Switchgear Installation

This chapter summarizes the steps to install a switchgear. There are mainly two types of switchgear, the outdoor and the indoor type. It is common to build the higher‐voltage switchgear of the outdoor type, while the lower‐voltage could be of the indoor type. Switchgear installations can be classified into three main types: metal‐enclosed switchgear, cubical type/metal‐clad type; insulated‐enclosed switchgear; and open‐type switchgear. Insulation coordination is a crucial measure taken to restrict flashover or breakdown of the insulation caused by overvoltages, making the resulting damage as slight as possible. Arcing faults receive an increasing amount of attention as a particularly damaging and potentially dangerous type of fault. The arcing fault is a flashover of low electric current that flows through the air. Different methods for arc‐flash hazard reduction such as reducing the arcing current, increasing the working distance, reducing the fault clearing time and using arc‐flash detecting relays can be applied.