Reduce your energy spend and CO2 emissions with Voltage Optimisation

In the UK, electricity is transmitted from generating stations and renewable power sources at a higher voltage to cover transmission losses due to cable resistance, power problems (harmonics) and weather conditions. Local electricity supplies can also be higher within areas where there are a number of renewable power generating sites (solar PV and wind turbine). In European countries, electrical equipment is designed for 230Vac (single phase) operation. Voltage optimisers lower the incoming mains power supply voltage (which can be higher than 240Vac) to 230Vac or below and this reduces the amount of power drawn by the connected loads which is billed in kilo-watt hours. Voltage optimisation is also known as voltage reduction and can achieve energy savings of 15-30% or more in electricity costs.

Domestic type voltage optimisers are generally sold as ‘fit and forget’ types and use static torroidal core technologies. Larger voltage optimisers for commercial or industrial sites including single and three phase systems may be either static transformer or mechanical stabiliser types and should be inspected for wear and tear and maintained annually. Fixed voltage optimisers should also be checked to ensure that their voltage reduction settings match the needs of the site; the mains power supply voltage on a site can change during a 24hour period with load and seasonal demands.

Most building loads can be classed as resistive, inductive or capacitive. Using voltage optimisation for resistive or inductive type loads including uncontrolled motors, incandescent lamps, switch start fluorescent lighting and other high energy consuming equipment can achieve the highest energy savings. Voltage optimisation does not generally achieve savings for capacitive loads such as IT servers and computers due to the operation of their switch mode power supplies.

Voltage optimisation is the process of lowering the incoming mains power supply voltage, in areas with a high mains power supply voltage, to reduce the energy used by devices on a site. Voltage optimisation is a voltage reduction technique used in countries including the UK (and Japan) whose traditional mains power supply voltage was 240Vac before being harmonised within the European Union to 230Vac.

Voltage optimisation devices are available for domestic, commercial and industrial sized installations and reduce electricity bills through voltage reduction. There are several types of voltage optimiser design including fixed voltage adjustment and automatic, electronically regulated technologies. The fixed voltage type tend to use toroidal transformers are and suitable for smaller buildings (up to 100A) including domestic and retail shops where they can be installed into single and three phase installations. Larger sites including industrial manufacturing complexes, retail and supermarket outlets or hotels may require a more sophisticated voltage reduction solution based around auto-tap-changing transformers, with advanced electronic control circuitry.

Voltage optimisers must be installed by a suitably qualified electrician or electrical contractor. Whilst domestic unit installations are relatively straight forward with the installation taking place close to the builder income and distribution board, larger installations will require a desktop and field-based survey. The reasons for this are that on larger sites the load mix and cable distance must be taken into consideration to maximise savings, identify the local mains supply voltage and that required by the loads on site.