Translations:Electrical safety/7/en

Most batteries do not have a way to disable them - they sit at a steady voltage waiting for a path through which they can supply current. Energy storage systems with a nominal voltage above 48 volts can deliver a potentially lethal shock, but also carry an additional risk due to the tremendous amounts of energy that they store that can be released very rapidly. If an energy storage system is short-circuited it can produce sparks and destructive amounts of heat that can destroy equipment and start fires instantly - this is called an arc flash. The potential for an arc flash increases with the size of the energy storage system. A small system with one or two 12V lead acid batteries with a low Ah rating will not be able to produce an arc flash, but as the size increases beyond this point, so does the potential for an arc flash.