Internet of power- Digital circuit breakers.

If it's connected to the internet it'll end in tears I tell you.

Suddenly, you are effectively opening up your consumer unit to the whole world, who can do with it what they wish.

Scary!

I don't really see that as anything more than a very reliable solid state relay instead of contacts, and at the moment such a thing would be expressly prohibited from performing any safety function in the UK regs.

537.2 Devices for isolation

.....

537.2.2 Semiconductor devices shall not be used as isolating devices.

I must admit that it has occurred to me many times recently  with the high voltage silicon carbide devices, that one could make a circuit breaker that opened in much less than a microsecond, completely changing the nature of the adiabatic assumptions.

LOL.


The circuit breakers may launch a joint cyber attack on you along with the smart meter, heaven help you if the kettle and the toaster join in egged on by Alexa.


?

LOL. Big Brother is powering you (or not) ?

The disconnection times are ridiculously faster than what is currently considered instantaneous.


Andy

I don't trust 'em. This is just another over complicated vulnerable product that will cost too much and cause future problems. Give me the warm glow of a length of tinned copper fuse wire any day, at least you can see what is going on with that. P.S. I did not read the whole article as the "Accept conditions box" was not clicked by me. I prefer my privacy. If publishers want me to read things and to respect my privacy then just publish the material with no strings attached. GGGGGRRRRRRrrrrrrrr.?


Z.

It is still readable on my Ipad without clicking the box.

It is being hyped as "the first digital circuit breaker" but reading between the lines it is no different from the solid state 'circuit breakers' developed by Siemens, ABB and the like. The only problem is they can't be used as a direct replacement for a traditional circuit breaker as semiconductors do not provide isolation, one of the safety functions of a circuit breaker. They would therefore need to be backed up by a circuit breaker or isolator.

Alasdair

Right at the end of the article it states "Atom Power’s next challenge is to reduce the thermal losses sustained by their digital circuit breakers to make them as efficient as their mechanical counterparts." which has always been the Achilles heel of solid state devices.

One aspect I can't see at present is where would these be used? It seems overkill for the majority of domestic installations and the super-fast disconnection times are not necessary in many protection schemes, so the only advantage is the remote control arrangements. These can be added to many traditional circuit breakers without the complexity of semiconductor breakers and therefore probably at a much lower cost (and without the thermal losses).

I am also a bit dubious about connecting i-phones and i-pads for remote power management as this introduces cyber security issues to the mix.

Alasdair