How to prepare for power cuts
It can be installed in stages, allowing you to spread the cost over time.
Load shedding is a reality that every business needs to manage. The good news is there are a wide range of affordable backup solutions that can help your business stay productive when the lights go out. Even better news is that you can use your investments in backup power to bring electricity costs down and decrease your reliance on the national grid.
Ba ery backup or generator?
Your backup power options can be divided into two main categories: battery backup or a generator.
Generators are suited for industrial businesses or large companies that need to run power-intensive loads such as data centres, commercial refrigerators, or production lines. Battery backup systems are quieter, less prone to breaking down, cleaner (no carbon monoxide fumes), and more affordable since they don’t depend on fuel. The initial investment is more, but over time becomes the more affordable solution if integrated with a solar system.
Many businesses supplement generators with battery backup systems for lighter loads like office lighting, desktop computers and point of sale systems. Those with lighter power needs may only need a battery-based solution.
When it comes to battery backup systems, there are many options on the market, catering to a range of budgets and energy needs. If you are looking for a long-term solution to ensure power during loadshedding, a hybrid solar system is a good option to consider.
The solar hybrid system
A hybrid solar system will provide enough power to keep essentials running during power outages as well as enable you to save money on electricity. Such a system enables you to harvest renewable energy from the sun, use it to power some of your loads, and store it in batteries for periods of load shedding.
The main parts of a solar hybrid system are:
solar panels – which provide energy savings.
batteries – which provide energy security during load shedding.
a hybrid inverter – which controls the energy flow between the grid, solar panels, batteries and electrical loads.
A hybrid inverter can choose between using the batteries or grid as a power source for your essential loads and will supplement this power with the energy generated from solar panels. The batteries will keep your essentials running when the grid goes down.
Installing solar panels will also mean that you are doing your bit to lessen national demand for electricity, helping Eskom to reduce the need for load shedding. While a hybrid solar system brings you some freedom from loadshedding and rising electrical tariffs, it does come at an initial cost.
Luckily, hybrid solar systems are modular and can be installed in stages, allowing you to spread the cost over time. You can start with the inverter and batteries and add solar panels later, or you could start with solar panels and add batteries later. It all depends on what your priorities are: energy security when the grid goes down (batteries) or savings on electricity (solar panels). Solar panels will pay for themselves in electricity savings over a number of years.
For battery backup systems, lithium-ion batteries are recommended over lead-acid (deep cycle AGM) batteries. Lithium-ion batteries have a higher upfront cost, but last 10 years or more compared with the two-to-three-year lifespan of lead-acid batteries. Over a decade, the lithium-ion solution will be around 25% cheaper than replacing lead-acid batteries as their lifespan ends.
Final words
To run a business in a tough climate becomes even harder when facing regular power cuts. Whether working from home or in the office, with load shedding seemingly here to stay, installing a battery backup solution is a no-brainer and a must-have for almost any business to ensure continuity and safeguard productivity.
Hattingh is managing director of AWPower