Power outages can be a frustrating and inconvenient experience for everyone since electricity is used in daily functions. In addition to causing discomfort, power outages can also be dangerous. Especially, for those who rely on electricity like medical equipment. While many other people assume that power outages are primarily caused by harsh weather conditions like storms, strong winds, and hurricanes, the truth is that animals can be a major cause of outages as well.
According to a study, about 25% of all power failures that occur are due to animals coming into contact with high voltage (HV) transmission lines. This can happen when birds or other animals, such as squirrels, raccoons, and cats, are electrocuted by bare HV lines. These incidents not only cause power outages in the affected area, but they can also be deadly for the animals involved. Furthermore, if a spark is produced when an HV line becomes short-circuited due to an animal interference it can cause wildfires.
For engineers who work at substations, one of the biggest challenges is that there is no way to predict when an animal will come into contact with an HV line. When an animal comes into contact with an HV line, this can cause a line to line or line to ground fault, or both resulting in a black out. In some cases the power outage can be prolonged if the animal’s body becomes stuck between the two conducting lines resulting in a severe short circuit.
One of the main reasons why animals come into contact with power lines is due to bare metalwork. By properly insulating the metalwork, power outages caused by animals can be significantly reduced. Our company offers effective solutions for this problem, we have Midsun E/Products. We provide a range of silicone covers that are designed to provide the best tracking resistance, thermal endurance, and UV resistance to ensure an uninterrupted power supply. These covers are highly durable and flexible, making them ideal for protecting high voltage equipment like transformers, circuit breakers, and switch gears.
Midsun E/ Products offers a variety of different silicone covers that are suitable for different voltage levels, locations of bare metalwork, and geographical locations. Some of these covers can even be installed and removed while the equipment is still energized. Some of the most common variants of silicone covers offered by Midsun include silicone conductor covers, silicone tapes, silicone sheets, silicone preformed covers, and barriers.
Silicone conductor covers are highly durable and reusable, and are often used in situations where breaking an electrical connection is not recommended. Silicone tapes are self-fusing and self-bonding, making them easy to install and remove. There is no adhesive being used, the tape will only stick to itself. Customizable silicone sheets can be used to cover irregular-shaped conducting equipment. Silicone preformed covers are hydrophobic and highly flexible, providing insulation of up to 25kV at connections. And transparent polycarbonate thermoplastic barriers can be used to prevent animals from accessing electric equipment.
By using these silicone covers, power outages caused by animals can be significantly reduced, improving the reliability of the power system and protecting wildlife at the same time. Furthermore, these covers are reusable, making them a cost-effective solution for preventing power outages caused by animal interference. Overall, the use of wildlife outage protection products can help to ensure a safer and more reliable power supply for everyone.
