Insulation-piercing TTD NEO series
Faced with rising energy costs and growing awareness of its impact on the environment, suppliers around the world are looking for innovative ways to increase the efficiency of electricity networks by implementing smart solutions.
One of the often overlooked but key factors influencing energy losses are low-voltage terminals – especially low-quality ones, which generate much higher losses.
Sicame addresses these challenges by offering modern solutions for smart grids. Our range of low-loss TTD NEO terminals minimizes losses on power lines, increasing the efficiency and reliability of the network.
A single terminal can be compared to a small radiator that remains on continuously throughout the life of the line. Thus, they can be easily classified according to the resistance scale, which is a source of information about the dissipated/lost energy.
The resistance considered is the average resistance recorded during the last 50 cycles in the thermal test (EN 50483 or NFC 33 020). When branching conductors with a cross-section of more than 35 mm², only Class A terminals should be considered.
For example, a terminal with a resistance of 150 µΩ and an average current of 100 A flowing through it will behave like a constantly on 1.5 W heater, consuming 18 kWh of energy per year, which corresponds to 500 kWh of energy over its lifetime.
If this terminal were replaced with a 30 µΩ terminal, the losses would be reduced by 80%, equivalent to a loss reduction of 400 kWh over the entire service life.
Illustration “Energy consumption classes and resistance”.
Tests according to the EN standard check changes in clamp resistance during 1000 thermal cycles. The test result for a clamp is passed if its resistance change does not exceed 15% over at least 750 cycles (∆2) and its resistance does not double over 1000 cycles (∆1). When testing a thermal cycle, only the change in resistance is determined, not its value, i.e. stability before efficiency/loss.
So, when testing a thermal cycle, high-resistance terminals will perform better (within limits) than high-performance terminals (with low initial resistance). An important paradox worth knowing about!
Illustration “High resistance and high efficiency”
TTD NEO accessories may require slightly higher investment costs due to the careful selection of materials and high precision of the clamp. On the other hand, simulations carried out by Sicame show that the return on investment related to the price difference may occur after 2-3 years… and the service life of the terminals in the network is over 30 years!
Every energy supplier uses hundreds of thousands of low voltage terminals on their lines every year, so it’s easy to imagine the energy savings that can be achieved.
“Return on investment” illustration
Since the energy dissipated in a terminal increases in proportion to its resistance, the target terminal efficiency can be achieved by reducing its resistance.
The main factors affecting the reduction of resistance:
- Use of piercing technology exclusively with copper piercing blades
- The use of high-quality plastics, ensuring good pressure in the contact area
- Stable and solid construction, ensuring precise cable guidance
- Easy and repeatable installation
- The clamp is completely waterproof (class 1 according to EN 50483-4 (PN-EN 50483-4:2009))
- The use of high-quality materials resistant to weather conditions ensures protection of the clamp against corrosion