Sparks Electrical News April 2019

CONTRACTORS’ CORNER

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ANOTHER SUCCESS AT ANNUAL OPEN DAYS

HOW BATTERY STORAGE IS CHANGING THE RENEWABLE ENERGY GAME T he mass adoption and implementation of solar en- ergy in South African homes and businesses has been rapidly increasing over the past few years. But, going completely ‘off grid’ has so far been held back by the ex- pense of storing power from renewable sources. But this is changing, as the technology is available, and becoming more affordable, for dramatically reducing the reliance on state utility, Eskom, for electricity in South Africa. While solar energy is an ample resource in this country, the real game-changer will be the ability to store the power generated by day, for consistent use around the clock, says Dominic Wills, CEO of SOLA Future Energy. Wills says solar and storage are becoming more sought- after for businesses in South Africa, which are facing esca- lating cost pressures from ever-increasing Eskom tariffs. He says recent advances in battery technology, and the rapid decrease in costs of such storage components, has meant that the time has come to leave the national grid entirely, particularly for businesses. “In the past, when power was needed, it was provided by baseload power, created by non-renewable energy sources that were burnt to produce power in response to the demand. For generations, we didn’t focus on developing the technol- ogy necessary to store power because fossil fuels were seen as endless sources of power,” Wills explains. He points out that, while solar energy (and other renew- able sources), have received increasing interest globally and in South Africa in the past, innovations in storage have been the hot topic in the recent years due to their game-changing nature for renewable energy. “New storage solutions are emerging that make use of commonly available materials, and nano-technology could potentially improve the power and energy density of batter- ies,” says Wills. “The price reductions of this technology in recent years means that currently a solar PV and storage microgrid, for example, is cheaper than diesel generated power in remote areas. This is a game-changer for off-grid electricity require- ments,” he added. Perhaps the most well-known of these storage battery innovations are commercial applications of the lithium-ion battery, which grew popular for their use in cell phones and electric vehicles. They can be packaged as such, as in the case of the Tesla Powerpack, which contains 16 individual battery pods, each with an isolated dc-dc converter. They support a host of applications that offer commercial con- sumers greater control, efficiency and reliability across the grid. SOLA has been responsible for the installation of a solar energy microgrid on Robben Island, which has produced over 850 000 kWh of clean electricity since its launch in October last year. The project will help reduce the cost of buying and shipping diesel to the world heritage site. The system is able to deliver the entire daytime electricity load for the island, and the solar PV energy generation is supported by 837 kWh battery storage, which makes it possible for the system to keep delivering power on cloudy days and at night. “We’re particularly proud of our Robben Island project be- cause it shows that solar power generation and storage can totally transform the energy accessibility for remote areas, which is particularly applicable to Africa,” says Wills. These projects have shown that energy storage, combined with renewable energy, can deliver the results needed to keep both remote and commercial sites running both practi- cally and affordably. “In the world of decentralised energy supply and produc- tion, we are just scratching the surface of what is possible for both rural and urban businesses. For instance, there are inter- esting projects taking off around the world that use machine learning solutions to choose and balance relevant power sources by anticipating demand based on usage patterns,” says Wills. “This helps to minimise costs and optimise sup- ply which will further enhance the business case for adopt- ing energy storage technologies alongside their renewable energy supplies, making energy storage applicable for both on- and off-grid situations.” “These solutions are becoming more affordable and wide- spread, and we are seeing the commercial sector flock to the reliability and affordability of renewables in general and solar in particular,” says Wills.

H ow does one take a hugely successful trade Open Day show and improve it year after year? CEO/MD of Vermont Sales, Roland Hunt, says, “It is all down to listening to our customers and hear- ing what they want. Along with our sales teams’ input, all this feedback is reported back to us and we make the necessary changes to the show structure. We also need to ensure we have a lot of new and exciting prod- ucts to launch and introduce at the show, along with new brands. This year we introduced four new brands; Halo, Rockler, SAMedia, and Real Steel and a brand-new Tork Craft hand tool range. Included at the show were new ranges of customer display stands, shelving, POP and POS. This year the special priced products were very special.” Leading international brands were well represented, and their displays manned by international experts and local sales staff. All tools and equip- ment were on display and demonstrated so that customers could inter- face with them and handle the tools for themselves. The German power tool leaders, Festool, had a huge display with every power tool in its range on display. New innovative models and upgraded units were on the stand, along with its recently launched new innovative ISC 240 cordless insula- tion saw. Tork Craft introduced its comprehensive new range of hand tools and a host of new power tools. Alpen, Austria’s world-renowned Drill bit manufacturer, launched its technically advanced Force X concrete and masonry drill bits, and introduced a revolutionary new Smash/Sharp dust collector/drill bit combo, a first in the world. Leading international brands, including Olfa, Bondhus, Multi Sharp, Felo, GAV, Air Craft, Bessey,

Kreg, SawStop, RawlPlug, Cadex, Malco, MPS, Miles, ACCUD, Pony, Fixman, Howard, Wedgit, Drill Doctor, Bondic, Nes, Flexipads and Maun introduced exciting new products to their ranges, all of which were on show and now available in leading stores country wide. Four brands made their appearance for the first time at the show. The first being Halo, the world leaders in specialised LED strip lighting. These lighting systems have revolutionised the underground mining world. Through special collaboration with Vermont Sales, these sys- tems are now available to the general public. The product comes in the Halo HP 220 V ac and 12 V dc and is the world’s first portable lighting system. It can be customised to fit any requirement. The supporting features are intelligent temperature and voltage control, surge manage- ment, ultra-power and long life, waterproof, dust proof, flame-retardant and explosion proof. The second new brand is SAMedia, a professional diamond cutting tool range from Germany. The American Rockler fills the third new brand spot with its extensive range of woodworking hardware, and lastly, a new range of hammers and axes from Real Steel completes the new brand line up for 2019 from Vermont Sales. The ultra-quick, professional registration desk was perfectly run, with a team of salesmen meeting the customers on their arrival. Catering was at its best yet again and meals and snacks were served throughout the three days, with a well-manned bar and coffee bar.

Enquiries: +27 (0)11 314 7711

LEUZE 10 SERIES OFFERS HIGH TOLERANCE TO DIFFERENT MATERIALS E ngineered with a high tolerance to different materials, the Leuze 10 Series optical sen- sors detects objects and measures distances with an incredible accuracy of +/-30 mm. Available from Countapulse Controls, these high performance sensors have an operating range of up to eight metres. The high tolerance of the Leuze 10 Series sensors further extends to the angle of incidence, the colour, surface structure and brightness of reflective material. This enables the sensor to detect different materials, such as wood or matt as well as glossy metal, and this is possible even under varying environmental conditions. The Leuze 10 Series is also suitable for sensing applications where deep black materials are found or where objects are not ideally aligned or where they are moving rapidly. The highly visible status indicators on the devices makes for ease of use and the sensors also have large control buttons. The LED display has been designed to facilitate step-by-step com- missioning and diagnosis at the press of a button. The compact housing, with integrated recesses for M4 screws or nuts, means installation is possible in applications where space restrictions exist. However, its small size does not impact on the overall performance of the Leuze 10 Series. A comprehensive range of Leuze sensing solutions is available from Johannesburg-based Countapulse Controls. The company can assess any sensing application and provide a fit-for- purpose solution to meet the specific needs of an operation.

Enquiries: www.solafuture.co.za

Enquiries: +27 (0)11 615 7556

SPARKS ELECTRICAL NEWS

APRIL 2019