Changes To The Electrical Field

[frani]

I'm a high school senior (logged on my teachers account) and I'm working on a school project. I'm wondering how people in the electrical field (i.e. electricians inspectors and others) think the electrical field will change in the next five or ten years. For example: Will we be installing solar panels on all new homes and businesses? Will there be a new energy source that will change the way we wire and the voltagegs we use? Will we lose jobs because of prefab housing? Will being energy efficient change the way we wire?

 

[wbalsam1]

I'm a high school senior (logged on my teachers account) and I'm working on a school project. I'm wondering how people in the electrical field (i.e. electricians inspectors and others) think the electrical field will change in the next five or ten years. For example: Will we be installing solar panels on all new homes and businesses? Will there be a new energy source that will change the way we wire and the voltagegs we use? Will we lose jobs because of prefab housing? Will being energy efficient change the way we wire?

Great questions.
As far as solar goes, I think there will be as much an increase as the government is willing to put up financial incentives for. Most of the installs around here have a longgggggg payback period associated with them.
New energy sources are defineately coming into play. Fuel cells got their own Article in the NEC....Watch this area closely as with all alternative power sources. (I'm a firm believer in hydro coming back, but few people agree with me).
Prefab housing has electricians, too. Don't have a better answer for you on that one.
I think as energy efficient products emerge into the market place, the wiring methods may undergo a change or two to keep up with new materials and methods. A great place in the market to keep an eye.
Good luck to you. Keep that inquisitive mind going...you're what we all need.

 

[Dennis Alwon]

I don't foresee great changes in how we wire things but the technology is changing at great speeds. What we do with the wiring we provide will change more than the practical application.

For residential the market has slowed but that will change. There are specialty fields one can go into such as smart house wiring, etc. You may need to be a little more computer savvy to program the controls. In commercial there seems to be a need for PLC technicians--- programming logic controller.

Of coure this all depends on the area you live in and what is available. Good luck

 

[Pierre C Belarge]

Frani
As Fred mentioned, those are good questions.
One way to research this is Google.
Google the different parts of your questions and be prepared for a lot of reading.
Also, Wikipedia has some decent info in regards to the topics you have questions on.

 

[charlie b]

Speaking as an electrical engineer, I do not foresee dramatic changes. I don?t think we will shift away from the 120/240 volt single phase services that we now use for residences, nor from the 120/208 and 480/277 volt three phase services that we now use for offices, hospitals, industrial facilities, and a host of others.

I can?t guess how many different types of ?boxes that make music? you have seen so far in your life. I have seen ?reel to reel? audio tape, 33 and a third RPM, 45, RPM and 78 RPM records, 8-track tapes, cassettes, digital audio tape, CDs, DVDs, MP3s, IPODs, and some others I cannot name. If you had a set of songs that you particularly loved, then each time they came out with a new technology, and started phasing out the old technology, you would have to spend money to get your favorite music in the new format. That?s a small scale example. Here?s a larger scale example:

Imagine if they came out with a new electrical distribution configuration. Think of all the utility generators, transformers, and power lines throughout the country. Think of all the substations, service transformers outside every building, internal building wiring, the 50 or more receptacles installed in each single family home, the 25 or more light fixtures and floor/desk lamps in each home, traffic signal lights at every other intersection of every road in the country, etc. etc. etc. This country is not going to junk all that for no better reason than that someone invented this ?neat new technology.?

Thought for the day:

Infrastructure has inertia.

Feel free to quote me on that one, but cite the source as ?Charlie Beck.? I?m kind of proud of it, and would like to get authorship credit. :grin:

 

[charlie b]

Also, Wikipedia has some decent info in regards to the topics you have questions on.

Sorry, nothing personal, but I made a vow to tromp on such thoughts and suggestions, whenever I encounter them. I do not consider that a source of information at all, let alone a source of accurate, verifiable, or valuable information. I make a motion that the world cease and desist logging onto that site. It's a free country (or at least this one is), and we are free to choose to disregard that site. I recommend that we do.

 

[al hildenbrand]

I'm wondering how people in the electrical field (i.e. electricians inspectors and others) think the electrical field will change in the next five or ten years.

The current trend emphasizing safety will continue. The cowboy that could lick his fingers and touch energized parts to diagnose a circuit will become apocryphal. Both installers and end users of premisis wiring systems will be safer following new procedures and using new, safer materials.

Will we be installing solar panels on all new homes and businesses?

"All" is a long stretch, in my opinion. Solar panels as a central power source for a building is still complicated and expensive. I do note, though, little loads, such as landscape lighting, address numbers, etc., can be, and are, directly supplied by little solar panels, and are commonly available in the market. Such little loads are a growing segment of the "off-the-grid" share of the market.

Will there be a new energy source that will change the way we wire and the voltages we use?

As mentioned above, fuel cell technology is exciting.

I would also keep an eye on the hybrid passenger car and electric passenger car market. All of these vehicles need to be recharged, and they sit idle once charged, a significant amount of the time. The fully charged cars are a potential "distributed peaking power resource" that can offset the need for some of the bricks and mortar power plants.

Fuel cell powered cars, potentially, will not only be a source of stored electricity, but might also be a distributed generator source, helping to reduce further the number of required bricks and motar power plants.

Will we lose jobs because of prefab housing?

Prefab housing still has to be set on the ground and hooked up to a community's utilities. National and local codes and ordinances will still have sway, and require local work, outside of a centralized manufacturer's location. The distribution of jobs will shift a little, but that is part of a dynamic marketplace, anyway.

Will being energy efficient change the way we wire?

The real changes that energy efficiency makes is in the loads, the things, the equipment, that use energy. The wiring that I install will not change substatially, if at all, because of energy efficiency. My wiring is only the connection to the energy, its not the user of the energy. The dramatic changes will be in the equipment connected to the wiring. That equipment is not covered by the National Electrical Code.

 

[al hildenbrand]

I made a vow to tromp. . .

:grin:

Wikipedia is a prime example of Web 2.0, a destination that is user created. There is a dynamic, "global" community aspect that defies "stable", hierarchical reference. Wholly an outgrowth of the information age world wide web, I don't find it "wrong", just different.

At base, to me, is whether one believes the large community is capable of telling and sustaining truth.

I say, yes.

 

[billsnuff]

I believe that we will continue to see further errosion of the term 'electrician' as has happened to the term 'doctor' as technology continues into the future.
That is I see more specialization because of the amount of education and experience required to be retained by one individual. Pick a speciality, and work to be the best at it.

 

[charlie b]

At base, to me, is whether one believes the large community is capable of telling and sustaining truth. I say, yes.

To me, the issue is not believing whether the large community is capable of getting the truth into words, but rather whether they are capable of getting it wrong without knowing they have it wrong. I say, yes. That makes the source unreliable, in my view.

I'll get off my soap box for now. Thanks for listening. Donations can be sent to . . . (Edited out - advertising is not allowed ).

 

[noonan]

Well said Charlie.

Wiki is OK for to get an idea for certain topics (like what goes in Lobster Thermadore), but as for real technical things, I have found it to be lacking and/or incorrect.

"The Office" did a little bit where Michael referred to the site and summed it up by saying "anyone can write whatever they want and have it posted, so you know the information is the best available" (or something along that line).

 

[zog]

To me, the issue is not believing whether the large community is capable of getting the truth into words, but rather whether they are capable of getting it wrong without knowing they have it wrong. I say, yes. That makes the source unreliable, in my view.

I'll get off my soap box for now. Thanks for listening. Donations can be sent to . . . (Edited out - advertising is not allowed ).

Not unlike this forum (See "Current returning to a different source" thread)

 

[zog]

Imagine if they came out with a new electrical distribution configuration. Think of all the utility generators, transformers, and power lines throughout the country. Think of all the substations, service transformers outside every building, internal building wiring, the 50 or more receptacles installed in each single family home, the 25 or more light fixtures and floor/desk lamps in each home, traffic signal lights at every other intersection of every road in the country, etc. etc. etc. This country is not going to junk all that for no better reason than that someone invented this ?neat new technology.?

Dont give the OEM's any ideas