Keep the lights on during load shedding

While the recent move to level 2 of the national lockdown has been widely welcomed, many businesses have encouraged their employees to continue working from home as the country comes to grips with COVID-19.
However, the reintroduction of load shedding due to the strain on the national power grid has often made working from home a frustrating experience – not to mention the significant challenges that it creates for small businesses. For people working from home being unable to communicate with their employers for long periods during the day is simply not an option and for families, being unable to provide warmth and security during these periods can feel like an uphill battle against the dark.
“We know that Load shedding is here to stay. With regular power outages expected to be part of our daily routine for the foreseeable future, more South Africans are looking for ways to mitigate the impact of load shedding on their electricity supply,” says Ellies GM: Commercial, Gary Gillingham.
Understanding what product or service is needed to secure your home electricity supply is a complex task. To tackle this complexity, Ellies Electronics has added the Sunsynk Hybrid Inverter to their existing range of products.  This allows Ellies to offer the perfect solution to customers who are looking for the best option to keeping the lights on when its most needed.
The Sunsynk Hybrid Inverter is available in three variants from Ellies: the 3.6KW, the 5KW and the 8KW. Each of these inverters can be stacked to run in parallel or in three phase configurations depending on a customer’s needs. This means that if a customer starts off with the 3.6KW model, they are able to add up to four of the same model inverters to increase their capacity accordingly. This is a fully scalable system, enabling customers to expand according to their growing needs.
“The Sunsynk smart inverter coupled with the correct batteries can provide even the most electricity hungry homes with the backup power they need to keep running during load shedding,” says Gillingham. He adds that in many areas around the country, the aged electricity infrastructure means that homes are often left with power outages long after load shedding has been lifted, because of a trip at a substation that requires a technician to resolve the power outage. The Sunsynk solutions being offered by Ellies can run your basic appliances like a fridge, lights, television and decoder, computer and Internet along with other smaller appliances for up to 2 days, based on the average household consumption of electricity of 1.6KWh. This runtime depends on the size of the battery bank installed in the home.
To simplify the decision process for customers, Ellies has created seven prebuilt packages which includes the Sunsynk Hybrid Inverters to ensure that the range of customers’ needs are addressed when selecting the perfect backup power options available. Ranging from just over R40 000 for a stored energy solution for basic home appliances through to a premium package that will effectively take a client off the grid.
These pre-packaged offers all include full installation and maintenance plans and are backed by experienced technicians and a certificate of compliance based on the intensive training by Sunsynk. The inverters also have a 5-year warranty and Ellies technicians are always available to assist, bringing peace of mind to customers.
“A key feature of this range of inverters is that they are a hybrid solution. That means that they are able to switch between grid generated power, solar power, or any other electricity generation method that homes, or small businesses have available to them,” says Gillingham.
A hybrid solution brings many benefits to homes, especially those that have noticed the recent increase in electricity tariffs and are looking to reduce their long-term costs. Many consumers assume that installing an inverter and batteries means they are “off-grid”, but this is simply not true. “They are still reliant on Eskom to provide the supply that charges their batteries, unless they can generate power through solar power, wind power or whatever other means of generation they have available to them,” adds Gillingham.
Other additional features which make the Sunsynk system and the Ellies solutions appealing are first, that they are easy to install and second, they have “smart features”. These features include remote monitoring and customers can get settings changed as and when they need – no matter where they are. Most of the products available to the market with smart features like this are incredibly expensive. The Sunsynk systems are the most affordable inverters available in the market, which include these smart home features.
For more information on Ellies SunSync offerings visit www.ellies.co.za
 
About Ellies Electronics
Established in 1979, Ellies Electronics is the leading Southern African manufacturer, importer, wholesaler and distributor of quality satellite, multimedia, electronic, electrical, lighting, energy-efficient and power solutions products, to both the residential and commercial sectors. Ellies also supplies aerial and satellite equipment, accessories and hardware. Our mission is to offer customers solutions that truly make a difference in their lives. As an industry leader, Ellies prides itself on always innovating useful products, built on a bedrock of quality, and engineered to the highest standards.
Ellies Electronics is a subsidiary of JSE-listed Ellies Holdings.
For further information, please contact:
Shenanda Janse van Rensburg
+2784 777 1977
shenanda@ten320.co.za

Market Segment
System Size
Total Capacity
Residential
0 - 30 kWp
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Commercial and Industrial (C&I) - SSEG
30kWp - 1MWp
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C&I Large Scale and utility scale
1MWP - 50MWp
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Utility Scale
> 50MWp
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TOTAL
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