Understanding Medium-Voltage Switchgear

Proper switchgear design and operation is fundamental to safe and reliable medium-voltage (MV) electrical distribution systems. This  class is designed to give medium-voltage engineers, designers, specifiers, owners, and operators the tools they need to better understand these valuable system assets. Through a combination of lectures and practical exercises, you'll increase your awareness of switchgear types, applications, layouts, ratings, and protection and control systems.

• Electrical design engineers
• Electrical testing technicians
• Commercial / industrial, utility, or plant engineers
• Electrical construction project managers

Introduction to Switchgear

• Types and applications
• Industry terminology and definitions
• Overview of switchgear standards

Switching Devices:

• Fault interrupting
• Load interrupting
• Isolating

Interrupting/Breaker Device Basics

• Vacuum, SF₆, air, oil
• Standard ratings
• Short-circuit current and considerations
• Transient impact: TRV, capacitor switching, etc.
• Operating endurance (# of operations)

Insulation (Dielectric) Materials

• Air, oil, SF₆, solid insulation

Physical Properties

• Pad-mounted / submersible
• Metal-enclosed / metal-clad
• Arc resistant / gas-insulated (GIS)

Device Layouts

• Bus configurations
• Breaker / interrupter / switch
• Voltage transformers
• Fuse / relays

Environmental and Installation Considerations

Protection Basics

• Fuse and time-overcurrent
• Buss differential options
• Line/feeder differential
• parallel generator protection
• Arc detection

AC Schematic Diagrams

• Three-line diagram overview
• Voltage transformer circuits
• Current transformer circuits
• Control power transformer
• Auxiliary devices

DC Schematic Diagrams

• Battery / DC control power
• Breaker / interrupter diagrams
• Trip / close circuits
• Protective relay circuits
• Auxiliary device circuits
• Wiring organization and considerations 

Automation / Control / Communications

• Control philosophies
• HMI / PLC systems
• Intro to communication protocols
• Commissioning process, plans, and staffing

Testing / Operations / Maintenance / Monitoring

Class exercises for solidifying understanding of fundamental concepts and calculations

“I thought this was a really well thought out course; I've taken a medium voltage course from a different provider where I walked away thinking 'What did I learn' because all the topics covered by that provider were essentially glossed over. I did not feel like that in this course and I appreciate that the topics had depth to them.
- Jake Parz, Holt Renewables, LLC, Design Engineer

Kevin Rogers

Kevin Rogers is an electrical engineer with a background in electrical power systems. He is a registered professional engineer, and his 18 years of industry experience spans across electric utility, government, commercial, and industrial applications. His technical responsibilities have included design and commissioning of mission-critical facilities, underground medium voltage distribution planning, design, and operations, high-voltage substation design, and relaying protection and control for complex interconnections. Prior to joining UW-Madison's College of Engineering Office of Interdisciplinary Professional Programs (InterPro), Rogers served as the Engineering Manager for an electrical engineering consulting firm where he and his colleagues provided diverse engineering services across the electrical construction industry.