Quintin Lamprecht (QL), Managing Director of Allbro, spoke to SA Electrical Contractor (SAEC) about the challenges of electrical contractors and how they dovetail with the company’s trajectory of research and development, investment in local manufacturing, and materials expertise in plastics, steel and glass reinforced polyester (GRP). Allbro’s focus on the electrical industries spans LV, MV, and HV applications, and as a supplier of a variety of enclosures for many of the solar farms built as part of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP), they find themselves a step-ahead when it comes to future-proofing enclosures and other critical components of Solar PV installations, including inverters and battery storage.
SAEC: When looking at developments in the resGidential, commercial and industrial sectors, and the need for more energy independence in the context of a less centralised energy generation model, what challenges arose and how does ALLBRO provide solutions?
QL: The REIPPPP projects, already regulated when we started working on them, gave us an invaluable set of assets with which we tackle present unknowns, albeit at a very different scale. Being DC installations, with the substantial risk of wider arcs, steel boxes were off the table, as were flame-retardant plastics from a flammability point of view. This is why Glass Reinforced Polyester (GRP) was already regulated for enclosures, among other things.
SAEC: What are the properties of GRP that make this the case?
QL: The important thing about GRP is that it’s a thermoset process uses catalyst to permanently change the formed products molecular structure. While plastic moulding simply melts beads of material and reforms them into a shape, GRP materials are made by adding a catalyst to a locally sourced resin, filler and glass in a dough like mixture. Under pressure and high temperature, the material is permanently formed into a shape defined by the mould. This property has long had applications in water tanks, train parts, and moulded case circuit breakers (MCCBs): the perfect material for DC enclosures. It follows then that by using them in Solar PV installations, you have a guaranteed non-flammable material that ultimately future-proofs installations prior to change in standards and regulations at a cost point that’s highly competitive when compared with plastic and steel options.
SAEC: What makes Allbro, as a local manufacturer, competitive to cheap plastic—even fire-retardant plastic – imports?
QL: The cost of manufacturing is one thing but few local manufacturers make their own moulds and tools, which we saw as essential to building a competitive advantage over having to spec a tool or a mould and then have them manufactured overseas, which is the general norm for most SA manufacturers.
Allbro has become a leading innovator in the markets we serve. Four percent of sales revenue is spent on R&D currently, which is eight times more than the company spends on marketing. By doing so, we are unique. In-house design and tool-making give us the power to rapidly design a product, test it, adjust it ourselves in real time, and work on it until we have a final iteration. Without this ability we would be stifled and without the agility these tools provide, we would not be able to refine innovative designs to their ultimate utility.
Tool Making
SAEC: Let’s explore the finer points of how tool making and manufacturing such a variety of components and parts plays out in practice.
QL: Tool making is at the core of any sort of manufacturing. It enables us to keep innovating and developing refinements that make things not only safer but also, for the electrician, as simple and responsive to the delicacies of the variety of connections, securing and terminating the circuits in the DBs as possible.
SAEC: How closely do you work with the end-user—the installers—during the prototype phase?
QL: The power of not having to send designs away for any refinement or changes is literally in responding to prototype users, who are encouraged to ask for what they think will make real differences to their jobs. It could be as small as having an inlet hole in a slightly different place or angle. It could be an indentation to guide wires more easily through a switch.
Consider the development of the Allbro Slab Box™. Working in the way I have just described led to a breakthrough in how we can now install these boxes for down-lights. Usually, concrete is poured and seeps into what is often a steel housing. Then, once everything is dry, you have to fashion the concrete over the steel box and void the seeped concrete.
Working in situ with professionals using the Slab Box™ prototype, we could see that the creation of a recess that allows the concrete to wrap around the enclosure, obviating all those extra tasks a standard steel box requires, making the whole process quicker, cleaner, more reliable, less wasteful, and reflective of what the user experiences, and our capabilities as mould and tool makers deliver simple innovations that have outcomes.
Introducing ALL-DB: Allbro’s Revolutionary Domestic Distribution Board Range
The ALL-DB range of Domestic Distribution Boards are essential components of household power distribution, redefining the way we approach renewable and backup power installations in existing homes. With a fusion of cutting-edge technology, safety considerations, and design elegance, ALL-DB charts a new course for efficient and secure power management.
ALL-DB’s transformative edge lies in its adoption of Glass Reinforced Polyester (GRP), a robust thermoset material celebrated for its superior insulation and flame-resistant properties. This strategic choice of material eliminates the need to compromise between safety and practicality, ensuring installations are both secure and durable. This preference for GRP finds validation in its endorsement by leading commercial solar farms, where it is widely favoured for combiner boxes due to its proven reliability.
Direct Current (DC) installations, distinct from traditional AC systems, introduce unique characteristics. The challenge of detecting DC arcing, which can lead to prolonged, potentially hazardous conditions if fuelled by flammable materials, is a pressing concern. The use of plastic, prevalent in households, can inadvertently become a fuel source in such scenarios. By embracing GRP for its ALL-DB range, Allbro effectively mitigates this risk, delivering homeowners an unequivocally safer solution. (“Crafted for retrofit: ALL-DB by Allbro – To Build”)
“Cable access, a pivotal consideration in any electrical installation, has also been revolutionised by Allbro’s design prowess.” The new ALL-DB range features an elegant cable entry system at the back-plane, cutting the struggle associated with looping cables at varying distances from the wall. This innovation ensures tidy installations, enhancing the visual appeal of home power setups.
In the context of broader energy challenges and rural electrification efforts across the continent, ALL-DB positions Allbro as a key player in reshaping power distribution. Its innovative approach, encompassing material advancements, design elegance, and local production, marks a pivotal step towards empowering homes with sustainable and secure energy solutions.
