether it’s safe to restore the power. If it’s not safe and there is a fault with the electrical network, this must be fixed and which can all be very time consuming.
Imagine if there was a way to get the power back on faster, without getting an engineer out to the site unless it was absolutely necessary? This is where ALVIN Reclose™ comes in. A safer, smarter, more cost-effective alternative to traditional substation fuses. Using the latest technology, the intelligence built in to the ALVIN Reclose™ gives it the ability to identify and resolve multiple network faults and unlike other devices, ALVIN Reclose™ can ask and answer the most important question of all:
“Is it safe to restore the power?”
Once installed into a substation, the ALVIN Reclose™ responds automatically to a power outage and conducts a SafeOn sequence by sending pulses down the cable to determine whether a fault is still present. If no fault is found, the ALVIN Reclose™ can get the power back on. If the ALVIN Reclose™ detects any problems, it will conduct two more SafeOn sequences to make sure that there is indeed a fault. If a fault is still present and can’t be resolved, the ALVIN Reclose™ will determine that the fault needs to be repaired and that turning the power back on is not safe.
The ALVIN Reclose™ will never attempt to restore a faulty electrical system, making it a reliable and efficient piece of equipment, which forms the basis of a fully automated, self-healing network, with safer employees and satisfied customers at its heart.
