Everyone is talking about Lithium Ion. But while everyone was TALKING, a company called Sinetech was already designing and building one of the first and most cost-effective lithium solutions available in South Africa: The PowerBank. The PowerBank is the latest addition to the well-known Omnipower brand by Sinetech. This Lithium Ion energy storage solution was first launched at The Solar Show Africa 2016, held at the Sandton Convention Center in March.

The PowerBank is a high power and compact 48 V, 6.5 kWh energy storage solution capable of being discharged to 80% for approximately 5000 discharge cycles. One of the best features of The PowerBank is its versatility and affordability, allowing it to be a true competitor even when
compared to lead-acid battery prices.

The secret behind the versatility and affordability of the Omnipower Lithium-Ion storage systems is the fact that The PowerBank was designed locally, taking into consideration what the local market requires. Market experience and an understanding of local user requirements is something Sinetech has plenty of, considering the company has been in the solar and back-up power industry since 1995.

One of the major roadblocks facing other Lithium-Ion battery systems is that they are normally restricted to a certain make and model of inverter; the iconic wall-mounted battery offering from a certain US electric-car manufacturer, for instance, can only be used with the SolarEdge inverter. The PowerBank on the other hand can be used with most programmable off-grid, grid-interactive and back-up inverters. Another major obstacle faced by most of The PowerBank’s competitors is that of limited instantaneous power delivery capability. The PowerBank can easily handle 6.5kW continuous power draw as well as a 10kW in rush capability whereas the “other” very well-marketed Li battery (at the time of article release: 6 May 2016) can only deliver 3.3kW of power.

Being able to use The PowerBank with various sizes and types of inverters holds definite advantages. One of the most important is being able to match the system to the user’s need, in the form of energy requirements as well as budget. Therefore the system can adapt to the lifestyle of the user … the user does not have to adapt to the system.

The Omnipower Lithium-Ion storage system is extremely cost effective even when compared to high-cycle lead-acid batteries; this is mainly due to The PowerBank’s longevity and high cycle life. In order to compare the costs of The PowerBank with that of lead-acid we compare the Rand per kilowatt hour (R/kWh) each technology can deliver, calculated by taking the cost and total kWh over the batteries’ life time into account. The life cycle cost of The PowerBank (±5000 cycles) is approximately R 1.85 / kWh compared to that of a high cycle lead-acid battery (±1500 cycles), which is approximately R3.65 / kWh. From this it can be seen that The PowerBank comes in at almost half the life-cycle cost when compared to lead acid batteries.

The system was designed with aesthetics in mind and is a perfect fit for any home or business, large to small, be it modern or classic. The PowerBank is compact and available in an assortment of colors including black, white, red and blue.

On the front of the unit you will find an LCD display showing all important information; the Omnipower logo on the left-hand side of the unit is also illuminated and changes colour according to the state of charge of the battery. For example, when the battery is fully charged, the logo will be illuminated in blue; as power is drained from the battery system, the colour will change from blue to green, to orange and finally red when the battery is nearing empty. This enables the user to gauge the status of the battery with a mere glance at the unit from a distance.

Don’t just talk about lithium-Ion, take action! THE FUTURE OF ENERGY STORAGE HAS NEVER BEEN THIS AFFORDABLE. Get The PowerBank today.

For more information please contact: sales@sinetech.co.za