Market demand for American standard switchgear

What is suitable is the best, and the target market positioning is used to determine product requirements, technical parameters, and testing and certification requirements.

The American standard market is huge, with opportunities for the transformation of traditional power transmission and distribution, the growth of new energy applications, and the demand for power in data centers.

Therefore, in order to develop American standard switchgear, it is necessary to clarify the target market, rather than doing it all in one. In fact, the development and certification of American standard switchgear requires a large amount of capital investment and corresponding human and material resources, which are not affordable for ordinary small businesses.

Therefore, only by identifying the target market can specific applications be clearly defined. Different applications of American standard switchgear correspond to different products and standards. We must treat them differently.

The widely used ring main unit in China is not widely used in North America because the requirements for ring main distribution equipment are different. The IEEE C37.74 standard pad type and embedded distribution disconnecting equipment have high requirements for outdoor use, DEAD FRONT， However, domestic ring main units are not applicable.

For the same data center application, it is necessary to clarify whether the medium voltage switchgear is arranged separately or installed in a container. Is it an outdoor switchgear style or an indoor modular structure. Outdoor applications are not limited by size and can use traditional air insulated switchgear.

The traditional C37.20.2 standard air insulated armored switchgear is easy to expand and operate, but has a large volume. The size of the switchgear for different current levels is the same, with a width of 914mm, a depth of 2159mm, and a height of 2413mm. The cable connection behind the cabinet is suitable for installation inside large buildings.

For container installation, compact air insulated or gas insulated switchgear is required.

Therefore, it is not necessary to use a primary or secondary compact gas cabinet (ring main unit) in all occasions. Although the gas cabinet is small in size, it also faces the problem of difficult to view the switch isolation fracture and requires gas monitoring. The size is too compact, which leads to problems such as small secondary wiring and connection space. Therefore, the American standard requires the design of a device that can check the status of the isolation switch, gas specifications, and must be equipped with comprehensive protection and other secondary equipment for electromagnetic compatibility testing verification.

The type of switchgear used for primary power introduction or secondary transformer front-end control is also different. For primary power introduction and self owned generator connection, air insulated armored switchgear or gas insulated switchgear is used, depending on the spatial requirements above. The front-end control of the transformer is a metal enclosed switchgear, which is compact in size, has a small cabinet depth, and is installed against the wall for easy maintenance.

Air insulated box type load switch/circuit breaker switchgear, easy to install and operate, convenient to expand, with direct and efficient isolation and grounding connections. The installation and cable connection in front of the cabinet are extremely convenient, which has a cost advantage for 15kV applications.

For the low voltage side of transformer output, the vast majority of data centers will choose UL891 fixed cover distribution panels instead of UL1558 armored switchgear. UL1558 has a large size and no molded case circuit breaker for low current output, so it is not suitable for secondary distribution.

Armored switchgear only uses withdrawable frame circuit breakers, with complete separation between compartments, clear zoning of busbars, functional units, cable connections, secondary equipment, and connections. For power distribution, high requirements are placed on cascading protection of the power system, while also requiring internal arc fault capability.

UL891 is much simpler, with a closed box, fixed plastic case circuit breaker for incoming and outgoing lines, centralized outgoing lines, high installation density, manual operation, and simple operation and maintenance.