STREAMLINE EVALUATES VOLTAGE OPTIMISATION EFFICENCY IN NHS HOSPITAL

Streamline Power has been awarded a research grant to determine the effectiveness of ultra-low voltage optimisation as an energy efficiency measure.

This is one of six research projects designed to maximise energy savings in UK buildings, funded in the first wave of the ‘Invest in Innovative Refurbishment’ programme, funded by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and supported by the UK’s innovation agency, the Technology Strategy Board.

The research has three goals:

  1. To improve public understanding of voltage optimisation
  2. To help buyers specify and select the most appropriate voltage optimisation equipment for their facilities
  3. To increase energy savings in non-domestic buildings

The project will reduce voltage lower than is the norm in two separate buildings (one old and one new) and examine the performance of electrical equipment in low voltage conditions. Streamline Power will assess how low the voltage can be reduced safely and whether energy savings can be increased significantly by taking the voltage down to the legal minimum.

The live research on working buildings will be supplemented by laboratory testing on a range of electrical equipment at the Tony Davies High Voltage Laboratory (University of Southampton), which will also begin examining the effects of stable, low voltage on electrical equipment life.