Protect Yourself from bushfire power outages

During bushfires power is often lost to many areas and sometimes is not returned for days or weeks at a time. At these times communities often have to rely on generators, especially if, as in the devastating 2019-2020 Australian bushfires roads are cut off to complete communities for extended periods of time.

Strong winds also tend to bring trees down on power lines, again cutting off your power supply

For many people the need to protect themselves from power outages, from whatever reason is becoming a more and more common occurrence and it is not unusual for it to take days for the power to be reconnected, particularly if you are not on a main line and other lines take priority.

Sometimes people lose power due to storm damage to power lines but often it is power being cut off by power companies so that they can do maintenance on the lines.

Many people purchase solar arrays and /or add energy storage batteries to an existing system in the belief that this will protect themselves against power outages.

However, solar arrays on their own won’t do this as they are disconnected when the power goes out to make sure no power inadvertently gets transferred back into the grid to cause problems with anyone working on the lines.

The same applies to some batteries. To continue to have power when the grid goes down you need to have a battery that is “capable of” and “configured to” be able to work independently from the grid.

This also highlights the need for resilient local microgrids that are designed to withstand the possibility of fires. Lithium ion batteries and lead acid batteries may not be suitable in these situations as they may catch fire and explode themselves when subjected to high temperatures which only makes the power situation worse.

Local microgrids are designed to cover a limited area and may consist of individual or a centralised battery system and power supply, usually solar PV but can also incorporate wind or hydro depending on the local conditions. All energy generation can be stored locally and distributed according to individual house needs using software programs.

The SoNick or molten salt battery is non-flammable and non-explosive as it is made from common salt and has no noxious gasses so doesn’t become a liability if subjected to bushfire conditions. Also, the SoNick battery has operating conditions up to 60 degrees with no effect on the battery so is more likely to keep operating in extreme temperatures. This means the SoNick battery will still operate water pumps and other emergency equipment in extreme temperatures.

With a SoNick or molten salt battery you can guarantee power supply, even if grid power goes down and the switchover is instantaneous so you may not even realise the switch to battery power has occurred.

If you would like to know more about getting safe, reliable and recyclable battery storage for your own home or business visit us at http://quantum.GridEdge.com.au or contact us at admin@gridedge.com.au

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