Standards Development

Scope

This project will further develop the document created under IEC PT/63255. Field trials in Kenya, funded by the UK, have validated the general approach, and further refined the ideas contained in the original proposal.

The approach defines a packet of data describing all the relevant electrical characteristics of a two-terminal device or network, including but not limited to voltage, power, inrush current, grounding, fault protection arrangements, connectors, power communication protocols and stability factors. When fed into a software algorithm with a similar packet of data describing another two-terminal device or network, the two packets provide sufficient information to determine whether, if the two were connected together, each would operate safely and reliably and as the designer intended. The project will limit itself to LVDC systems, including systems with inverters driving small AC appliances.

The project will define methods for describing the electrical and connector characteristics as a data packet, but will not define acceptable limits of the parameters measured. Therefore, this proposal will not of itself require any product to be modified - merely for it to be measured and the results reported.

Purpose

Grid electricity is well understood, and domestic appliances designed and tested against a standard grid electricity supply have a high probability of working reliably and safely on any grid supply. In contrast, there are now many alternatives to grid electricity, particularly off-grid systems in the Developing World, where there is no accepted standard supply against which appliances may be designed and tested.

Initially, the purpose of this TS is to provide a means by which a non-technical person can establish whether an appliance (which they may not yet have purchased) is compatible with their non-grid electricity supply - and thereby avoid an inappropriate purchase, or danger to life or equipment damage when connected.

Today, off-grid electricity installations have to be provided as a complete system including all appliances, since an engineer must carefully match the technical parameters of supply and loads. This means that

* Off-grid electricity is much less versatile than grid electricity

* The choice of appliances is very restricted

* There is no retail off-grid appliance market

* Limited manufacturing volumes cause higher appliance prices.

Within the limitations of small off-grid electricity, this TS will remove these constraints