There are various ways to provide backup power. Meaning not relying on the Governments Electric grid as the only form of power to your premises be it for home or commercial use, they are:
At FORTITUDE Tech we offer Solar and/or Battery backup solutions.
Off-Grid Solar Solutions :
As the name implies you are not tapped into the electric grid, it’s a totally independent arrangement. This requires a very large battery array with the capacity capable of powering said property even during periods of overcast or low light conditions. PVs (Photovoltaic cells) better known as Solar Panels that convert sunshine into energy and the inverter (the device that converts the power from the solar panels and inverts it to be supplied to the batteries ) must be able to supply max load at any time and capable of fully charging batteries. This quite significant investment in solar panels, inverters and Battery arrays however it allows for complete independence from the Grid.
Grid-Tied Solution :
A Grid-Tied system is one where the solar panels supply power to the house in conjunction with grid power. This in turn will reduce your municipal electric bill however caution must be taken that the power supplied to the house does not exceed the consumption of power to the house at its lowest power draw. The reason for this is that South Africa does not allow any surplus or “wasted” power to go back to the grid.
Grid-Backup Solution :
Frequent load shedding creates a demand for back up power to be needed during these periods. There are two ways in order to accomplish this.
The first is a simple Inverter and battery array arrangement. When grid power is available the inverter chargers up the batteries using the municipal power off the grid and when the power goes out the battery backup array is activate and able to power up the essentials in the home or office, namely some lighting, computers, cctv surveillance systems, electric fencing, intercoms, TV’s etc. The second method is much the same as the first however PV’s (Solar Panels) with be responsible to charge the batteries instead of the grid and therefore reducing the energy bill during the load shedding periods.
FORTITUDE tech as the preferred contractors/suppliers to a number of complexes (Commercial and Domestic) has implemented a Grid-Backup solution to a number of sites to overcome the Load shedding problems we experience in SA. At the entrances to town house complexes and commercial complexes we normally install a Grid-Backup solution at security office to supply backup battery power to Intercoms, Electric Fencing, CCTV systems, Gate motors and selected lighting. This has reduced the maintenance bill since there is no disruption to power and the electronic are not directly affected.