Sparks Electrical News July 2021

STANDBY AND EMERGENCY POWER

11

Valsa’s new cash-back campaign promotes SME development in renewable energy sector

Beckhoff expands power supply portfolio

I n celebration of its 12th birthday this May, Valsa Trading has launched a cash-back voucher campaign that will ultimately im- prove the professional capabilities of its customers in the solar energy installation space and lead to a more sustainable industry. From May to December 2021, installers who spend R100 000 or more monthly with Valsa will qualify for a R2500 cash-back voucher to spend on industry-leading tools from Makita and HellermannTy- ton. Valsa MD Svilen Voychev explains: “Since we opened in May 2009, we have fostered relationships with the entire solar energy supply chain. Installers of our products have been proactive in sup- porting us, providing feedback, and helping to shape our offerings to the point where we are today – where we are a credible brand in the industry. This campaign is our way of paying it forward, where we are offering the opportunity for our customers to aquire high-quality tools which they may not ordinarily invest in, especially in the current economic and business environment.” Since Voychev launched the company 12 years ago, Valsa Trad- ing has grown into a successful business that designs, manufac- tures, and supplies mounting system solutions for all types of roofs, carports, ground, pole, facade, floating and tensile cable applica- tions. A comprehensive range of PV solar products is also available from the company, which services PV solar installers, resellers, and EPC companies. With the vision of lowering the barriers to entry for new installers in the industry, Voychev decided to extend this campaign to new as well as existing customers. “It is in the best interests of the industry, and new businesses starting out, to have greater access to high- quality tools. Without the right tools for the job, installers cannot work to the best of their abilities. This campaign puts the right tools in the hands of installers, allowing them to provide a higher stand- ard of work to their customers. This adds longevity to their work, and ensures that they can make optimal use of the equipment they are installing.” Voychev highlights that customer satisfaction is vital. With the tools on offer through the cash-back, installers can do their jobs and ensure the installation is streamlined, compliant with industry regula- tions, and executed to the customers’ specifications. This ultimately ensures that the installed equipment lasts throughout its specified lifetime. “We have grown to become the number one local mounting man- ufacturer in South Africa, and are excited about sharing our expertise and knowledge with clients through the experience we have gained over the years thus contributing meaningfully to the solar energy value chain” says Voychev. “We have been agents for Makita and Hel- lermannTyton products for some time now, and we know they share our vision in this campaign.” Empowering entrepreneurs with the right tools for the job

Voychev reports that the response to the campaign has been great thus far: “Our customers are seeing the value in this idea, as they receive the right tools to do a great job at no cost to them.” Local products for local conditions, backed by edu- cation Poor installations result in sub-par system performance, non-com- pliance of the installation or, in some cases, complete system failure. “When an installer can’t do their job properly, it can be disastrous for their business reputation and existence – it doesn’t matter if you are a new business or well-established. What’s more, end-users may also suffer disastrous consequences.” Through this campaign, Voychev hopes to promote the importance of selecting the right products for a particular application, backed by an understanding of what it takes to install a fully compliant, properly installed PV solar system. “We look forward to being a proactive part of the development of our industry. Having learned many lessons in our years of doing busi- ness, we feel that it is our responsibility – and our honour – to share our expertise and resources,” concludes Voychev. Installers who are interested in this promotion can visit www.valsa. co.za for more information.

24/48 V dc power supplies are universally required in every machine and plant and are therefore critical to reliable operation. With the new PS9xxx sup- plementary modules for the PS power supply series from Beckhoff, another efficient option is now available for avoiding machine and plant downtime and as a result, increasing system availability. With the PS power supply series, the corresponding supplementary mod- ules and the CU81xx UPS series, Beckhoff offers a complete and coordinated range of solutions for reliable power supply in the 24 and 48 V dc range. The range of functions of the PS power supplies now extends further with new buffer and redundancy modules. Buffer modules prevent power disturbances The PS90xx buffer modules prevent disturbances caused by voltage dips and fluctuations in the electrical grid or by peak loads, so that the power supply units and connected loads can operate reliably and without failure. For this purpose, the buffer modules store energy via maintenance-free electrolytic capacitors and release it as required. In this way, power failures, for example, can be effectively bridged. The buffer modules require no control wiring; they can be added in parallel to the load circuit at any point. In addition, multiple modules can be connected in parallel to provide more power or further increase the power failure bridg- ing time. Redundancy modules avoid system downtime The PS94xx redundancy modules create a redundant fail-safe supply net- work. In such a system, two or more power supply units are connected in parallel and decoupled by one or more redundancy modules. This prevents an output-side short circuit in one of the power supplies from short-circuiting the output voltage. The redundancy modules use efficient MOSFET technology for decou- pling, which reduces voltage drops and thus power dissipation. Accordingly, the devices have significantly lower power loss compared to conventional diode modules. One-cable solution offers special benefits Beckhoff’s new CU81xx UPS series is designed for universal use. Due above all to the flexible connection options extending up to One Cable Technology for uninterruptible power supply (UPS-OCT), the series is suitable for a broad range of applications. This includes the entire range of Beckhoff components – in particular the Industrial, Panel and Embedded PCs – as well as third- party products. In combination with the Beckhoff Industrial PCs, particularly efficient cabling is possible with just one cable for 24 V dc supply and com- munication through UPS-OCT. The uninterruptible power supply units from the CU81xx series have been designed for rear panel and DIN rail mounting. At present, one capacitive and two battery-assisted versions are available: • CU8110-0120: Capacitive UPS (0,9 Wh) with a maximum power output of 120 W. • CU8130-0120: Battery-backed UPS (15 Wh) with a maximum power out- put of 120 W. • CU8130-0240: Battery-backed UPS (30 Wh) with a maximum power output of 240 W. In the battery-assisted versions, the NiMH battery cells are easily accessible from the front should they need to be replaced. The UPS neither needs to be dismantled nor dismounted from the DIN rail for this purpose. It is only necessary to release two screws in the cover to replace the battery module. A special feature of the UPS series is its flexible communication capabil- ity, which allows the retrieval of status values for diagnostic purposes or the configuration of the UPS. All Industrial PCs with an appropriate interface and Windows 7 or 10 operating system can thus be connected in the conventional way via USB 2.0. In the simplest case, e.g. when using a classic PLC, digital I/ Os are also available so that, for example, the controller can read a power fail signal and respond accordingly. The UPS connection can be implemented much more conveniently with the UPS-OCT one-cable solution, which is currently supported by the C6030 Ultra Compact IPC, the CX52xx Embedded PC series and the CX2100-0024 Embedded PC power supply unit. This solution combines the IPC power sup- ply with the UPS communication in a single 24 V dc cable. This makes the installation much simpler, because the IPC can be supplied both with power and all necessary information directly from the UPS with just one cable. UPS- OCT will be supported by all Beckhoff Industrial and Embedded PCs in future.

Enquiries: +27 (0)11 675 3834

Valsa Managing Direc- tor, Svilen Voychev with Frik Blom from Blom’s Electrical, the first re- cipient of the PV Solar Cashback Campaign.

About Valsa With offices in Namibia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Botswana and Swaziland, Valsa Trad- ing’s head office and manu- facturing facility is based in Johannesburg and supplies PV Solar Mounting Systems and related PV products throughout South Africa and Africa. Valsa designs, manufactures and supplies mounting system solutions for all types of roofs, car- ports, ground, pole, façade, floating and tensile cable applications. A full range of PV solar energy products is also available.

Valsa Managing Director, Svilen Voychev.

Enquiries: www.beckhoff.co.za

SPARKS ELECTRICAL NEWS

JULY 2021