The primary task for my country's low-voltage electrical appliance industry at this stage is to accelerate the development and improvement of third-generation high-performance low-voltage electrical appliances as soon as possible, to make them into series, and at the same time increase promotion efforts.
The specific goals of developing third-generation products are: to improve the overall level of my country's low-voltage electrical products and narrow the gap with foreign countries; to increase the market share of high-end domestically produced low-voltage electrical products; to meet the needs of low-voltage power distribution and control systems and devices, as well as supporting national key projects; and to improve the reliability and appearance quality of my country's main low-voltage electrical products.
Based on the current development situation, the following eight categories of electrical products should be prioritized for development: intelligent frame circuit breakers; intelligent molded case circuit breakers; AC contactors; low-voltage vacuum circuit breakers; electronic motor protectors and starters (including soft starters); new terminal electrical appliances (with a focus on developing low-voltage surge protectors); and control and protection switching appliances.
The main products should be differentiated in terms of grade.
To meet the diverse needs of users, the development of major low-voltage electrical product series should be divided into three levels: high-end, relatively high-end, and economical and practical. These three levels of products should be developed simultaneously to facilitate users' selection based on their actual needs.
Advanced type: The third-generation product can be used as a high-end low-voltage electrical product in my country at the current stage (5-10 years).
Higher-end type: mainly based on my country's second-generation low-voltage electrical products, while this level of products should be further developed according to market needs.
For example, the Shanghai Electrical Apparatus Research Institute is conducting secondary development on its DW15 series universal circuit breakers, resulting in the model DW15HH; the CJ40 series AC contactors can also be developed as secondary products of the CJ20 series. The main purpose of this secondary development is to improve product performance, enhance the market competitiveness of my country's mid-range low-voltage electrical products, and prevent foreign products from penetrating my country's mid-range low-voltage electrical product market.
Economical and Practical Products: We must improve and vigorously promote my country's new generation of economical and practical products to accelerate the elimination of outdated first-generation products. The focus should be on four major product categories: universal circuit breakers, molded case circuit breakers, AC contactors, and thermal relays. The key products to be promoted in the industry are: universal circuit breakers replacing DW10 with DW16; molded case circuit breakers replacing DZ10 with SC series; AC contactors replacing CJ10 with CJT1 series; and thermal relays replacing JR16 with JR36.
Developing a new generation of economical and practical products is primarily to meet the needs of users at different price levels and to fulfill strategic development requirements. It is neither a stopgap measure nor a transitional product; it needs to exist long-term. Secondly, it can accelerate the phasing out of my country's first-generation outdated products, but it is not a replica of those outdated products. Additionally, it can fill the "gap" left by some enterprises phasing out the first-generation outdated products they are still producing.
Based on the above objectives, the next generation of economical and practical products should adhere to the following design principles:
1. Maintain the characteristics of simple structure and low price of my country's first-generation products, and require that the manufacturing cost of the new generation of economical and practical products be comparable to that of the first-generation products, generally not exceeding 5% to 10%.
2. The product's installation dimensions and external dimensions should remain as constant as possible.
3. The new generation of economical and practical products should have significant improvements in performance or function compared to the first generation of products.
4. Obvious defects in the structure and performance of the first-generation product should be overcome or improved.
5. Improve the series specifications, develop derivative series, and develop necessary accessories or supporting parts.
6. Complies with current Chinese low-voltage electrical appliance standards and IEC standards.
It is worth noting that after the first-generation main products, the DW10, DZ10, CJ10, and JR16 series, were officially phased out, it is not advisable for many companies to simply change the appearance and model of these phased-out products and relaunch them on the market.
Actively explore fourth-generation products
While my country is striving to develop third-generation products and gradually introduce them to the market, major foreign low-voltage electrical appliance companies have been continuously launching newer products since the late 1990s. Besides high performance, miniaturization, electronic integration, intelligence, modularity, and combinability, the main characteristics of this new generation of products are communication capabilities, high reliability, easy maintainability, and compliance with environmental protection requirements. In particular, these new products can connect to fieldbus systems, achieving networking. This will fundamentally change traditional low-voltage power distribution and control systems and their devices, while injecting advanced technologies into traditional low-voltage electrical products, resulting in a qualitative leap in their functionality. With the development and application of my country's third-generation low-voltage electrical products, the gap between Chinese and advanced foreign levels has narrowed to ten years. If low-voltage electrical products do not keep pace in terms of communication technology, this gap will widen again. Moreover, this gap is not merely a difference in product performance, but a qualitative difference in product functionality. It will render Chinese low-voltage electrical products completely uncompetitive in the future low-voltage power distribution and control systems market.
The prospects for intelligent low-voltage circuit breakers in my country have been promising since their introduction to the domestic market, with many design institutes subsequently requesting communication interfaces for them. Market sales data from 2002 show a rapid increase in the proportion of circuit breakers requiring communication interfaces. Many users' current systems do not require communication, but considering system development, they are requesting reserved communication interfaces. Currently, the number of low-voltage power distribution monitoring systems using fieldbus technology is growing rapidly, and these systems all require communicable low-voltage electrical products. Therefore, developing communicable low-voltage electrical products with independent intellectual property rights in my country is urgently needed. This necessitates the development of my country's fourth-generation low-voltage electrical products.
Currently, the third-generation products are still under development. If we develop the fourth-generation products, how to grasp the different characteristics of the two generations and how to handle the relationship between the two generations should be a concern for electrical appliance researchers.
For details, please click: Development Direction of China's Low-Voltage Electrical Appliance Industry in 2009
