A busbar in electrical power distribution refers to thick strips of copper or al uminium that conduct electricity within a switchboard, distribution

board, subst ation, or other electrical apparatus. The size of the busbar is important in determining the maximum amount of current that can be safely carried. Busbars can have a cross-sectional area of as littl e as 10 mm but electrical substations may use metal tubes of 50 mm in diameter (1, 000 mm) or more as busbars. Busbars are typically either flat strips or hollow tubes as these shapes allow h eat to dissipate more efficiently due to their high surface area to cross-sectio nal area ratio. The skin effect makes 50-60 Hz AC busbars more than about 8 mm ( 1/3 in) thick inefficient, so hollow or flat shapes are prevalent in higher curr ent applications. A hollow section has higher stiffness than a solid rod, which allows a greater span between busbar supports in outdoor switchyards. A busbar may either be supported on insulators, or else insulation may completel y surround it. Busbars are protected from accidental contact either by a metal e nclosure or by elevation out of normal reach. Neutral busbars may also be insula ted. Earth busbars are typically bolted directly onto any metal chassis of their enclosure. Busbars may be enclosed in a metal housing, in the form of bus duct or busway, segregated-phase bus, or isolated-phase bus. Busbars may be connected to each other and to electrical apparatus by bolted or clamp connections. Often joints between high-current bus sections have matching surfaces that are silver-plated to reduce the contact resistance. At extra-high voltages (more than 300 kV) in outdoor buses, corona around the connections beco mes a source of radio-frequency interference and power loss, so connection fitti ngs designed for these voltages are used. Busbars are vital parts of a power system and so a fault should be cleared as fa st as possible. A busbar must have its own protection although their high degree s of reliability bearing in mind the risk of unnecessary trips, so the protectio n should be dependable, selective and should be stable for external faults, call ed through faults. The most common fault is phase to ground, which usually results from human error . There are many types of relaying principles used in busbar A special attention should be made to current transformer selection since measur ing errors need to be considered.