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Is a 100% Made-in-the-USA Solar Supply Chain Impossible?

As the solar energy sector continues to expand rapidly, the conversation around domestic manufacturing capabilities has gained urgency. With ongoing supply chain disruptions and geopolitical tensions affecting global trade, the idea of establishing a fully domestic solar supply chain in the United States is becoming increasingly pertinent. However, industry experts are grappling with the feasibility of achieving a 100% made-in-the-USA solar supply chain.

The Current Landscape of Solar Manufacturing

The U.S. solar industry has seen...

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Utility News

FERC Conference Highlights Challenges in Resource Adequacy

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) recently hosted the Co-Located Load Conference, a significant event that focused on resource adequacy, energy reliability, and the challenges of ensuring sufficient electricity supply amidst changing grid dynamics. As the energy landscape continues to...
Utility News

BLM's Western Solar Plan

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has unveiled a pivotal Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for its Western Solar Plan, a strategy designed to significantly boost solar energy development across the American West. This ambitious initiative aims to streamline solar project approvals and foster a...

T&D Trends

Electrical Substations

Vacuum Interrupter Testing for Circuit Breakers

How to predict field life using vacuum interrupters

BY FINLEY LEDBETTER, Group CBS

Utilities have widely replaced older air-magnetic and oil interrupters for circuit breakers rated at one kilovolt (kV) or higher with vacuum interrupters (VI) due to higher interrupt capability. Vacuum interrupters also last up to 10 times the expected lifetime than newer sulfur hexafluoride (SF-6) gas interrupters. Unfortunately, the downside to building a protective device with a long service life is that utility planners, technicians, and maintenance professionals believe it will last forever.

However, that misconception, plus the difficulty in field testing VIs, has placed a large portion of the U.S. industrial and utility distribution switchgear at risk of failure. Luckily, several traditional “pass/fail” testing methods and one new “predictive” field-testing method exist for verifying the isolation capability of VI-protected circuit breakers and motor controls. These three testing methods are covered in detail in this...

Electrical Substations Articles

Substation Technologies

Circuit Breaker Time and Motion Testing

Determining mechanical condition of high-voltage circuit breakers BY JOZEF LEVI, Doble Engineering Company Life expectancy of a newly installed high-voltage circuit breaker is approximately 40 years. Throughout its life, under normal circuit conditions, the circuit breaker will operate less than...
Lightning Protection

Lightning Strikes

In Canada, lightning flashes occur about 2.34 million times a year; with the highest levels of concentration during the summer months. While most lightning on earth is ground-to-cloud,  recent research has identified that the majority of lightning events to tall structures, such as wind...