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Panelboard vs Switchpanel

Hi all,

As the title, I’m just wondering in the absence of a client spec when you would spec a switchpanel over a panelboard. Looking at the Schneider website they appear to do a panelboard rated up to 1600A @ 50ka breaking capacity

1600A x 400 x 1.732 = 1108 KVA.

Thus making it suitable for the majority of installations requiring a 1MVA tx

My thinking currently is that I’m assuming you would use a switchpanel when:

- Outgoing supply rated above 630A

- A sensitive installation where if works need to be done the whole board doesn’t need to be turned off (form 4 etc)

- Multiple 400A/630A coming off making terminations impractical

- maybe when an ACB is required (but I suppose this could be a separate enclosure)

if I’ve missed anything please share, or if there’s a rule of thumb.

whilst we’re on the topic, is there a rule of thumb for sizing the LV room?

thanks in advance

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0 Craig McKee over 5 years ago

I missed the previous comment about advantages of Form of separation.

The main advantage is that during a fault the damage should be contained within the device compartment, making correction far easier. A device tripping under fault conditions in a panelboard commonly creates secondary faults or at least a lot of conductive carbon around the other devices and the corrective work is much more challenging.

Traditional form 4 boards are generally much larger than panelboards and therefore tend to be more capable of running at full load, this is one of the area why I mentioned full compliance is a must. Potentially a temperature rise calculation could be done, with some derating of devices, but this is commonly done incorrectly, so needs to be reviewed by someone who understands the requirements of the standard.
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0 Craig McKee over 5 years ago

I missed the previous comment about advantages of Form of separation.

The main advantage is that during a fault the damage should be contained within the device compartment, making correction far easier. A device tripping under fault conditions in a panelboard commonly creates secondary faults or at least a lot of conductive carbon around the other devices and the corrective work is much more challenging.

Traditional form 4 boards are generally much larger than panelboards and therefore tend to be more capable of running at full load, this is one of the area why I mentioned full compliance is a must. Potentially a temperature rise calculation could be done, with some derating of devices, but this is commonly done incorrectly, so needs to be reviewed by someone who understands the requirements of the standard.
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Panelboard vs Switchpanel

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