To begin with, the external environment of the facility is very critical aspect of the audit  and  it is always the first point of call such as North-South orientation of facility, type of external wall, vegetation around the facility  and window surfaces, while the interior inspection will cover electrical installations and appliances, electricity and water consumption patterns. and finally the behavioral pattern of users

For  Energy Audit to be effective,  people should be exposed to an education and awareness campaign in order to effect behavioral change over use of air conditioners, fridge access or switching on-and-off lights in unoccupied rooms or spaces. Adopting best practices could factor 15% cost reduction benefits to the occupants. Some of the measures could involve retrofits, replacement of incandescent with fluorescent light bulbs or ageing equipment upgrades as cost-saving measures.

The danger is that, bad electrical installation is a time bomb and often ignore by many due to ignorant  and believe that God will Protect, it is recommended that power audit should be conducted annually like health check to determine its status, integrity and capacity to continue to function as designed. ” Yes, God protect but we must do the needful”

Power Audit business and family is all about safety, economy and sustainability.

What is Power Audit ?                           

Power Audit is an engineering activity with the objective to evaluate and report risks within the electrical infrastructure. Identify anomalies and propose solutions, also identify short term remedies while the long term solutions may be implemented in phases subject to severalty of the issues identified and budget constraints of customer.

The audit will entail us conducting thorough load studies from simple current measurements and hot spot-checking at termination points to detailed power analysis using sophisticated power analyzers over several weeks to generate useful data on peak demand, usage patterns electrical transient harmonics, frequency analysis, and utility power quality.

Scope of the Audit

• Determination of power quality of the facilities under       investigation
•  Determination of power quality needs of critical types of equipment ( redundancy and availability)
• Single point of failure analysis, present constraints, capacity, risk, and redundancy analysis
• Continuity and integrity of connections checks
• Quality and capacity of existing electrical equipment
• Power protection system analysis
• Earth integrity test.
• Cable sizing and Coding
• Circuit breaker trip setting and fault current carrying capacity reviewed
• Circuit breaker coordination review
• Monitoring and report
• Comprehensive report with measurement and recommendation

Benefits of the Audit

• improving power quality of the facilities especially to critical equipment
• The chance of fire outbreak due to bad electrical installation and appliances is reduced to near zero.
• It is economic, safety, and sustainability gain
• Power audit reduces the electric bills by more than 30% as inefficient loads are identified and taking out of the power network
• Valuable work hours are protected and dirty electricity can damage critical electronic working tools like computers, printers, switches, etc, disrupting business activities

Considering the above assertions, we, therefore, ask that you commission us to carry out the power audit of your facilities  which is in tandem  with the saying  ”prevention is better than cure”

System Design – Basic Parameters

In the quest to develop an effective solution that would suit our specific power needs, it is essential to consider the following:

Load Type/Capacity

Inverter/UPS Size & Type

 Backup Time

 Grid Supply (Utility)/Generator Availability

 Battery Type

 Budget

LOAD TYPE / CAPACITY

In a bid to design an effective and functional Solar, Inverter, or UPS system, it is pertinent to understand the type of load to be powered. This is so important to determine the Size and Type of UPS/Inverter that would be capable of handling such loads.

We have different types of load and these loads play a huge part in the effective functionality of the UPS/Inverter system. The Load Types Include Basic Loads (Household & Office appliances); Inductive Loads (Elevators, Escalators, Medical Equipment, etc.) as well as Very Sensitive/Critical Loads (IT Equipment, Medicals, etc.).

The Cumulative load wattages determine the Size and Type of UPS/Inverter be used.

INVERTER/UPS SIZE & TYPE

What is an Inverter?

An inverter is a compact, rectangular-shaped piece of equipment that is usually powered by either a combination of batteries hooked together in parallel or by a single 12V or 24V battery. In turn, these batteries can be charged by Public Utility supply, gas generators, automobile engines, solar panels, or any other conventional sources of power supply.

The primary function of an inverter is to convert Direct Current (DC) power into standard, Alternating Current (AC). This is because, whereas AC is the power supplied to industry and homes by the main power grid or public utility, the batteries of alternating power systems store only DC power. Moreover, virtually all household appliances and other electrical components and equipment depend solely on AC power to perform.

UPS Vs. Inverter

The basic function of both Inverter and UPS is the same in that they store electricity in a battery when power is available, and provide it to various devices in the event of an electricity outage. However, they both are different in their circuitry, price, functions, etc. All UPS contain a DC -AC Converter ( Inverter) as well as a AC to DC Converter ( Rectifier)  for  battery charging, but not all inverters offer a built-in battery charger, which would then need to be purchased separately.

A key difference between an inverter and a UPS is the time taken by them to provide power supply from the batteries in the event of a power failure: an off-line UPS (the standard) switches to battery power within 3 to 10 ms after mains power has been lost. An inverter changes over in anything from 25 to 500 milliseconds. Gadgets that can’t tolerate even this time lag or which may be damaged by being incorrectly shut down, such as a computer or sensitive medical equipment, are paired up with a UPS rather than an inverter, precisely for this reason.

Another notable difference between the two, is that true online double-conversion UPS are credited with regulating and monitoring the fluctuations in the flow of electricity. UPS protect against line abnormalities like surges, voltage fluctuation, under-voltage, over-voltage, spikes, and noise. This is the main reason why electronic devices featuring delicate circuitry are backed-up using a UPS, instead of an inverter. The same doesn’t hold for the inverter, as it simply stores and relays electricity in the event of a power failure, but it does not necessarily  monitors it.

Types of Inverter – Based on Output Waveform

True Sine Wave Inverters have been developed to replicate, if not improve, the quality of power provided by main power grids or power utilities. They are specifically recommended to power high energy-consuming electronic gadgets and equipment. True Sine Wave inverters are more expensive than Modified Sine Wave inverters and are the more powerful and efficient option of the two.

Modified Sine Wave inverters are much cheaper and are capable of running fewer or selected number of household appliances and fixtures, for example – kitchen appliances, lights, and small power tools. However, this type of inverter may not possess the capacity to power high energy-consuming equipment and appliances, for example – computers, microwave ovens, air-conditioners, heaters, and laser printers.

Square Wave Inverters are the simplest form of output wave available in the cheapest form of inverters. They can run simple appliances without problems but not much else, it would damage such appliance(s).

 Based on Size & Battery Configuration

The size of inverters ranges from as low as 100w, to well over 5000w. This rating is an indication of the capacity that the inverter can simultaneously and continuously power a high-wattage piece of equipment or appliance or a combination of multiple units of such items.

The Battery Voltage also ranges from 12VDC to as high as 720VDC

BACKUP TIME / AUTONOMY

This is the estimated period for the specified load to run on the battery (accumulator) when there’s a power outage. The backup time determines the number of batteries that would be sufficient to cater for the specified load within the specified time ceteris paribus.

It should, however, be noted that if the load is increased beyond the specified load level, the backup time decreases and vice-versa.

SUPPLY FROM GRID

The Grid is critical to the effective running of the inverter/UPS/Solar Solution.

The Inverter/UPS systems rely solely on the grid to charge the batteries for storage in the event of a power outage.

The requirement of the Grid is OPTIONAL when designing for Solar solution depending on clients’

SPECIFICATIONS: OFFGRID or HYBRID

INVERTER BATTERY & TYPES

Inverter batteries are designed to better handle the power requirements of a power backup supply system. It is quite different from car batteries because, under normal operation, inverters require a large amount of current to supply to appliances/devices over a long period.

Hence, the Inverter battery must be able to supply a reasonable amount of current over long periods whereas car battery is designed for mainly starting the car engine and maybe power the car electronics, which are mostly low power.

All inverter batteries in the market are rechargeable lead-acid batteries. Some require more maintenance, and some are ‘almost’ maintenance-free. They are usually rated 2V, 6V, and 12V. Broadly speaking, there are two ways to categorize lead-acid inverter batteries.

When differentiating batteries based on electrolyte technology, the two battery types are:

Flooded or Wet Cell batteries or VLA battery

Sealed Lead Acid (SLA) or Gel Cell batteries or VRLA battery

Flooded or wet cell batteries are the standard lead-acid batteries which require more maintenance and need to be kept upright all the time. SLA batteries are also known as maintenance-free batteries, although it still requires some sort of cleaning and is more expensive than flooded ones.

When differentiating batteries based on plate technology, the two battery types are:

Flat Plate

Tubular inverter batteries

Tubular inverter batteries are more sophisticated with a life span that could be 8- 10 years and are more efficient than flat plate lead-acid batteries.

Note: You’ll find wet cell battery with a flat and tubular plate and similarly you’ll get gel cell battery with flat and tubular plates.

COMMON TERMS USED IN SYSTEM DESIGN

Watt (W): Watt is the measure of how much power a device uses when turned on or can supply.

If a device uses 100 watts, it is simply the voltage times the ampere (rate of current). If the device takes 10 Amps at 12 Volt DC, it uses 120 watts power. That is 10A x 12 V = 120 W.

Watt Hour (WH): A watt-hour (or Kilo Watt-hour – kWh) is simply how many watt times, how many hours the device is used. If the device uses 100 watts for 10 hours, it is a 1000-watt hour or

1 kWh. The electricity tariff is based on kWh.

Ampere (A): It is the measure of electrical current at the moment. Amps are important to determine the wire size for connecting the inverter to the battery. Low gauge wire will heat up and burn if heavy current flows through it from the battery.

Ampere Hour (Ah): Amp-Hour usually abbreviated as Ah is the Amps x Time. Ah is the measure of battery capacity which determines the backup time of the inverter

SOLAR ENERGY

Solar energy is created from sun radiation.

Solar power is captured when energy from the sun is converted into electricity or used to heat air, water, or other fluids.

There are currently two main types of solar energy technologies:

Solar thermal: these systems convert sunlight into thermal energy (heat). Most solar thermal systems use solar energy for space heating or to heat water (such as in a solar hot water system). However, this heat energy can be used to drive a refrigeration cycle to provide for solar-based cooling. The heat can also be used to make steam, which can then be used to generate electricity using steam turbines. It is considered more efficient to build solar thermal electricity generators at large scale, typically in the tens to hundreds of megawatts

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• Solar photovoltaic (PV): the conversion of sunlight directly into electricity using photovoltaic cells. PV systems can be installed on rooftops, integrated into building designs and vehicles, or scaled up to megawatt-scale power plants.

The danger is that, bad electrical installation is a time bomb and often ignore by many due to ignorant  and believe that God will Protect, it is recommended that power audit should be conducted annually like health check to determine its status, integrity and capacity to continue to function as designed. ” Yes, God protect but we must do the needful”

Power Audit business and family is all about safety, economy and sustainability.

What is Power Audit ?                           

Power Audit is an engineering activity with objective  to evaluate and report risks within  electrical infrastructure. Identify anomalies  and propose solutions, also identify short term remedies while the long term solutions may be implemented in phases subject to severalty of the issues identified and budget constraints of customer.

The audit will entail us conducting thorough load studies from simple current measurements and hot spot-checking at termination points to detailed power analysis using sophisticated power analyzers over several weeks to generate useful data on peak demand, usage patterns electrical transient harmonics, frequency analysis, and utility power quality.

Scope of the Audit

• Determination of power quality of the facilities under       investigation
•  Determination of power quality needs of critical equipment ( redundancy and availability)
• Single point of failure analysis, present constraints, capacity, risk, and redundancy analysis
• Continuity and integrity of connections checks
• Quality and capacity of existing electrical equipment
• Power protection system analysis
• Earth integrity test.
• Cable sizing and Coding
• Circuit breaker trip setting and fault current carrying capacity reviewed
• Circuit breaker coordination review
• Monitoring and report
• Comprehensive report with measurement and recommendation

Benefits of the Audit

• improving power quality of the facilities especially to critical equipment
• The chance of fire outbreak due to bad electrical installation and appliances is reduced to near zero.
• It is economic, safety, and sustainability gain
• Power audit reduces the electric bills by more than 30% as inefficient loads are identified and taking out of the power network
• Valuable work hours are protected and dirty electricity can damage critical electronic working tools like computers, printers, switches, etc, disrupting business activities

Considering the above assertions, we, therefore, ask that you commission us to carry out the power audit of your facilities  which is in tandem  with the saying  ”prevention is better than cure”