Municipalities Electrical departments and Electical Contractors

[GCE]

We all complain about Municipalities with regards to the state of the electrical networks but as contractors we should be looking to work with them and not against them.

They have there challenges , some self made or assisted by politics and Eskom, probably one of the main reasons.

I think most of us know that our Electricity Departments have some fantastic and highly qualified Electrical engineers employed by the municipalities who unfortunately keep having their hands tied behind there backs and then being sent out to fight the fight.

We had an interesting meeting with one of our outlying Municipalities last week and the basic topic was to work together and help each other out in overcoming some of the challenges .

We all know that PV, Inverters and battery back up systems are being installed at speed due to load shedding .We also know that all sorts of experts have suddenly appeared in the PV market, some with very little electrical knowledge .

What a lot of people don't realize is the amount of havoc that is being caused to electrical networks with all the PV/Backup installs.

We have the famous Earth Neutral bridge argument - By installing that bridge permanently there is a knock effect for network protection.
We have the transformers being lightly loaded during the day due to PV taking the loads and the voltages on those transformers increasing due to light load and then at night the voltages decreasing when load starts coming back on.

After a bout of load shedding the return loads being experienced by Municipalities is increasing rapidly and this is a place that as contractors we can assist municipalities

The battery back up systems start recharging the batteries within 60sec of grid return and impose massive loads not experienced previously. If you look at the average house sitting with base loads no higher than 2 Kw and now they have a 5Kw battery system installed with a 5Kw recharge current , we are suddenly sitting with a 7Kw base load directly after grid return.
You start looking at 10Kw and above then the increase in sudden base load is even worse.

As contractors we could reduce the increased load when setting up inverters by restricting grid charging currents to 10Amps .On a 5Kw system this would mean a 0.5C charging current which a large majority of battery manufactures are stipulating in there warranty documents anyway and should actually be happening.

Installers are looking at the battery discharge specifications as 1C and are assuming that recharge current is also 1C , which most are capable of. Have a look at the warranty documents and you may find a different scenario.

We could also delay the return to grid by longer then the regulated 60 seconds, on some inverters.

What other ways can we as Electrical Contractors assist Electricity departments ?

[Isetech]

I make a lot of noise about stuff on ths forum, and knock the elctrical industry all the time, but in this case, is it the elctrical industry or the elctrical departments?

I sent a SSEG enquiry to our local municiplalty a couple weeks ago, they still havent responded.

"all" Stake holders should be sitting around atable dicussing issues in this industry.

So the answer to your question (how can we asssit), create an envirnoment for everyone to interact, with out it, you going to just keep banging your head against the wall.

Create a pltform to encourage the older and new generation of sparkie to interact.

Get suppliers to support meetings and invite people from all sectors to sit down and discuss the way forward.

Having a DOL, ECB, ECA and and a bunch other sectors all trying to control the industry will never work.

Its not just about the electrical departments or electrical contractors.

We all complain about Municipalities with regards to the state of the electrical networks but as contractors we should be looking to work with them and not against them.

They have there challenges , some self made or assisted by politics and Eskom, probably one of the main reasons.

I think most of us know that our Electricity Departments have some fantastic and highly qualified Electrical engineers employed by the municipalities who unfortunately keep having their hands tied behind there backs and then being sent out to fight the fight.

We had an interesting meeting with one of our outlying Municipalities last week and the basic topic was to work together and help each other out in overcoming some of the challenges .

We all know that PV, Inverters and battery back up systems are being installed at speed due to load shedding .We also know that all sorts of experts have suddenly appeared in the PV market, some with very little electrical knowledge .

What a lot of people don't realize is the amount of havoc that is being caused to electrical networks with all the PV/Backup installs.

We have the famous Earth Neutral bridge argument - By installing that bridge permanently there is a knock effect for network protection.
We have the transformers being lightly loaded during the day due to PV taking the loads and the voltages on those transformers increasing due to light load and then at night the voltages decreasing when load starts coming back on.

After a bout of load shedding the return loads being experienced by Municipalities is increasing rapidly and this is a place that as contractors we can assist municipalities

The battery back up systems start recharging the batteries within 60sec of grid return and impose massive loads not experienced previously. If you look at the average house sitting with base loads no higher than 2 Kw and now they have a 5Kw battery system installed with a 5Kw recharge current , we are suddenly sitting with a 7Kw base load directly after grid return.
You start looking at 10Kw and above then the increase in sudden base load is even worse.

As contractors we could reduce the increased load when setting up inverters by restricting grid charging currents to 10Amps .On a 5Kw system this would mean a 0.5C charging current which a large majority of battery manufactures are stipulating in there warranty documents anyway and should actually be happening.

Installers are looking at the battery discharge specifications as 1C and are assuming that recharge current is also 1C , which most are capable of. Have a look at the warranty documents and you may find a different scenario.

We could also delay the return to grid by longer then the regulated 60 seconds, on some inverters.

What other ways can we as Electrical Contractors assist Electricity departments ?

[Isetech]

If the fire department and the electrical department cant even create a link ion case of emergency, how would we ever create a link between private contractors and the minuicpality.

Back the day when I belong to the ECA (when Chris Greagor was still around) and the municiplalty had a dedicated counter and staff to deal with contractors things ran smoothly.

We could discuss applications for new installations with the council. When you applied for a meter upgrade or meter relocation to the boundry it took a couple weeks and a few hundred rand.

The council have chosen to bat the contractors, so now we join the que like the rest of the public, wait 2 years (if you are lucky) to get your old meter replaced with a pre paid meter.

It has got so bad that you have to use earth spikes to blow the fuse to get the council to send a sub contractor to sort out stuff.

Its the wild west and a free fr all , it wasnt the contractors who created these issues.

The council management should be replaced with people who have the experience and skills to run the operation smoothly, show some commitment to improvong the interaction with them.

[Isetech]

If the DOL cant even get the contractor registrations sorted out within a reasonable time, how you going to fix the council/contractor interaction.

Its simple employ people in management positions who have the correct skills, knowledge and expereince.

Just shake your head, smile and you walk away, I dont even get worked up anymore.

[Isetech]

I am sure there are elctrical departments who would like to fix things.

[GCE]

Istech - You have given problems and make them sound unfixable .

Create a platform to encourage the older and new generation of sparkie to interact.

Get suppliers to support meetings and invite people from all sectors to sit down and discuss the way forward.

In my opinion that platform is there and takes place at least every 3 months , In Port Elizabeth anyway , and in other centers as far as I am aware.
It is ECA meetings which is an employer's organization run by members/employers
At our local meetings there is a fair amount of interaction during the meeting and afterwards even more so while enjoying a cold one.
We make sure that the people we put forward to national will carry the flag we want and push issues that we feel have an effect on the industry
At national we try ensure that the people representing ECA to government structures on Technical , Labour , Training do so in the interests of what members want.

Sitting behind a keyboard pointing out problems is not going to fix the problem

Identifying the problem and coming up with a workable solution as a collective and taking it forward is what will fix, broken.

SO back to the question

What other ways can we as Electrical Contractors assist Electricity departments ?

[Isetech]

You should be asking how can the elctricity department bridge the gap with the electrical contractors, which worked for many years.

There is no magic formula required, the electricity deparment should open an elctrical contractor counter and employ staff who are suitably qualified to handle "all" enquiries from contractors.

At the rate SSEG are being installed, the general attitude is "we couldnt be bothered to try deal with he council", setting up a dedicated counter just to deal with SSEG registration would be a good start.

I know it sounds like I have no interest in improvong the industry, I reached that point where I got tired of banging my head against the wall, the only change I have seen in this industry, is for the worse.

Kayboard warrior, yes that the only way I can vent my frustration. I dont sit in office all day, I am in amongst the teams working in the field watching the industry falling apart.

The only way I can attempt to improve things, is by asssitng people in the field, which I already do.

What other ways can we as Electrical Contractors assist Electricity departments ?

[GCE]

You should be asking how can the elctricity department bridge the gap with the electrical contractors, which worked for many years.

That can be asked in another Thread - This Thread is

What other ways can we as Electrical Contractors assist Electricity departments ?

Some out of the box thoughts could be interesting