Power failure is a common occurrence in South Africa. Its impact is greatly felt by the business sector, resulting in lowered productivity. In South Africa, electricity gets distributed in Alternating Current (AC) format and end-users receive it in a voltage of 220 volts single-phase or 380 volts triple-phase. Electric power can easily be generated by a petrol or diesel generator, but this can be noisy and not very environmentally friendly. There are other power alternatives available, such as photovoltaic (PV) solar, wind turbines, water turbines and batteries, however a 100% uptime can still not be guaranteed.

24/7 power availability cannot be guaranteed, instead the goal is to minimize interruptions that could potentially drop your 100% uptime and help keep you powered for longer.

The first solution would be a grid system with 100% uptime and a small Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) system for unexpected power failures. A UPS or battery backup offers the user backup power when the primary power source fails, when voltage fluctuations occur. With the UPS system, electronic devices can safely get shut down and disconnected from the power grid should sudden power cuts occur. It also offers the user plenty of time to manually shutdown all devices before switching to an alternative source.

To ensure that users receive the best uptime worth their money, a new generation of long-lasting UPS systems has been created. These carry powerful external batteries that can beat downtime by a few hours and keep your High Site operational longer than usual.

Combining a backup generator with the UPS system can increase your uptime. While the grid powers the High Site during normal power circulation, the UPS batteries get charged, and this prepares them to kick-start immediately without intermission when the grid fails. The fully charged UPS system will operate long enough to give the generator time to assume operation. Once the grid regains power, the UPS system aids in the transition back to grid power – and it does this without negatively effecting connected devices.

Granted, this might sound like the best solution for the problem. It is, however, accompanied by challenges such as generator maintenance, refuelling, venting, air and noise pollution. This is where newer options like the wind and water alternatives with much quieter PV Solar panels come into play.

There are two options available when using PV solar panels:

1. Utilizing the grid as our primary power source, and the PV solar panels in combination with the batteries as our backup

With this option, the focus shifts to the batteries and their capacity to act as backup during outages, while the solar panels assist in recharging and maintaining battery life during daytime power failure.

2. Utilizing the PV solar and the batteries as our primary power source and the grid or generator as our backup

In this option, our dependency is more on the batteries. The batteries do most of the job during daylight and nightfall, while the panels are responsible for keeping both the batteries charged. Having the grid or generator as backup grants the solar panels the freedom to operate at mid-intensity, because even when the panels stop, they would still carry enough power to keep the High Site running for hours.

Don’t wait until the power fails again. Empowering you to connect communities is what we do best, so come to MiRO and explore the most reliable and cost-effect products money can buy from PV solar panels, connectors, solar cables, cabinets, chargers, inverters, DC breakers, and so much more.