What is an electrical substation? It is that part of the electrical generation, transmission and distribution grid, that contains equipment that transforms line voltage from high to low and vice versa. The locations can also contain other elements such as protection and communications equipment. All of these critical elements are backed up by batteries. It […]
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Brush Up on the Power Calculations That Matter This presentation will look at charger and battery sizing, DC Voltage drop, hydrogen gassing, temperature compensation and some other useful calculations and formulae that will help battery backed power system integrators, installers, users and maintainers preform their tasks correctly. Related Tech Note Calculating ROI on an Infrastructure […]
The US Electrical Grid is a complex integrated structure that is under continuous development. To ensure that reliable development matches the growth in demand, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) developed the Standard, TPL-001-1 System Performance Under Normal Conditions. The objective was to establish the basic performance requirements for both generation and transmission. The […]
In this episode, the Battery Blarney Duo chats with charger specialist Lucas Berndt on the history and advantages of switch mode, convection-cooled rectifier technology. They discuss its benefits across applications and the importance of chargers regarding overall battery and DC system performance. Finally, they discuss the redundancy and continuity testing required for NERC TPL-001-5 compliance […]
Key Differences in DC Supply & Float Voltage Verification In PRC-005 at the 4 monthly inspections the requirement is to verify The Station DC Supply Voltage. Then at the 18-month inspection it calls for the Battery Charger Float voltage to be verified, the question often asked is what the difference between the two voltages is, […]
This timeline shows when and how to properly outfit your battery systems for the redundancy required by this enforceable NERC standard. January 2020 TPL-001 is a long-term planning standard signed by FERC with a 36-month window before becoming enforceable. Minimize Risk with -5 As demand grows and utilities identify all single points of failure, (including […]
Reducing Risk and Cost Through Intelligent Battery Monitoring Continuous battery monitoring can help the user achieve all these things Note: In standby battery systems the terms “cell”, “monobloc” (“bloc”) and “unit” refer to an individual unit within a “battery”, which may be made up of anything from 4 x 12 volt blocs to several hundred […]
I frequently get asked, “what is the difference between the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) stationary battery maintenance standards and those promulgated by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) in PRC-005?” My stock answer is, “lots.” First of all, a little bit of history and a lot of acronyms. In 2003, the […]
“The great thing about codes and standards is that there are so many to choose from.” There are multiple organizations and entities that publish codes, standards, guides, and practices pertaining to the storage, transportation, installation, maintenance, testing, and disposal of stationary lead-acid batteries and their chargers. Almost all of these are updated and revised on […]
In 2011, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) released the Protection System Maintenance Standard, PRC-005-2. NERC comes under the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The mission of NERC is to ensure the reliability of the bulk power system in the USA and Canada. FERC is an independent government agency that is part of the […]
In this episode of the DC Power Hour David and Allen introduce the Power Solutions sales team, including Brian, Luke, and Andrew. They discuss the evolution of the utility market and customer issues. Luke emphasizes the growing adoption of permanent 24/7 monitoring and the importance of better understanding and interpreting data. Brian mentions that utilities […]
In this episode, George is joined by Lucas Berndt, modular switch-mode charger product expert, to talk about industrial battery chargers and redundancy. They discuss the benefits of having a modular charger – with hot-swappable power modules – for redundant functionality in case of an outage. They address how this satisfies NERC and TPL standards that […]
This podcast episode looks at the state of the DC power industry through the eyes of industry experts George Pedersen and Allen Byrne. With roughly 80 years of experience between the two of them, they share how we got to this point, some of the challenges along the way, and give us their thoughts on […]