CHANGEOVER

[kwame]

Hi There
i work with reputable firm that builds high rise residential aparments(flats) for the upper middle class as a junior electrician.
There is problem of no provision being made for changeovers .During power failure from the national grid,the generator's energy is also routed through the power individual authority meters installed at the substation .There is a power substation situated at the basement equipped with a giant two meter tall MNS ABB (3000 Amp,three phase) control panel.
It is from this control panel each residence's meter is supplied.
Question is ,what is the simplest way to remedy this situation so that when power from the grid fails,the meter authomatically stops reading and vice versa?

 

[4pyros]

Wire it in after the meter.

 

[dr pepper]

Yes, beware there are regulations on how you connect up an alternative supply, you dont want to make the grid live when the power company have turned it off to work on it.

 

[cowboybob]

I suspect that the meters are wired as they are so that the building owner(s) can recoup the expense of providing power during mains failure(s).

Will your's is an interesting concept, I would suggest that you reconsider the idea (or more bluntly, forget about it).

 

[KeepItSimpleStupid]

The building could bill or the utility could bill. How often does power go out anyway?

If the owner of the building bills, then it MIGHT be possible for the utility to install a meter for generated power.

backup power costs money, and in reality the tenants should be charged MORE under backup power. Basically it fuel costs that are variable and maintenance costs are in the "condo" fee.

I have no idea how metering is dome, but there are plenty of systems that can do it. ION comes to mind.

There is also a lot of issues relating to power factor and peak power. If the complex is large, they probably employ power factor correction, but then agin, it depends. We might just be talking about how many washers are running at the same time. If there are 200 air to water heat pumps, then that's a different story.

 

[crutschow]

I would think the grid should be automatically disconnected from the building when any auxiliary power kicks in.

 

[Inquisitive]

Google Transfer Switch. Also referred to as an Automatic Transfer Switch (ATS)

The transfer switch goes between the generator and the grid supply. It prevents back feeding to the grid.