March 5, 2013 – With the Sion 3AE5, Siemens says it has developed its most compact vacuum circuit breaker for air-insulated medium-voltage switchboards up to 12 kV. Compared to its predecessor, the Sion 3AE5 is 30% smaller in volume. These circuit breakers are used in medium-voltage distribution networks to provide, for example, switching functionality for outdoor lines, cables, transformers, generators, capacitors, filter circuits, motors and reactor coils. The dimensions are the same for all voltage levels: 540-mm high, 447-mm wide and 390-mm deep. The user can choose between various pole centre distances; similarly, there is a choice of distance between the top and bottom connections. To simplify the installation of the circuit breakers in the cubicles, Siemens offers various accessory packs, which include a withdrawable module, contact arms, fixed contacts and feed-throughs.