· According to independent energy analyst Pieter Jordaan, as of November 26, 2023, South Africa experienced an average daily power outage of 5 hours, which accumulates to a total of 69.2 days of power cuts.
· In mid-October 2024, to mitigate the risk of aging electrical equipment falling or short-circuiting under high temperatures, dry conditions, and strong winds—potentially igniting dry vegetation or even causing wildfires—Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) in California shut off power to 32,000 households, affecting areas including the North Bay, East Bay, Central Coast, and the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
· On December 23, 2015, a Ukrainian power company was targeted by a cyberattack using malicious code, which caused power outages for several hours, affecting 1.4 million residents in parts of Kyiv and western Ukraine.
Based on these global power outage incidents, it’s evident that residential electricity is frequently affected by various external factors. However, electricity is the backbone of modern life, and everyday activities rely on a steady supply. This article will explore ways to ensure a reliable power source for households in areas with unstable electricity grid.
Impact of Unstable Power Supply
● Basic Needs
✓ Lighting: Power outages at night reduce visibility, hindering basic activities and increasing safety risks.
✓ Heating or Cooling: In extreme weather, power loss can disable heating or cooling systems, posing a threat to health and safety.
✓ Food Storage and Cooking: Without electricity, refrigerators stop working, leading to improper food storage; appliances like microwaves and ovens become unusable, preventing meal preparation.
● Medical Needs:
For households with patients relying on life-supporting equipment such as ventilators or monitors, power interruptions can pose serious threats to their health and safety.
● Communication and Information Access:
Power outages can disable communication devices like mobile phones, internet, and televisions, hindering access to information. In emergency situations, communication failures can delay rescue operations and emergency responses.
● Property Damage:
Frequent power cuts and voltage surges when power is restored can put additional strain on electrical appliances, potentially exceeding their design tolerance, leading to reduced performance or frequent malfunctions.
Exploring Ways to Ensure Uninterrupted Power Supply for Households
If you live in an area prone to frequent and unpredictable power outages, the best way to gain control over your electricity supply is to achieve energy independence.
Generator
Some may suggest using a fuel-powered generator. While these generators can temporarily solve power outages, they come with several limitations:
● Fuel supply can be impacted by various factors like geopolitics or natural disasters.
● Not very eco-friendly. Fuel generators work by burning gasoline or diesel, which generates CO2/CO (when incompletely combusted) and emits them into the atmosphere. They also produce noise, which can affect the living environment.
● Requires space and proper storage for fuel.
● Needs to be manually started, making continuous power supply difficult.
Portable Power Station
Another suggestion might be portable power stations. However, their power capacity and battery life are generally limited and typically cannot support high-power appliances or provide long-term power.
Solar Energy Storage System
A more suitable solution is installing a solar energy storage system. It stores excess energy generated by solar panels to be used during peak demand times or power outages. This improves energy efficiency, reduces reliance on the grid, and helps balance energy supply and demand.
What can Solar Energy Storage System do:
●Self-Consumption: This system enables you to use the energy you generate, and store extra energy or sold back to the grid. Residential ESS help to reduce the impact of the unpredictability and variability of solar and wind power generation on the grid and users. This enhances the stability of the power system.
●Backup Power: During a power outage, the system ensures a seamless transition between grid and off-grid operation within 10 milliseconds, guaranteeing uninterrupted power supply to the load.
●Peak shaving and valley filling, as well as arbitrage: Store electricity during periods of low electricity prices and release it during peak demand times. By capitalizing on the price differences, you can reduce electricity costs and potentially earn a profit.
Hinen Solar Energy Storage Solutions
Hinen offers a variety of solar energy storage solutions, allowing users to select the most suitable option based on their needs:
● High-power Energy Storage Solutions:
This solution is ideal for households or small to medium-sized commercial buildings with multiple high-power loads. It can be achieved through the use of multiple inverters connected in parallel, with power ranges from 3kW to 150kW.
● High-capacity Energy Storage Solutions:
This solution is suited for areas with large price differences between peak and off-peak electricity rates. Excess energy can be fed back into the grid to earn the price difference. It is also ideal for regions with unstable electricity supply, where sufficient energy storage is required to handle prolonged power outages. This is achieved through battery clusters, with storage capacities ranging from 5kWh to 836.1kWh.
● AC-coupled Energy Storage Solutions:
This solution allows for the retrofitting and upgrading of existing solar power systems. It is compatible with any third-party solar inverters and adds energy storage functionality. The flexibility of the AC5000s enables seamless integration with existing equipment, ensuring that you don't need to replace your current inverters when upgrading your solar system.
Conclusion
For areas with unstable grid electricity, installing a solar energy storage system is the best solution to ensure an uninterrupted power supply for households. It not only allows you to take control of your electricity usage and achieve continuous power supply, but it also enables you to feed excess energy back to the grid, reducing electricity costs and even generating profit.
