As the current summer season approaches in Australia, we are receiving more warnings of a possibly severe bushfire season. With memories of the disasters of 2019 – 2020 many people still remember being without power for days and weeks due to power lines being brought down and the dangers of reconnecting the power grid.
This threat of bushfire is becoming an increasing and more serious and long-lasting reality every year, both in Australia and overseas.
Power supply companies are turning off power earlier, particularly in areas with above ground powerlines, when there is a threat of bushfires, to prevent their infrastructure causing more fires.
Particularly in rural areas, loss of power also affects access to water, as electric water pumps no longer work. This can be devasting to livestock as well as humans and often means there is no longer access to water to fight fires.With the interconnectedness of our current power supply this also means that a problem in one area can affect power supply in multiple other areas that may have not been affected by the original bushfire.
When the grid goes down solar only connections are instantly cut off to protect the safety off any workers fixing the lines. The only way to avoid this and keep your electricity supply secure is to add batteries to your solar system to enable you to operate in an off-grid capacity for a period of time.
Depending on the type of battery and the installation, a solar system with a battery will keep the power connected when there is no power to the surrounding area. If wired correctly, the battery will still be charged by the solar when there is no grid power. A point to consider is that this does not apply to all batteries or battery installations, i.e. not all batteries or battery installations are capable of providing power when there is no grid connection and not all batteries can continue to be recharged with solar when there is no grid connection. For this reason, when installing a solar / battery system for grid independence in times of emergency you will need to consider the type of battery technology to use and make sure your installer understands your requirements.
Also consider that just like solar production is reduced on cloudy and rainy days, solar production is also reduced when there is a lot of smoke haze. This may mean installing a larger solar array than would otherwise be required to cover these conditions.
More and more people are recognising that now is the time to make their homes and businesses less reliant on the central electricity grid and protect themselves from blackouts.
People are also recognising that not all batteries are equal and the cheapest battery system to purchase upfront may not be the cheapest or safest battery in the long run, especially when reliance on them is critical to continuing your power supply independence.
It is not uncommon for lithium-ion batteries to catch fire while charging, whether they are in phones, computers, work tools, house batteries or electric vehicles. There are many instances of houses and businesses being burnt due to these fires, (current fire brigade figures are 1 lithium-ion battery fire a week in Australia causing structural damage).
What is not so widely known is that there are also a number of recorded instances of lithium-ion batteries catching fire and destroying buildings that weren’t burnt in an original bushfire due to the continued hot surrounding temperatures or the battery being disconnected from the grid for extended periods of time.
When installing energy storage batteries, both domestically and in business, or community or grid support larger installations, more people are becoming aware or the risks associated with batteries that have a possibility of going into thermal runaway.
More and more people are recognising that one of the major issues with energy storage batteries are the dangers with fires and explosions particularly associated with thermal runaway (self-sustaining fires). This has become particularly relevant as people are considering installing the many lithium-ion battery technologies in their houses or businesses and are becoming aware of the possibility of the dangers associated with this.
Salt batteries – the only chemistry UL9540A certified for safety
SoNick batteries are now one of the only batteries that have successfully passed the UL9540A certification stating they will not catch fire or go into thermal runaway. This certification tests for thermal runaway using five different methodologies; overcharge, external short circuit, nail penetration through casing and separator and overheating to 800oC,
For further information on this certification visit https://gridedgenews.com/salt-batteries-the-only-chemistry-ul9540a-certified-for-safety/ or https://gridedge.com.au/sonick-the-non-flammable-battery/, and https://gridedge.com.au/the-benefits-of-molten-salt-batteries/
If you would like to know more about getting safe, reliable, recyclable, Sodium Nickel Chloride (molten salt) battery storage for your own home, business or micro-grid application visit us at https://gridedge.com.au/
We have a number of different sized systems that can cater to your budget and needs from household batteries to grid support installations in shipping containers.