Finder has introduced surge protection devices (SPD) designed specifically for photovoltaic (PV) panel installations.  Additions to its popular 7P Series of SPDs, three new Type 2 surge arresters will protect PV systems from the effects of lightning strike and electrical switching transients.  The products are already supporting the company’s own PV panels at its primary manufacturing plant.

Featuring encapsulated spark gap and/or replaceable varistor modules, the three devices protect the more vulnerable DC side of commonly used earth free and mid point earthed PV systems.  The range includes: the 7P.26.9.420, providing 2 varistors and 1 spark gap for 420V DC systems; the 7P.23.9.700, providing 3 varistors for 700V DC systems and the 7P.23.9.000, providing 3 varistors for 1000V DC systems.

Each device integrates both a visual indicator and a signalling contact to warn when a varistor module needs replacing.  Connection to the signalling contact is via a convenient plug-in terminal block.  The SPDs comply with EN 61643-11 standard and can be 35mm rail (EN 60715) mounted.

Finder’s introduction of a range of SPDs tailored to the needs of PV installations comes at a time when UK government Feed-In Tariffs (FITs) appear to have stimulated a step increase in interest in PV system in the country.  The UK is now the fastest growing market for PV solar energy installations, estimated to produce 96MW of electricity in 2010 compared with 6MW in 2009.

At the same time, a prospective revision of the UK wiring regulations, placing far more emphasis on the provision of protection from electrical surges, has meant there is a resurgence of interest in associated products, in particular varistor and spark gap type SPDs.

PV panels at Finder’s prime manufacturing site in Almese near Turin in North West Italy have been producing an output power of 55kW since early 2009, equating to 61,000 kWh/year.  So pleased with the performance, the company has this month commissioned a further 60kW of PV panels, which of course will be protected by the new 7P Series surge arresters.

Constructed using multicrystalline silicon PV modules, Finder’s initial PV system is calculated to have reduced CO2 emissions by about 37 tons/year, achieving annual cost savings of around 11 TOE (tonnes of oil equivalent).

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Finder has announced a complete family of 25A contactors, purpose designed for switching lighting, pump and motor loads in noise sensitive installations.  Incorporating an AC/DC silent coil with varistor protection, the 22 Series modular 2- and 4-pole contactors help meet the need for quieter operation, particularly in home, hotel and hospital environments.

Provided in compact 17.5mm and 35mm wide housings, the 22 Series contactors include a standard 35mm rail mounting for simple consumer unit installation and both mechanical and LED status indicators for enhanced system diagnostics.  The contactors’ minimum 3mm double break NO contact gap and protective separation between coil and contacts ensures installation safety standards are met.

Offering both 2- and 4-pole contactors, a choice of contact materials and multiple contact configurations, the versatile 22 Series provides users with 47 different options from which to select the optimum switching solution.  For extra flexibility, an add-on auxiliary contact block and an auto-on-off selector switch variant are also included in the series.

The contact material options are AgNi and AgSnO2, the first intended for resistive and slightly inductive loads as well as motor loads, the latter for lamp loads and high inrush current loads.  The contact configurations for the 2-pole products are 2NO, 1NO+1NC and 2NC and for the 4-pole products, 4NO, 3NO+1NC and 2NO+2NC.  The auxiliary contact block is provided in 1NO+1NC and 2NO versions.

The Finder 22 Series 25A modular contactors are designed and tested in accordance with EN 61095: 2009, electromechanical contactors for household and similar purposes.

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Finder has introduced a pair of solid state relays for silent, high-speed switching of single and 3-phase loads rated at up to 5A.  The 77 Series relays’ 300A peak current handling capability makes them particularly suitable for use with high inrush current loads, including electronic starters and igniters for fluorescent and gas discharge lamps.

Two 77 Series relay variants are available:  ‘zero-crossover’, minimising voltage and current stresses to improve reliability and greatly reduce EMI, and ‘instant switching’, ensuring a consistent time between relay input and output, of importance where simultaneous switching is desirable as in 3-phase switching.

The relays have a single AC output and can be specified with either AC or AC/DC control inputs for added flexibility.  5kV insulation between input and output assures a high level of application safety and security.  Provided in a compact 17.5mm wide housing for 35mm rail mounting, the 77 Series also features an LED operational status indicator and an integral heat sink.

The solid state relay’s spark- and bounce-free switching characteristics ensure a virtually infinite electrical life, of particular benefit in high-speed, repetitive applications and in domestic and office environments, where electrical interference needs to be kept to the absolute minimum.

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Finder has announced a series of digital energy meters for accurately monitoring and measuring electricity consumption in plant and machinery, HVAC, lighting and other environmental control equipment.  The DIN rail mounted 7E Series provides users with local, high visibility 7-digit LCD display of total and partial kWh consumed, instantaneous power, voltage and current.

For single phase metering of currents up to 35A, the 7E.23 model is just 17.5mm wide and is operated by a single control key.  The 70mm wide, two control key 7E.46 and 7E.56 meters serve 3-phase applications; the 7E.46 handling currents up to 65A and both day and night tariffs, and the nominal 5A 7E.56 is usable with suitable current transformers for measuring up to 1.5kA.

To support remote energy management via a centralised BMS, these digital meters also provide a pulsed, open collector interface to the DIN43864 standard.  The 3-phase models also provide an error display indicating either missing phase or incorrect current direction.

The 7E Series digital energy meters meet the 1/B accuracy class and protection class II and comply with EN62053-21 and EN50470 norms.  They can be conveniently mounted in existing consumer units and protected by a tamper-proof cover with a lead seal, provided as a separate accessory.

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Finder has introduced a series of microprocessor-based room thermostats providing a temperature setting resolution accuracy of 0.1ºC and advanced setting options to help reduce energy usage in residential and commercial environments.

Two new slimline thermostats are offered, each in a choice of grey or white housings:  the 1T.31 provides LCD display and pushbutton temperature setting, while the 1T.41 provides LED indication and analogue dial temperature setting.

For both variants, selection of off, winter/heating and summer/cooling setting modes is very simple with either LCD display or blue/red colour coded LED indicators ensuring quick recognition of operating status.

A day/night selector enables temperatures to be set back by 3ºC to help further reduce energy consumption while maintaining a comfortable ambient environment.  In addition, a +5ºC frost protection setting in the off mode helps protect against burst pipes.

Designed to be used together if required in the same building, both digital and analogue thermostats are presented in a consistent 18mm deep, IP20 rated housing for wall mounting.  The thermostat supply voltage is provided by two AAA 1.5V batteries and the output contact is a 5A, 230VAC changeover relay.

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Finder has introduced a compact 2 pole, 8A relay interface module for safety critical circuits.  Conforming to the EN50205 type B standard, the 48.12 features forcibly guided changeover contacts (1 NO and 1 NC) to enable positive monitoring of switching contact states and large physical separation between adjacent contacts to remove any risk of flashover.

To help minimise panel space and to ensure rapid installation, the Finder 48.12 safety relay interface module measures just 15.8mm wide, provides screw terminal connection and is designed for standard 35mm rail mounting.  Where required, an 8-way jumper link is also provided for commoned connections.

The 48.12 features a 0.5W DC sensitive coil, available as standard in 12V and 24V versions.  The wide compatibility that results means far greater flexibility for circuit designers in a wide range of plant, process and machinery guarding, emergency stop and critical monitoring applications.

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Finder has announced the introduction of the 7P Series of Surge Protection Devices (SPD), developed specifically to comply with BS-EN62305: Protection Against Lightning, providing protection against lightning strikes, or surges caused by short circuit and contact switching in electrical systems.

The 7P SPD Series employs replaceable varistors, enabling the cost effective replacement of the active element of the SPD when required.  As Type 2 arresters for single-phase and three-phase electrical system, they will appeal to the design and manufacture of systems and electrical equipment for use in buildings, where the safety issues associated with lightning have to be addressed.

There are four versions in the 7P Series, all of which provide visual and remote signalling of varistor status, providing a clear indication to building maintenance personnel when replacement is needed.

The publishing of the BS-EN62305 series fundamentally changed the way the UK addresses the issue of lightning protection for buildings and makes the assessment of the associated risks and their mitigation a statutory requirement.

Virtually all elements of a building’s structure, its electrical services and the electrical equipment within it must be considered for the risk aspects associated with the potential for lightning strikes.

Protection devices such as the Finder SPD range are employed to reduce the risk of hazards to life and physical damage to persons, reduce the risks of damage to structures and services and to minimise failure of electrical and electronic systems and equipment within the structure of a build.

Finder’s 7P series is available in 4 different versions:

Single-phase systems:
7P.21.8.275.1020 Varistor protection (L - N)
7P.22.8.275.1020 Varistor protection (L - N) + spark gap
protection (N - PE)

3-phase systems:
7P.24.8.275.1020 Varistor protection (L1, L2, L3-N) + spark gap protection (N- PE)
7P.25.8.275.1020 Varistor protection (L1, L2, L3 - N) + varistor protection (N-PE)

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Finder has announced new additions to its 19 Series of 35mm DIN rail module relays, adding override and status monitoring modules to the series.

Building management system (BMS) designers, panel builders and installers will find the new override modules essential for providing a manual override of a BMS controller or programmable logic controller, in an emergency situation or during maintenance.

The ability to manually override automatic systems provides crucial control in an array of situations, control that is typically missing in such systems.  This may include a controller failure, or where maintenance or safety issues must take precedence. 

Typically this can provide control over pumps, fans solenoid valves or motors, where manual intervention is required.

The status modules address a significant drawback of commercial or proprietary controllers; a lack of clear visual signal identification.  The new status module allows BSM and panel designers to set the colour of the status LED during installation, to create a more obvious alert indication.  This enables quick identification of operational status, particularly in complex systems, minimising downtime during fault conditions or routine maintenance.  An analogue output module has also been added to the range, providing a user-defined output between 0 – 10V, for proportional output setting or speed adjustment.

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The Type 18.21 and Type 18.31 ceiling-mount PIR movement detectors from Finder have been designed to detect the presence of body heat and movement within a defined sensing area, for the control of lighting in commercial, industrial and domestic premises.

There is considerable pressure to reduce energy consumption in public buildings and the workplace, both for reasons of cost and to meet legislative demands for more energy-efficient control of lighting, and these detectors will be of interest to designers, engineers, contractors and installers of lighting control systems for offices, factories, workshops, schools, hospitals, care homes and similar environments. They are particularly suitable for use in areas that do not require continuous lighting, such as stairwells, corridors, store rooms and washrooms.

The 18.31 is a shallow depth flush mounting recessed unit that offers neat, unobtrusive mounting in either suspended or plasterboard ceilings, even where space is limited, while the 18.21 is a low profile surface mounting version that is suitable for more solid surfaces where recessing is not practical. Both models feature a 110º sensing angle that provides coverage over an area of up to 8m diameter, and both also benefit from an integral adjustable threshold light sensor that allows operation to be varied relative to the ambient light level. An adjustable on-time gives the advantage of an adjustable delay before the lights are turned off after the detection of movement ceases.

Both versions are rated at 10A and 230V AC, and have a nominal lamp power rating of 1kW for incandescent and halogen bulbs and 350W for compensated fluorescent lights.

Packaged in a compact white plastic housing, these competitively priced products are ideally suited to a wide variety of installations.

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