Electrical Supply Standard
Electrical supply of low voltage is delivered within Australia at a nominal voltage of 230/400 Volts, with tolerances of -6% to +10% of the nominal voltage (in accordance with AS 60038), within New Zealand at a nominal voltage of 230/400 Volts, with tolerances of -6% to +6%, and within the United States of America at a nominal voltage of 277/480 Volts, with tolerances of -10% to +5% (in accordance with ANSI C84.1 – 2016). All equipment used within a circuit in Australia, New Zealand and the U.S.A. is required to operate within these tolerances. What this means for your business is that all equipment within the circuit should operate between a bandwidth of 216.5V – 253V in Australia, 216.2V - 243.8V in New Zealand and 249V – 291V in the U.S.A. at the same levels of performance. To ensure electricity supply to the furthest point on the grid, voltage is often supplied much higher than the nominal voltage. On top of this, voltage will fluctuate continuously, based on the supply and demand within the grid. These can create both over-voltage (excess energy lost through heat and vibration) and additional stress on equipment caused by sags and spikes in the incoming supply.
What is Voltage Optimisation and how does it work?
Reducing the supply voltage is an established and economical method of achieving reductions in power usage. In addition to reducing the voltage, being able to also regulate (stabilise) the voltage has further benefits that increase the energy saving effects and reduce maintenance of lighting and mechanical loads.
How does Voltage Optimisation work?
Traditionally there are a number of ways to design such energy saving equipment and ultimately the specific attributes of the design will determine its energy saving performance, reliability, and output power quality.
Older technologies used simple fixed voltage ratio techniques that limited power savings potential and exposed downstream equipment to possible damage from under-voltage. Other approaches attempt to vary or regulate the voltage through crude transformer tap switching techniques which do not capture the full potential for power savings. To reduce system cost in a tap switching system, manufacturers typically use less adjustment steps and each step corresponds to a relatively large voltage change. Large step voltages limit the regulating capability and therefore limit the power saving performance. Furthermore, tap switching systems reduce power quality by producing switching harmonics and sinewave distortion which can cause equipment operational issues.
The latest modular technology developed by Beovista uses a continuously variable method that quickly and accurately regulates the output voltage without switching or interrupting the voltage or current waveforms. Tighter regulation and greater input voltage range leads to better power savings. Furthermore, the regulating system does not directly expose sensitive electronics to the main power system making it electrically robust.
What is the Beolec Mark 4?
The Beolec Mark 4 is an industrial voltage regulator designed to automatically maintain a constant set-point voltage. To achieve this it uses a robust and maintenance free design to accurately maintain the lowest reliable operating voltage thereby maximising the power savings of any site. It also measures, consolidates, and reports energy usage and savings information in real time and this data is directly accessible through the customer web portal.
Beolec Regulation Range
All Beolec systems come with a standard active 28 volt regulation range. This state-of-the-art regulation capability allows the Beolec systems to regulate the greatest proportion of the supply voltage down to the output voltage, or set-point, capturing more of the potential savings. Our set-point is determined based on a thorough site inspection, but is typical set at 220V. The Beolec regulation method does not use tapping and therefore its regulation range is not governed by the amount of taps that are installed on the windings. This is a very importance difference between the Beolec VOS and other voltage optimisation technologies, as the Beolec VOS continuously and actively regulates throughout the whole range of the incoming electrical supply without breaking the electrical sine wave.
The voltage optimisation method in every Beolec Mark 4 delivers seamless and unbroken power. All systems regulate by micro-stepping 0.08 volts per step with an adjustment speed of 12.9 volts per second, which is achieved without distorting the sine wave or breaking the electrical connection. This regulation capability allows the Beolec Mark 4 to regulate to the lowest set-point providing the smoothest and most accurate regulation in the market. This results in superior savings and improved longevity on plant and equipment.