It’s a Great Time to be Selling Electrical Products

Mar 9, 2018

By Rick McCarten

This just in! Electro-Federation Canada (EFC) establishes a low-voltage direct current (LVDC) steering committee to help make Canada a leader in this technology.

The electrical industry is entering a new age. It is the age of LED lighting, smartphones and sensors; the age of the internet of Everything (IoE); the age of electric vehicles, artificial intelligence, big data, solar generation, and energy storage. In short, this is the new age of electricity.

The first age of electricity gave us light and power. It allowed us to turn motors, light dark rooms, heat buildings, play stereos and televisions, refrigerate, cool, freeze and cook food. It gave distributed heat in the winter and provided cooling in the summer.

Now, it will do so much more: collect data, connect to your smartphone, control accurate temperature, turn remotely, power machines, run the Internet, and manage all uses of energy. Today, we can gather energy from the sun and wind, and run a vehicle for just over 1 cent a kilometre (versus an internal combustion engine running at 7 or 8 cents). We will soon be able to store power like we store food at home — locally and in central locations to further reduce costs and heighten efficiencies. With big data, we can now transform cities into smart havens of progress and opportunity.

It is estimated that we may need twice the electrical generation when we transform our fleet of automobiles to autonomous electric. We will also need to transform our electrical grid infrastructure to adapt. Starting with the LED light, direct currents are beginning to work their way back to the source, allowing more data and more efficiency to enter the system. On the other end, direct current is working its way from the source to more efficient transportation lines, to better storage systems.

Lots of changes are impacting our industry, an industry that is used to a slow rate of change.

EFC’s new LVDC Steering Committee has received great support to date with over 40 member participants. This committee will help develop a battle plan to look at overcoming typical obstacles that face our industry in this age of change. Education, promotion, government assistance, presentations, seminars, and technical committees are just some of the weapons that the committee will look at to move important innovations to the forefront and help re-imagine the possibilities of our industry.

The LVDC Committee is a follow-up to EFC’s LVDC report, “Power Shifts, Emerging Low-voltage Trends, impacts & Opportunities for the Canadian Electrical Channel”, published last year. If you would like to learn more about the report or the Steering Committee, contact me at rmccarten@electrofed.com

Rick McCarten is VP, Operations, Electro-Federation Canada.