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
With the installation of energy storage systems most people look at the battery and concentrate on that but in reality the battery inverter is an integral part of any energy storage system and will dictate much of the energy storage systems operations.
Often when an energy storage system isn’t working properly the fault lies with the inverter and not the battery.
Inverter power is measured in kVA or volt amps.
The battery inverter takes power from the solar PV array (solar inverter or MPPT) and battery which can be of different voltages and converts it to 240V for household of business use.
Solar inverters are designed to work with solar PV arrays and battery inverters are designed to work with energy storage batteries. Hybrid inverters are also coming onto the market that combine both solar PV and battery conversions.
Continue reading “Not all battery inverters are equal”More and more people are recognising that one of the major issues with energy storage batteries are the dangers with fires and explosions particularly associated with thermal runaway (self-sustaining fires). This has become particularly relevant as people are considering installing the many lithium ion battery technologies in their houses or businesses and are becoming aware of the possibility of the dangers associated with this.
Standards Australia has been working on new installation standards “AS-NZ 5139_2019” which will try and address this issue but there is still a lot of discussion around whether the new installation restrictions are too strict or are really looking at individual battery characteristics correctly and fairly.
International Standard “UL9540A” has been developed to independently examine Fire Risk with Battery Cells and Evaluate Thermal Runaway Fire Propagation in Battery Energy Storage Systems.
Most people that are looking at installing an energy storage system (battery and battery inverter) don’t realise that every installation is different and there is no one size fits all. Installations are very dependent on whether there is already solar PV in place and the current electrical wiring situation at the premises.
With solar PV installations as long as you have suitable roof space you can install a system and the questions that need deciding are finding a reliable supplier / installer, working out the size of the PV system needed according to electricity usage and roof space and the size of the inverter required.
With an energy storage system it is much more complicated. Among the considerations are;
Continue reading “Questions to ask about installing an energy storage system”The medical centre was to be refurbished and part of the upgrade was to install a PV system with battery storage. 
The difficulty was allocating the space for battery storage that was safe for patients as well as staff. As is usual in a medical centre space is a premium and is used for medical related purposes as a priority.
A space was identified under the stairwell as the only realistic place to house the batteries and inverters. This limited the type of battery storage due to both space and safety requirements. Continue reading “Medical Centre – Commercial Case Study using SoNick batteries”
GridEdge was recently asked to use our clean energy trailer with its Sodium nickel chloride (SoNick) battery to power a local cooking competition event to showcase local foods.
Originally the expectations were that we would be powering the PA and sound system and maybe a portable fridge. As the day got closer the requirements changed and instead of a portable fridge there were going to be 2 x 10 Amp eskys with ice so it would only be the PA and sound system that were being used that we needed to power. Continue reading “SoNick battery performance for cooking competition”
GridEdge was recently asked to power Melbourne’s 3 day Sustainable Living Festival’s “Off the Grid” tent with our clean energy trailer with its Sodium nickel chloride (SoNick) battery .
This annual festival, is held at Melbourne’s Federation Square and runs along the Yarra river with many stalls showcasing renewable energy, sustainable living practices and gardening and permaculture information.
There are several tents that run educational talks throughout the festival. Continue reading “SoNick battery powers Sustainable Living Festival “Off the Grid” tent”
Battery storage systems being installed in Australia look set to confirm earlier predictions that battery installations will treble in 2017.
New data from the SunWiz 2017 Mid-Year Battery Report shows more than 7000 battery installations took place across Australia in the first six month of 2017. By contrast there were 6500 installations recorded for all of 2016. Current projections say Australia is headed for a total of more than 20,000 energy storage battery installations by the end of 2017. Continue reading “Battery storage uptake by households surges as grid costs soar”
Amongst the G20 countries, Australia’s emission reduction target – a reduction of 26-28% on a 2005 baseline – is unusually weak, nowhere near what is required for us to play our fair share in meeting 2°C Paris target.
The IPCC uses a synthesis of thousands of peer-reviewed scientific papers to assess the degree of risk at increasing levels of global average temperature.
› There is a significant difference in the degree of risk between the 1.5°C and 2.0°C Paris targets, with higher risks of damage to natural ecosystems and more intense and/or frequent extreme weather events for the 2.0°C target.
Continue reading “Accelerating Climate Action by Australian States”
There are many things to take into account when looking at an energy storage battery for your home or business. These include what you want your energy storage battery to do as well as its safety, performance, operating temperature and end of life recyclability.
Unfortunately many people only look at the initial purchase cost of batteries and this is what they use to compare different batteries. This doesn’t take into account what a battery may cost them over its lifetime or the cost to the environment of both the battery’s manufacture and end of life disposal. To make a realistic comparison of a battery’s cost you need to consider it’s full “cradle to grave” impact on all areas, including its safety during operation and it’s environmental impact. Continue reading “Battery capacity depends on user needs”