South African power protection and management solutions provider Powermode, introduced a long-run battery solution in September for its uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system, says MD Jack Ward.

“The batteries will be constantly monitored through digital mobile telephony method Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), which enables us to provide a three-year guarantee for the battery,” he tells Engineering News.

The amount of temperature a battery can sustain and the amount of energy it uses can also be tracked on the GSM system.

Ward says Powermode conducts an equalisation battery balancing, which involves closely monitoring the environment in which a battery operates, such as temperature levels and cell balancing, to prevent the battery from discharging, which culminates in its destruction.

“Temperature is the main killer of batteries; however, through the process of equalisation battery balancing, we increase the battery’s reliability,” adds Ward.

He notes that the company’s focus on extending long-running battery standby power stems from overall power-reliability concerns, including load-shedding among the retail chain outlets – particularly in rural areas, which are often without power for days.

Challenges that these retailers currently face include dated and ill-maintained electrical infrastructure. Ward adds that Powermode has also started to provide standby power to smaller malls and standalone stores in areas such as Limpopo and the Eastern Cape, which have had to deal with downtime owing to power outages.

“These areas continue to experience general power-supply issues that include not only load-shedding but also general reliability,” he reiterates.

Powermode’s UPS systems work in tandem with generators and are designed to keep some lighting and tills in a shop functional during a power outage so that retailers do not have to stop doing business. These systems are supplied to major retailers such as Shoprite Checkers and Pick n Pay stores nationwide, as well as smaller stores.

Continuous power is a marketing strategy that retailers can leverage; subsequently, more retailers are investing heavily in standby power solutions as they realise that electricity and reliability issues will not be solved quickly – this increases the need for stringent continuous power solutions, explains Ward.

He notes that a UPS system together with a generator helps in maintaining uninter- rupted power supply during a power failure. A UPS runs on batteries and has a limited run time ranging between 30 minutes and three hours.

About Powermode

Headquartered in Johannesburg and Cape Town, Powermode is a service-centric organisation with a nationwide support footprint. It has an incident-managed service infrastructure in place that covers the whole of South Africa.

Powermode’s Engineering division markets a range of UPS and power management systems. It also services backup generators and standby power systems.

The Solar Energy division specialises in the fields of solar power technology, photovoltaic inverters and hybrid systems for domestic, commercial and industrial applications.

The company’s portfolio of high-quality products is supported by the highest levels of customer support, technical depth, ethical practices and value for money.