Is Your House Well-Equipped To Handle A Power Shortage?

If you are in India, power shortages and blackouts are very much a part of your life. There are no two ways about it. It is such a common feature of everyday life, and it takes no one by surprise. It does not warrant a special mention in the papers, unless, of course, the outage stretches beyond its usual time. One is reminded of the time and age where one had just to put up and sit through hours of power outages, with no idea of when the Electricity Board would mercifully restore the power. If power blackouts at daytime were horrendous, the sudden snap of electricity supply at night would bring out hordes of mosquitoes to make it a nightmare.

Loss of power today isn’t a big problem. Power backups are very much a part of any household, commercial center, hotel, or official buildings. It is a necessary commodity and an essential investment. A ubiquitous electrical device that takes its own space like your TV or refrigerator commands as much thought and financing when you opt to buy one.

What Are The Options In The Market For Power Backup?

The fundamental idea of a power backup system is to provide temporary power ONLY to the areas of utmost importance in any setup. For domestic use, portable generators, stationary generators, and battery-storage with Uninterrupted Power Supply (or UPS as it is popularly known) are the best options. UPS is perhaps the preferred choice in countries like India. With sky-rocketing fuel prices, generators are not viable options for small households and businesses.

The Battery Powered Backup
The UPS includes battery storage and DC to AC inverter. Some of the latest batteries in the market are lithium-ion batteries, although lead-acid options are very much in use. Powering up instantaneously, the UPS can last only a limited amount of time. Still, it is sustainable enough to safely shut down a computer system or provide temporary relief in households. With a rapid response time of 2-4 milliseconds, most UPS emit no sound or smoke, which makes it great for indoor installation. Even in large cities like Chennai, the battery backup seems to be highly preferred in buildings with no conventional backup systems. UPS in Chennai is a vital part of many households and small income business entities.

Generator -Powered Backups

A generator mostly runs on fuel like diesel, petrol or kerosene to generate electricity. The former two are the widely used fuels, and kerosene is used rarely. The generator can cough up electricity output from 500 watts to 50 kiloWatts for personal and domestic use. Industrial generators and the ones used in multi-storeyed buildings and malls come with a capacity of 50kW to 3 Megawatts. The run-time on these backups depends on the capacity of the generator.

Long-haul generators are expensive, and like any machine, they require consistent maintenance and routine testing. The fuel requires constant usage to prevent it from going stale. Generating a lot of smoke, this backup option is not for indoor use. Although versions with much less noise are available in the market, stationary and portable generators emit carbon monoxide, which can be fatal if the machine is installed without proper access to ventilation.

Eco-Friendly, Solar-Powered Backups

The solar-powered backup harnesses the energy of the sun and converts it into much-needed electricity. This option is especially life-saving for areas with abundant sunshine, unreliable power grids, and severe weather conditions like storms and hurricanes. Solar energy is clean, safe, reliable, and involves no pollution. The electricity requirement of a building determines the number of solar panels that will be installed on the roof of the building. A charge controller, battery bank and an inverter from the crucial components for a solar backup system. Check Out – https://ktvz.com/news/2020/01/09/solar-powered-building-coming-to-bends-central-district/ .

Power backup is only for the essential equipment in a building. But today, the market has enormous power backups that can keep the whole building and all its amenities running for hours. Power backups must be handled ONLY by authorized personnel to avoid fatal accidents and damage to buildings. Utmost care must be taken during installation with ample safety features. Overriding safety features is a big NO-NO!