How far can you take electricity from the transformer

[Highland Mule]

I haven't been to her new place but I think the concern is doing a half arsed job and regretting it later when the welder doesn't work etc. . As said above, getting a good sparky on board would probably be the first step.

Welder? That's probably significant power right there. You're not running a welder on the end of a quarter mile cable.

 

[Pasty]

Welder? That's probably significant power right there. You're not running a welder on the end of a quarter mile cable.

I think that's kind of the point. Working out how to future proof the project even if it costs a few grand more.

 

[Midnight plough boy]

Generator if just for a barn?

 

[wanton dwarf]

I have a friend up in Gloucester and she currently has a single phase transformer on her land supplying her house, buildings and a neighbour. She wants to supply a new barn build some 350m from this. Not as the crow flies as that would mean crossing a road twice (250m). Is this possible? Her other option is to put in a new 3 phase transformer nearer to her own yard which would maybe have some advantages and would be slightly closer to the new barn (maybe 20m).

So the question is which is the better option and if it's at all possible would 3 phase be better / worth the investment? She's asked me but I know little on the subject.

Thanks.

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3 Phase Cable, 50A a phase, 350 metres, installed in a duct or direct under ground:

100A

 

[wanton dwarf]

Or better still. Talk to an electrical engineer. They'll know the most cost effective method .. or even the electric board. They might install a new meter pretty cheaply.

 

[Highland Mule]

Thinking about this a bit more, and it may be an option to put in a chunk of renewables (solar, small turbine etc.) and a Tesla battey pack or similar and go completely off grid. I suppose it depends on the cable sizes/ expected loads and the likes, but might be worth asking a decent sparky what they thought.

 

[simon-0116]

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3 Phase Cable, 50A a phase, 350 metres, installed in a duct or direct under ground:

View attachment 949543

100A

View attachment 949544

That's only a guide a lot more variables to add before choice of cables

 

[wanton dwarf]

That's only a guide a lot more variables to add before choice of cables

Like what ?

 

[simon-0116]

Like what ?

Fuse / breaker rating, zs rating, type of earthing arrangements, if rcd etc etc

 

[wanton dwarf]

Fuse / breaker rating, zs rating, type of earthing arrangements, if rcd etc etc

Why would you be looking for a cable when you don't already know the maximum amps you want to use ?

I wouldn't personally risk not putting in a 5 core cable to find the earth not acceptable 350 metres away. Although I would compare the cost of a single earth when looking at 50 & 95mm.

Fuses, RCD etc has got nothing to do with the cable rating.

You're not going to spec cable based on fuses .. you're going to spec the cable based on future expansion at the new building so you don't face an additional costs in the future.

 

[Triangle]

For thoes saying its to far sse put a supply on the lv side through our fields 450m to a new house taped in about 50m from the transformer havent any any issues was chunky cable . Wasnt cheap but worked out about the same as doing the job proparly with the right cable ourselves .but its there problem if a joint fails or insulation brakes down its in plenty deep so out of our way earthing isnt a problem its its own supply alwayse lothed what sse charge still do but somone on here said what can you buy that if theres a problem with it they wil sort ot forever ?

 

[wanton dwarf]

One other thing to consider.

If the new cable is going to be supplied from a distribution board at the old property then the maximum 3 phase MCCB is 63A.

To get larger than that you need an uprated 200A distribution board, a hybrid board or fused switch. These are £100s.

 

[farmerm]

Could that not be achieved more economically with solar panels, batteries and an inverter ?

Genuine question, how many miles of charge can be generated in the limited hours of low intensity light we experience on a mid winters day in the UK? How many square meters of panels to produce sufficient charge for 100miles charge for one vehicle? I could be way off but I think its might be something like 50 * 250 watt panels /70m2 of panels

 

[Exfarmer]

Genuine question, how many miles of charge can be generated in the limited hours of low intensity light we experience on a mid winters day in the UK? How many square meters of panels to produce sufficient charge for 100miles charge for one vehicle? I could be way off but I think its might be something like 50 * 250 watt panels /70m2 of panels

It is simply not possible to say that given number of panels will produce any set quantity on a day.
I have seen plenty of dank miserable December days when 200 panels ( 50 ) Kw will struggle to produce 10 units however they do produce around 32 units on an average day in December, which is consistently the lowest month.
So your 50 X 250 Watt panels should average about 8 units per day in East Anglia in December. However I have seen more than once a couple of weeks with no production due to snow. The other thing to remember , with grid connected panels, is you will get no production if there is a power cut.

 

[Pasty]

It is simply not possible to say that given number of panels will produce any set quantity on a day.
I have seen plenty of dank miserable December days when 200 panels ( 50 ) Kw will struggle to produce 10 units however they do produce around 32 units on an average day in December, which is consistently the lowest month.
So your 50 X 250 Watt panels should average about 8 units per day in East Anglia in December. However I have seen more than once a couple of weeks with no production due to snow. The other thing to remember , with grid connected panels, is you will get no production if there is a power cut.

Don't they now have an automatic switch for that now to isolate from the grid? I'm sure I saw that on an episode of Fully Charge on Ytube. Obviously engineers cannot work on the lines with a ton of panels still pumping power into them.

 

[Exfarmer]

Don't they now have an automatic switch for that now to isolate from the grid? I'm sure I saw that on an episode of Fully Charge on Ytube. Obviously engineers cannot work on the lines with a ton of panels still pumping power into them.

They must automatically cut out in the event of a power cut for the obvious reason. However I suspect it would not be beyond the wit of man to convert them to Island. ( the technical term for stand alone units) I know there is advice in the Fronius manual how to set them up for either, but dont know if they can be easily changed over.

 

[puppet]

If you have batteries and panels then it can isolate and make you off-grid in a power cut.

 

[sjt01]

They must automatically cut out in the event of a power cut for the obvious reason. However I suspect it would not be beyond the wit of man to convert them to Island. ( the technical term for stand alone units) I know there is advice in the Fronius manual how to set them up for either, but dont know if they can be easily changed over.

DNOs tend to be a bit fussy over switching between grid connected and island, so we have to have a PTO powered standby generator while our 170 kW CHP is stood idle, which is very frustrating.

 

[Courier]

The power supply was only for 100W or so and the installers seemed happy with it.

Genuine question, how many miles of charge can be generated in the limited hours of low intensity light we experience on a mid winters day in the UK? How many square meters of panels to produce sufficient charge for 100miles charge for one vehicle? I could be way off but I think its might be something like 50 * 250 watt panels /70m2 of panels

 

[farmerm]

It is simply not possible to say that given number of panels will produce any set quantity on a day.
I have seen plenty of dank miserable December days when 200 panels ( 50 ) Kw will struggle to produce 10 units however they do produce around 32 units on an average day in December, which is consistently the lowest month.
So your 50 X 250 Watt panels should average about 8 units per day in East Anglia in December. However I have seen more than once a couple of weeks with no production due to snow. The other thing to remember , with grid connected panels, is you will get no production if there is a power cut.

I appreciate daily production from solar is highly variable. If we take the grid connection out of the equation for a moment and assume a hypothetical stand alone energy generation and storage system specifically for vehicle charging. I take it 1 unit is 1 kwh? 4 miles per kwh seems to be a typical figure for a car so average of 8 units gives 32 miles a day driving? So lets assume one has enough storage capacity to fully capture the peaks and buffer dips in production for December, 50 x 250Watt panels would be about right for average vehicle use in an average year.. so allowing for the 50% of years that are going to give below average light levels.. probably need to be looking at something like 100 x 250 Watt panels per car to reliably meet average needs. So then a further 100 panel for my wifes car and then there will be tractors requirements to consider...

Will it ever be feasibly to have enough energy storage capacity to carry summer generated power though to supplement production in the darker months? In the olden days it was done by harvesting solar energy captured by grass and grain in the summer and using it to supplement the energy needs of your horse during the winter... solving the challenge of energy storage is really the key to a solar future.