South Africans looking to purchase a backup power solution should be careful when considering suitable batteries.
The prevalence of load-shedding has led many to resort to battery-inverter systems that are able to charge when the power is on and then provide stored electricity for use during power cuts.
These battery systems are also used to store energy generated from renewable energy solutions like solar power.
Understanding the specifications of these batteries can be difficult for those unfamiliar with electrical systems, however.
Batteries that aren’t rated to perform as advertised are in the market, and even those who buy from respected sellers should be wary of misleading performance ratings.
Blue Nova Energy, which recently launched its MegaBoy intelligent Energy Storage Solution (iESS), told MyBroadband what to look out for – detailed below.
The prevalence of load-shedding has led many to resort to battery-inverter systems that are able to charge when the power is on and then provide stored electricity for use during power cuts.
These battery systems are also used to store energy generated from renewable energy solutions like solar power.
Understanding the specifications of these batteries can be difficult for those unfamiliar with electrical systems, however.
Batteries that aren’t rated to perform as advertised are in the market, and even those who buy from respected sellers should be wary of misleading performance ratings.
Blue Nova Energy, which recently launched its MegaBoy intelligent Energy Storage Solution (iESS), told MyBroadband what to look out for – detailed below.
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The problem with battery specifications
Certain vendors used load-shedding to exploit a lack of knowledge among consumers to sell battery products that aren’t necessarily intended for backup power.
While many vendors don’t explicitly lie about a battery’s specifications, subtle manipulations in how the performance factors are calculated can misconstrue its true capability.
“A lower-quality product can be made to look better on paper by obscuring or neglecting to mention certain product specifics, and therefore seem to be more affordable,” Blue Nova explained.
The company said that consumers tend to compare product prices, rather than taking long-term product running costs into consideration.
“The data available on the data sheets of these products is, for the most part, accurate. The difficulty is determining what the published data is based on exactly,” said Blue Nova.
“For instance, minimum cycle life depends mainly on chemistry, maximum daily depth of discharge (DoD) percentage, ambient temperature, and capacity retention at end-of-life.”
“The latter is sometimes mentioned in small-print in warranty documents,” the company added.
Read more......
Certain vendors used load-shedding to exploit a lack of knowledge among consumers to sell battery products that aren’t necessarily intended for backup power.
While many vendors don’t explicitly lie about a battery’s specifications, subtle manipulations in how the performance factors are calculated can misconstrue its true capability.
“A lower-quality product can be made to look better on paper by obscuring or neglecting to mention certain product specifics, and therefore seem to be more affordable,” Blue Nova explained.
The company said that consumers tend to compare product prices, rather than taking long-term product running costs into consideration.
“The data available on the data sheets of these products is, for the most part, accurate. The difficulty is determining what the published data is based on exactly,” said Blue Nova.
“For instance, minimum cycle life depends mainly on chemistry, maximum daily depth of discharge (DoD) percentage, ambient temperature, and capacity retention at end-of-life.”
“The latter is sometimes mentioned in small-print in warranty documents,” the company added.
Read more......
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