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The Electricity Minister in a Stage 10 Panic

Should we be worried?

Our newly appointed minister of electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa is promising stage 10 load shedding while he scrambles to solve the Eskom crisis. We are in stage 6 load shedding almost continuously, with ominous warnings by Ramokgopa  of reaching stage 10 this winter!

Today we are in stage 5 which resulted in 4 blackouts of 2.5 hours each  in Sandton - who knows what stage 10 load shedding will look like?

We are in it, load shedding is here and will remain for the foreseeable future. Our minister says it will be highly irresponsible to predict when load shedding will end.

He does seem convinced that prayer won’t help either!  

The post Stage 10 Load shedding – What now South Africa? appeared first on Power in a Box.

Make Loadshedding  your personal History

1. Load shedding disrupts daily life, causing inconvenience and frustration. Scheduled power outages mean that work is disrupted, you are unable to cook meals, use appliances, do your homework, access the internet.
2. Small businesses: Load shedding has a significant impact on businesses, with power outages causing disruption to everyday work activities. When the power dips, so does your productivity and you lose income.
3. Security:  Load shedding can result in increased crime as security systems, alarms and streetlights are disrupted.
4. Health concerns: Load shedding can affect life-saving medical equipment like respirators for the sick frail and aged.
5. Loss of perishable goods: How much food have you lost due to loadshedding ?
6. Emotional stress: Load shedding causes emotional stress, with people feeling anxious and uncertain about when power will be restored, how to meet deadline, how to finish your homework causing a sense of powerlessness and helplessness.
7. It is essential to address the Loadshedding problem as it is here for the foreseeable future, I am afraid.

The Solution to Loadshedding

So what are the options for a household or a small business ?  What if you work from home, since so many South Africans are working from home or running a small business from home.

The obvious solution is to install a substantial solar power system and get off the grid completely, get control back and stop being subject to the dreadful inefficiencies and inconvenience of Loadshedding. But unfortunately for most South Africans, this costs a small fortune upwards of R400 000.

A phased approach

Step 1

Load-shed proof your home office, your students, your entertainment like TV and internet.

Get a Power In A Box – Home and Student  UPS. Its a great cost effective solution, which stays plugged into the grid while supplying you power that is uninterrupted when loadshedding kicks in.

This short video demonstrates the capabilities of Power In A Box, and as providence would have it, I was loadshed while filming which provided a great live demonstration of the system.  

The post Making Loadshedding History appeared first on Power in a Box.

The Enertec Deep Cycle Heavy duty sealed lead acid batteries that we use are designed to last 1000 cycles if you look after them properly. 

BUT only if handled properly.

If you overload your batteries by “red-lining” them ie  discharging it too deeply, or drawing a very heavy load continuously,  they will only last a few months, no matter what brand of deep cycle batteries one uses.

Make sure that the inverter or UPS you use has automatic  low voltage cutoff set properly to switch off automatically before your batteries discharge too deeply. Too deep a discharge of you battery will ruin any lead acid battery very quickly. In my experience battery brand is not the main cause of failure, normally unwitting battery abuse is the culprit!!!

Another tip that nobody speaks about is the continuous  amperage that your inverter will pull from the battery.

A very experienced battery supply that I have come to rely heavily on recommends that your continuous design load does not draw more than 15 Amps from a 12 V deep cycle battery. This 15 Amp target  is guesswork, but experience counts in this industry!

Divide your normal inverter load ( in Watts) by the voltage of your battery ( probably 12 or 24 Volts) to obtain the current draw on your batteries.

EG

A 240 Watt load on a 12 V system would draw 240W/12V = 20 Amps – which is a bit too high !!!

But on a 24 V system, the same load would only be drawing 240W/24 V = 10 Amps which is very low and consequently you can expect excellent endurance from your battery - as long as you do not discharge it to deeply!

The post How Long can I expect my Inverter Batteries to Last? appeared first on Power in a Box.

Power Requirements and Inverter Solution

Running a small office without interruption of your telephones and internet connectivity during loadshedding events using the Hybrid Power in a Box Uninterruptable Power supply Inverter.

Office Reception Requirements

To establish your requirements we start with a load audit.

How much power do you need and for how long?

1 PC  - 50Watts

1  WIFI router – 7 Watts

1  Fibre internet box – 10 Watts

1 Cellphone charger – 7 Watts

Inverter fan – 30 Watt

Total requirement is 104  W

Capacity : Power in a Box –Small office and student model  12V UPS, 1200VA 

The 12 V Battery has a capacity of 80Ah ( 80 Amp Hours) , but being a deep cycle lead acid battery, you don’t want to use more than 50% of the battery’s capacity to ensure a long battery life.

Therefore you only have 40 Ah available in your 12 V Battery  40 X 12 = 480 Wh ( Watt Hours)

For 2 hours of backup you can therefore run 480/2 = 240 Watts.

For 4 hours of Backup you can run 480/4 = 120 Watts.

Your office reception uses less than 120 Watts, so the Power in a Box can cope with 4 hour loadshedding events.

Solar addition

If you want to be able to remain running with blackouts lasting a day or more, we recommend adding a single 200W solar panel to your Hybrid UPS inverter. (Simply put the solar panel facing full sun, and plug it in to the power points provided on the Inverter)

A 200W panel will give you 200 W for about 5 or 6 hours on a sunny day. While the sun is shining, your panel will run your load (of approx. 100W ) while charging your battery. After sundown, you will have 4 more hours of backup on the battery.

The system is designed for extreme flexibility  to take up to 700W of solar power in multiple panels if required, and extra batteries can be added to increase your electrical load and storage capacity.

Phase 2  

Office/Training room / sales room requirements

10 laptops (40 - 50 W each) = 400 - 500 W

Inverter fan 30 W

Total requirement = 430 – 530 W

Capacity : Power in a Box –Small office model 24V UPS, 2400 VA model 

The 2 X 12 V  Batteries = a 24 V battery with a capacity of 80Ah.

Therefore you only have 40 Ah available in your 24 V Battery 40 X 24 = 960  Wh

For 2 hours of backup you can therefore run 960/2 = 480 Watts. Ie 10 Laptops for 2 hours

For 4 hours of Backup you can run 960/4 = 240 Watts.  Ie 5 laptops for 4 hours

Solar Addition

2 Solar panels of up to 350 W each ( 700 W total )  can be added to supply more than the 480 W required to run 10 laptops while recharging  your batteries.

Power in a Box Prices  - March 2023 

Power in a Box – Home office and student  12V UPS, 1200VA   R5 999

Power in a Box – Small office model 24V UPS, 2400 VA  R8 999

200W solar panel R3 000

This video provids an Introduction to small office Power in a Box an dincludes the elementary calculations required to size your unit.

The post Running a Small Office with an Inverter [12V Power in a Box Hybrid Inverter] appeared first on Power in a Box.

Load shedding is a problem we all face

Loadshedding is having a significant and adverse impact on South Africans in many ways.

1. Load shedding disrupts daily life, causing inconvenience and frustration. Scheduled power outages mean that work is disrupted, you are unable to cook meals, use appliances, do your homework, access the internet.
2. Small businesses : Load shedding has a significant impact on businesses, with power outages causing disruption to everyday work activities. When the power dips, so does your productivity and you lose income.
3. Security :  Load shedding can result in increased crime as security systems, alarms and streetlights are disrupted.
4. Health concerns: Load shedding can affect life-saving medical equipment like respirators for the sick frail and aged.
5. Loss of perishable goods: How much food have you lost due to loadshedding?
6. Emotional stress: Load shedding causes emotional stress, with people feeling anxious and uncertain about when power will be restored, how to meet deadline, how to finish your homework causing a sense of powerlessness and helplessness.

It is essential to address the loadshedding problem as it is here for the foreseeable future! 

The Solution

So what are the options for a household or a small business ?  What if you work from home, since so many South Africans are working from home or running a small business from home.

The obvious solution is to install a substantial solar power system and get off the grid completely, get control back and stop being subject to the dreadful inefficiencies and inconvenience of loadshedding. But unfortunately for most South Africans, this costs a small fortune upwards of R 400 000.

A phased approach 

Phase 1  

Load-shed proof your home office, your students, your entertainment like TV and internet with an in line inverter or UPS that stays plugged into the Eskom power grid. When the power is on, your batteries are charging and when the power is off, you automatically run of battery power.

Get a Power In A Box – Home and Student  UPS. Its a great cost effective solution, which stays plugged into the grid while supplying you power that is uninterrupted when loadshedding kicks in.

This short video demonstrates the capabilities of Power In A Box, and as providence would have it, I was load shed while filming which provided a great live demonstration of the system.  

The post Beating Loadshedding – A Phased Approach appeared first on Power in a Box.

Is Load shedding effecting your business or studies?

Unfortunately load shedding it is effecting every student, every home and small business equally. The lights go off and everything stops, internet, computer, lights, microwave, stove, kettle, electric gate.

Since Covid, schooling and university/colleges have evolved their methods to rely heavily on the internet for, homework, projects and assessments.

I watch my 15 year old son get back from sport at around 6pm with the pressure of another 2 hours of homework to look forward to, only to have to deal with loadshedding from 6pm to 10pm. And every day the loadshedding schedule changes which adds to the stress.

So what is the power solution for you?

A generator, inverter, UPS, solar – or completely off the grid?

Heaven help you if you ask a shop assistants advice- I have found that 99% of the population know very little about Volts, Amps, AC current, DC Current, Watts, VA, Ahr. They know even less about batteries and how to select the best battery for your application. 

How do you choose?

Petrol or diesel generator, inverter, UPS or solar

Lets look at the options in more detail and hopefully bring some clarity into this backup power problem that all South Africans have been thrust into.

The pros and cons of each backup power option for a household:

Petrol Generator

Pros:

• Provides high power output for long periods of time, making it suitable for large power needs or prolonged power outages
• Can power larger household appliances and electronics
• Widely available and can be purchased at hardware stores or online
• Can be used for outdoor activities like camping

Cons:

• Requires regular maintenance and fuel refills, which can be costly and time-consuming
• Produces noise and emits exhaust fumes, which can be unpleasant and harmful to the environment
• Can be expensive to purchase initially, as well as operate and maintain over time
• May not be allowed in certain residential areas due to noise

Inverter

Pros:

• Runs quietly and produces no emissions, making it an environmentally-friendly option
• Requires little maintenance and is easy to operate
• Can be powered by renewable energy sources like solar panels
• Portable and lightweight, making it easy to move and transport
• Typically less expensive than petrol generators

Cons:

• Provides limited power output for shorter periods of time, making it less suitable for large power needs or prolonged outages
• Can only power smaller household appliances and electronics
• Requires initial investment in batteries or solar panels, which can be costly
• May require additional equipment or professional installation
• Unplugging from power source and recharging between usage cycles
• May not be suitable for areas with long power outages

UPS

Pros:

• Provides an instant backup power source during short power outages
• Requires minimal maintenance and is easy to use
• Produces no noise or emissions, making it an environmentally-friendly option
• Can be used to protect sensitive electronics from power surges and outages

Cons:

• Provides limited power output for short periods of time, making it less suitable for large power needs or prolonged outages
• Can only power small household appliances and electronics
• May not be suitable for areas with long power outages

For a small office or home usage where the load required to run your essential electronics is relatively low, the convenience of a UPS wins every time.

Inverters are bit more inconvenient than a UPS since they generally require you to alternately plug your equipment into the mains or the inverter.

For farms, or areas where noise is not  a problem and frequent extended power cuts are common, I would recommend a generator.

And since we live in sunny South Africa, I believe the target for every household should be to move to solar (normally in stages) in a totally off the grid solution.

The post How is Loadshedding Effecting You? appeared first on Power in a Box.