What is HV and LV?

HV/LV refers to the level of voltage within the electricity supply; this is either high voltage or low voltage.  This infrastructure allows the electrical supply for various areas of a site to be altered depending on the requirements of the equipment.

Referred to as an ‘energy upgrade’ within the industry, updating your infrastructure to allow switches between high voltage (HV) and low voltage (LV) represents a significant improvement in efficiency for most suitable businesses.

Key HV infrastructure components

The installation of a modern transformer and switchgear is central to the creation of HV/LV infrastructure. These are the components that make switching between voltages possible. They will integrate with your electrical infrastructure to make better use of the power coming to your site.

The transformer is the component that will actually do the hard work of increasing or decreasing the voltage within your power supply. It is a standard component in large electrical systems, like power stations. A new transformer on your site will afford you much more control over the electrical currents flowing within your systems.

Switchgears are also essential in HV/LV infrastructure. These components have a history as old as the national grid, though they have improved significantly over the decades. The purpose of switchgears is to control the current flowing to various parts of an electrical system, helping to isolate various components as needed. When combined with a transformer, switchgears enable you to vary the voltage of your electrical current as it flows to different areas and components within your site’s electrical system.

HV/LV equipment

Reasons to consider a HV energy upgrade

There are several commercial factors to consider when deciding whether or not to proceed with the installation of HV/LV infrastructure. In general, larger industrial sites are likely to see the largest benefits, as voltage transformation is most useful when you need to supply electricity to multiple components with different requirements.

Modernisation

Many sites will benefit from the modernisation that HV/LV infrastructure brings. Many older electrical systems are unsuited to dealing with the requirements of modern equipment. There is also a natural loss of efficiency as the components of these systems age. Investing in modern infrastructure will ensure that your electrical system is up to date and as efficient as possible, which means that you won’t be wasting money by supplying the wrong levels of power to different parts of your system.
Upgrading will also minimise the risk of your system failing suddenly, avoiding the financial and operational losses that would follow a significant electrical issue.

Respond to changing environments

Another benefit of HV/LV infrastructure is the ability that it gives your electrical system to keep up with changing power requirements. Even if your system is fairly up to date, it may not be able to respond to the introduction of new machinery or components with full efficiency.
Upgraded infrastructure is flexible enough to deal with changes to your system. It allows you to monitor the power supplies to different areas and components, updating the system and adapting to new changes without a reduction in your power supply’s efficiency. For a business that is growing or changing, an energy upgrade will ensure that your system can keep up with shifting operational requirements.

Improve efficiency

Finally, upgrading to HV/LV infrastructure will improve the efficiency of almost any complex electrical system. Even if your existing infrastructure is fairly new or you’re not planning on making significant changes to your facility, upgraded infrastructure is designed to maximise the efficiency of your power supply.

Its primary function is to ensure that every component in an electrical system is receiving the appropriate voltage. This means that you won’t waste money on oversupplying parts of your system and you’ll have the capacity to run all your machinery and components at the level you require. In turn, this will give you more value per unit of electricity that you consume and increase the efficiency of your operations and processes.

Upgrade your HV infrastructure

EvoEnergy’s HV/LV installation service has everything you need to ensure a seamless transition to upgraded infrastructure. We tailor our installation and management service to match your requirements and ensure that your new infrastructure is operating as expected. Get in touch today.

Read more about a project where we installed a HV/LV transformer.