According to Steve Drumm, Director of Marketing, Sales Development and Project Management at Omron in Europe, “Solar panels installed on rooftops are becoming increasingly common in offices and homes, and as a result, their disconnection in the event of a building fire is gaining importance. Rapid disconnection of photovoltaic panels is moving from being highly recommended to mandatory in some markets in order to protect firefighters and other responders.”.
In response, Omron has launched the G7L-X relay, rated at 1000V DC and 25A, with a reset time of just 30ms. This relay can be installed near a photovoltaic panel or other renewable energy source and quickly disconnected in an emergency to allow for maintenance or to meet utility company requirements. The G7L-X complies with UK and IEC solar inverter standards, as well as UL and VDE electrical standards.
Among its design features is an auxiliary magnetic circuit that facilitates very fast switching. The relay contacts have been specially designed to handle the high DC loads characteristic of this application. The contact spacing is 6.0 mm for enhanced protection.
The G7L-X is rated for 6,000 operations at 600V DC and 100 operations at 1000V DC, more than sufficient for its intended emergency disconnect application. The device is compact for a relay of this capacity, measuring only 52.5 x 35.5 x 41.0 mm. This relay is ideal for outdoor installations and can operate in ambient temperatures from -40 to +85 °C. Omron also offers a general-purpose version of the relay with a 20A, 1000V DC rating.
