Saturday 19 March 2016

Renewable Energy Systems – The Need for Quality Batteries

There is a growing trend for renewable source of energy being used because of the concerns about climate change the energy security. This has led to the decrease in solar PV and wind prices, rising retail electricity prices and favorable government inventive to renewable source of energy. Since sun and wind energy are free, they can be used to create constant source of power. But, it is affected by the location, the weather and the day time. In addition, better battiery storage is also crucial to be able to store that energy and distribute it.

For storage of renewable energy, there are three key components in the system. The first one is the energy collection, the next is the energy storage and the last is the energy dissemination to the load. Among all the different components of the system, a battery is the most important and the most expensive part of the system. These can last anything between 2-5 years and need to be replaced after that for the system to work. Many times, they might fail before that too and can be expensive to be replaced.

The battery is also the weakest part of the renewable energy system. The solar panels used for solar power can last anything between 20 to 25 years. Thus, during this time, the batteries are needed to be replaced about 5-6 times depending on its usage. Batteries are also heavy, full of lead and sulphuric acid and need regular maintenance for them to last. When people complain about their system, it is usually the batteries that they are complaining about.

The battery is the storage media for the collected energy in the form of DC electricity. The battery stores the electricity converted by the solar module. During the day, the electricity from the module charge charges the battery. During night, the battery discharges power to lights and other applications. Batteries in a solar system are sized to be able to provide several days of electricity in the event that there is rains that lasts for long. High Operating Temperature Battery is best for solar power as they are designed to withstand the head and operate over a large range of charge levels.

Top Benefits of Using UPS Systems

An UPS system is an external power supply that supplements and conditions the direct alternative current. While previously they were used mainly for the computers, they are now being widely used for several other purposes because of the varied benefits that they offer. You can choose from a wide variety of UPS system depending on how long you might need power back up and where you will be using it.

Here are some of the top benefits of UPS systems –
  • Provides Reliable Source of Power – UPS systems offers numerous benefits that makes them a good investment for individuals as well as businesses. One of the biggest benefits of these systems is that they keep the power up during power outage so that the electronic operations are not interrupted.
  • Prevention of Data Loss – The UPS system prevents any power glitches due to power outages and keep the electronic devices running. If the power outage will be for long period, it allows people to save their work in a safe manner, thus one need not worry about data loss at home or at workplace.
  • Protection of Sensitive Devices from Bad Electricity – When it comes to direct alternating current, many times one can observe fluctuations in the power supply that can ultimately lead to the degradation in the gadgets. UPS controls these voltage fluctuations and provides stable output to the electronic devices.
  • Provide Surge Protection – When there is power outage, spikes or surges, the UPS systems detects this bad power supply. In most cases, the UPS system will stop the direct power supply and provide stable power from its own stock. This helps in the prevention of any damage to the device due to sudden interruption in the power supply.
  • UPS as a Power backup in Industries – Many offices and industries connect their machines and equipments to the UPS. Even when there is a huge power disruption, it fails to affect the work output and also preserves the delicate parts of the machine from any kind of damage.

Low maintenance UPS systems are not only used in computer systems but also for air conditioners, phones, equipments, machinery so that they can keep working when there is power failure. Beside this, they do great work in protecting the entire delicate and power sensitive gadget that can burn out or get degraded due to bad power supply.