Distribution board
component of an electricity supply system
A distribution board (also known as a panelboard, circuit breaker panel or box, electric panel, fuse box or DB box) is a component of an electricity supply system that divides an electrical power feed into subsidiary circuits while providing a protective fuse or circuit breaker for each circuit in a common enclosure. Normally, a main switch, and in recent boards, one or more residual-current devices (RCDs) or residual current breakers with overcurrent protection (RCBOs) are also incorporated.
In the United Kingdom, a distribution board designed for domestic installations is known as a consumer unit.
North America
North American distribution boards are generally housed in sheet metal enclosures, with the circuit breakers positioned in two columns operable from the front. Some panelboards are provided with a door covering the breaker switch handles, but all are constructed with a dead front; that is to say the front of the enclosure (whether it has a door or not) prevents the operator of the circuit breakers from contacting live electrical parts within. Busbars carry the current from incoming line (hot) conductors to the breakers, which are secured to the bus with either a bolt-on connection (using a threaded screw) or a plug-in connection using a retaining clip. Panelboards are more common in commercial and industrial applications and employ bolt-on breakers. Residential and light commercial panels are generally referred to as load centers and employ plug-in breakers. The neutral conductors are secured to a neutral bus using screw terminals. The branch circuit bonding conductors are secured to a terminal block attached directly to the panelboard enclosure, which is itself grounded.
The public source identifies “Distribution board” as component of an electricity supply system. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Distribution, board and component.
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This entry incorporates text from “Distribution board” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.