Knowing the paths that cables take also means knowing the machine to which they belong. Emanuel Hüsler, Head of the Electrical Installations Section at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI, guides us through the complex electrical network of SLS 2.0 and thereby through the entire upgrade.
Network cables, high-voltage cables, supply cables, power cables, fibre optic cables – the cables installed in recent months by the Electrical Installations Section, headed by Emanuel Hüsler, come in a wide variety of shapes and colours. Research at the Swiss Light Source SLS at PSI has been on hold since the end of September 2023: The SLS 2.0 upgrade is in full swing and will allow the refurbished facility to produce even more brilliant synchrotron light for scientific experiments, starting in 2025. As part of this upgrade, Hüsler and his team have already laid 30,000 cables, whose total length of 504 kilometres would theoretically allow someone to abseil from the International Space Station (ISS) to Earth.
A strict numbering scheme ensures that the many cables do not end up as a hopeless tangle of wires. Each cable is recorded in layouts of the system as well as in lists; each is labelled and installed chronologically under raised floors, in rails or in cabinets. “Our professional pride dictates meticulous workmanship, which is also helpful later on, when the system goes into operation,” says Hüsler.
The qualified electrician takes major projects like the SLS upgrade in his stride. He joined PSI as group leader in 2007, having previously gathered many years of experience in industry and trained as a Swiss certified electrician (advanced diploma). In 2014, he took over as Head of the Electrical Installations Section, which is part of the PSI Centre for Accelerator Science and Engineering.
Read more on the PSI website
Image: Some 30,000 cables with a total length of 504 kilometres wind their way through the complex large research facility of the SLS.
Credit: © Paul Scherrer Institute PSI/Markus Fischer