Power Outages

[Prasert]

While in cloudy Europe whole villages use sun collectors only, that technology should be usable in the tropics since a long time, I wonder.

The price for a 100Wp solar panel is 10000 baht in Thailand and those are solar panels, not daylight panels!

The price for a 12V battery with a capacity of 200Ah is 5000 baht.

To connect these, you need a solar charge controller (few hundred baht) and you can start collecting energy.

To use it, you need an inverter capable of handling the required load. For an efficient model, prices are around 10000 baht for 500VA, 24000 baht for 1kVA.

Daylight panels provide 100% of their rating during daylight (roughly 12 hours).

Solar panels provide 100% of their rating for maybe 8 hours per day (cloudy days are not good...).

So with all this, calculate the required investment based on the power usage in your house. For that amount of money you can probably use government electricty for the next 30 years...

[ClaudeFeller]

While in cloudy Europe whole villages use sun collectors only, that technology should be usable in the tropics since a long time, I wonder.

The price for a 100Wp solar panel is 10000 baht in Thailand and those are solar panels, not daylight panels!

The price for a 12V battery with a capacity of 200Ah is 5000 baht.

To connect these, you need a solar charge controller (few hundred baht) and you can start collecting energy.

To use it, you need an inverter capable of handling the required load. For an efficient model, prices are around 10000 baht for 500VA, 24000 baht for 1kVA.

Daylight panels provide 100% of their rating during daylight (roughly 12 hours).

Solar panels provide 100% of their rating for maybe 8 hours per day (cloudy days are not good...).

So with all this, calculate the required investment based on the power usage in your house. For that amount of money you can probably use government electricty for the next 30 years...

Backup systems have nothing to do with solar but with batteries and a generator.

A smart backup uses the cheap grid power to recharge batteries after power outage (like every UPS). To keep the batteries setup small and cheap a diesel generator should be used for longer power outages which are not so frequent.

For Koh Tao:

Every solar setup is cheaper than the private sold grid for 30 THB/kW. But Koh Tao is by far the most difficult market for new products requiring an higher investment. Maybe the low season is too long to keep money or the island mentality is too strong...

[Chayaphum]

Anyone know where I can buy a big backup generator. I need enough electric to run 15 air conditioners 3 computers 60 light bulbs 2 Steam & Jacuzzi Rooms 20 showers all at the same time All prices, companies, locations would be helpful

just buy the best http://www.cumminsgeneratortechnologies.com/en/

Tesco Lotus works with generators from this company.

F_1996_Tesco_en.pdf

whats about this one....

http://classifieds.thaivisa.com/miscellane...apan-15289.html

Chayaphum

[Prasert]

Backup systems have nothing to do with solar but with batteries and a generator.

A smart backup uses the cheap grid power to recharge batteries after power outage (like every UPS). To keep the batteries setup small and cheap a diesel generator should be used for longer power outages which are not so frequent.

For Koh Tao:

Every solar setup is cheaper than the private sold grid for 30 THB/kW. But Koh Tao is by far the most difficult market for new products requiring an higher investment. Maybe the low season is too long to keep money or the island mentality is too strong...

Claudefeller, you're missing my point. It's not about backup but about using solar versus the grid.

The private grid is indeed very expensive for 30B/unit but still everybody is connected and using it while gov.electric is down.

I guess the advantage is not having the noise and maintenance of a generator. Pretty good deal years ago when the unit price was half. Now the rumours say they want to go to 40B/unit......

[BigC]

Backup systems have nothing to do with solar but with batteries and a generator.

A smart backup uses the cheap grid power to recharge batteries after power outage (like every UPS). To keep the batteries setup small and cheap a diesel generator should be used for longer power outages which are not so frequent.

For Koh Tao:

Every solar setup is cheaper than the private sold grid for 30 THB/kW. But Koh Tao is by far the most difficult market for new products requiring an higher investment. Maybe the low season is too long to keep money or the island mentality is too strong...

Claudefeller, you're missing my point. It's not about backup but about using solar versus the grid.

The private grid is indeed very expensive for 30B/unit but still everybody is connected and using it while gov.electric is down.

I guess the advantage is not having the noise and maintenance of a generator. Pretty good deal years ago when the unit price was half. Now the rumours say they want to go to 40B/unit......

i got a ups back up for my computer but when the power cuts out it makes annoying alarm which i cannot turn off. are there better ups's that do not make these stupid alarms

[Chayaphum]

Backup systems have nothing to do with solar but with batteries and a generator. A smart backup uses the cheap grid power to recharge batteries after power outage (like every UPS). To keep the batteries setup small and cheap a diesel generator should be used for longer power outages which are not so frequent. For Koh Tao: Every solar setup is cheaper than the private sold grid for 30 THB/kW. But Koh Tao is by far the most difficult market for new products requiring an higher investment. Maybe the low season is too long to keep money or the island mentality is too strong...

Claudefeller, you're missing my point. It's not about backup but about using solar versus the grid. The private grid is indeed very expensive for 30B/unit but still everybody is connected and using it while gov.electric is down. I guess the advantage is not having the noise and maintenance of a generator. Pretty good deal years ago when the unit price was half. Now the rumours say they want to go to 40B/unit......

i got a ups back up for my computer but when the power cuts out it makes annoying alarm which i cannot turn off. are there better ups's that do not make these stupid alarms

no i do not think so, this is a normal function of (every) UPS.

I had the same problem with my UPS.....but the solution is very easy:

1. open the UPS

2. search for a small round piezo-buzzer, mostly black colored (about 10-20mm diameter)

3. open the top lid from this buzzer

4. remove the thin gold/silver wafer plate inside

5. close the buzzer

6. close the UPS and enjoy the next power cut (he will coming soon, sure)

it is very easy to do that....good luck!

Chayaphum

[sbk]

The UPS beeps to tell you the power is out. The faster the beeping the less power the UPS is holding. Take out the beeper and if you don't shut down right away you won't be sure when your UPS is running out of power.

[Prasert]

Get a UPS from APC.

You can configure it, e.g. turn the beeping off. You can also configure it to shut down your computer once there's less than 5 minutes of battery backup left. All done through an additional cable plugged into your USB port.

[visionquesthai]

From two reliable sources; the power outages are due to the marine power cable changes that are taking place, including the line that supplies Koh Phangan. Expect them for 10am to 10pm everyday for a bit(no specifics there)....they have apparently made a statement alerting villages to this. It is the same reason this took place a couple years ago, they are on rolling blackouts throughout the island and some will be worse depending on what substation you may be closest to.

are you sure? we havn't heard anything. if true, that really sucks, 12 hrs/day, that would be very unusual.

Not 12 hours aday....they are "rolling" blackouts throughout the island....meaning going from place to place during those hours.....

[BigC]

Backup systems have nothing to do with solar but with batteries and a generator. A smart backup uses the cheap grid power to recharge batteries after power outage (like every UPS). To keep the batteries setup small and cheap a diesel generator should be used for longer power outages which are not so frequent. For Koh Tao: Every solar setup is cheaper than the private sold grid for 30 THB/kW. But Koh Tao is by far the most difficult market for new products requiring an higher investment. Maybe the low season is too long to keep money or the island mentality is too strong...

Claudefeller, you're missing my point. It's not about backup but about using solar versus the grid. The private grid is indeed very expensive for 30B/unit but still everybody is connected and using it while gov.electric is down. I guess the advantage is not having the noise and maintenance of a generator. Pretty good deal years ago when the unit price was half. Now the rumours say they want to go to 40B/unit......

i got a ups back up for my computer but when the power cuts out it makes annoying alarm which i cannot turn off. are there better ups's that do not make these stupid alarms

no i do not think so, this is a normal function of (every) UPS.

I had the same problem with my UPS.....but the solution is very easy:

1. open the UPS

2. search for a small round piezo-buzzer, mostly black colored (about 10-20mm diameter)

3. open the top lid from this buzzer

4. remove the thin gold/silver wafer plate inside

5. close the buzzer

6. close the UPS and enjoy the next power cut (he will coming soon, sure)

it is very easy to do that....good luck!

Chayaphum

cheers i'll give it a go. hope it don't cost me another 2000 baht for a new 1 lol

[BigC]

The UPS beeps to tell you the power is out. The faster the beeping the less power the UPS is holding. Take out the beeper and if you don't shut down right away you won't be sure when your UPS is running out of power.

when the power goes there isnt much u can do anyway. but i like to keep my fan going during a black out. just have to turn it off because i cannot handle the beeping

[Chayaphum]

http://www.weloveshopping.com/template/e1/...mp;shopid=11393

works with LPG/NGV

Chayaphum

[sbk]

The UPS beeps to tell you the power is out. The faster the beeping the less power the UPS is holding. Take out the beeper and if you don't shut down right away you won't be sure when your UPS is running out of power.

when the power goes there isnt much u can do anyway. but i like to keep my fan going during a black out. just have to turn it off because i cannot handle the beeping

You use your UPS to run your fan? You mean a floor fan?

There's a thought, how long does it last just running just a fan?

[BigC]

The UPS beeps to tell you the power is out. The faster the beeping the less power the UPS is holding. Take out the beeper and if you don't shut down right away you won't be sure when your UPS is running out of power.

when the power goes there isnt much u can do anyway. but i like to keep my fan going during a black out. just have to turn it off because i cannot handle the beeping

You use your UPS to run your fan? You mean a floor fan?

There's a thought, how long does it last just running just a fan?

not sure i have never timmed it but next time i will. i can plug just about anything into it that has a plug. got about 5 plug adaptors. i also run my computer off it. but i don't really need it once everything is saved. can power fans, lamps. not sure how long cause the bleeping drived me mad. will have to take the thing aprts when i can be bothered and try to cut out the noise.

[Mark Wolfe]

Odd how these "rolling black/brown outs" due to "repairs" happen to coincide with rain storms....

[sbk]

We were told by EGAT that when there are intense lightning storms the power is turned off, if there is a strike and it damages the underwater cable it is very expensive to bring the ship out to pull up the cable and repair it. I thought this was common knowledge.

[Mark Wolfe]

How could lightning strike an underwater cable? This is impossible.

There were intense lightning storms in the past and my power was not affected nearly as much if at all.

I was not aware that lightning hitting something underwater (cables on the sea bed) was common knowledge. I must be uncommon.

[sbk]

did I say the lightning would hit the underwater cable? Hmmm... I must be unusual for thinking that lightning can strike in one place and travel along a cable. Oh wait, I can't be that unusual since I saw the lightning strike that hit my neighbors place travel down the line and fry my computer, modem, printer and fax machine.

Now I remember why I don't bother posting any information in this forum.

[Mark Wolfe]

I could be wrong, but I seriously doubt this is a concern.

"Gosh, lighting strikes...we never thought of that!"

I'm not an expert or even a general knowledge guy, but I believe it safe to assume that safeguards of international quality have been put into place for such events. This doesn't happen in developed countries.

Unless of course we are talking about Thailand's underwater cable being a string with two tin cans at the ends....

If I had to bet, I'd say it was decaying infrastructure of some sort. The "lightning traveling down a cable under the sea damaging the cable (How? Does it hit some anomaly along the way? If electricity surges along a path, it continues until it meets resistance, like your toaster. I'd believe surface substations might be affected, circuit breakers and what not, but not the actual cable on the sea bed.)" sounds counter-intuitive.

But let's have some electrical engineer weigh in. Is it possible to have a lightning strike (where would it hit to enter the underwater main cable?) damage an underwater cable such that the cable would have to be raised from the deep for repairs?

[sbk]

mark, did you read my post? This is what we were told by the electric company when we called to find out why the power was off. Argue with them about it.

[sbk]

To return to the subject at hand: I spoke with my husband this morning and he said that the power at our place has not been going off lately so it seems to be Samui specific work.

[bazmlb]

Some posts have been deleted.

Discussion of moderation is not allowed on the public forum, if you have a question for a moderator then please use the PM function.

[SamuiRes]

I spoke with my husband this morning and he said that the power at our place has not been going off lately so it seems to be Samui specific work.

My office is on the Ring Road in Chaweng and we have been suffering these blackouts for weeks now. They are not long, maybe only a few seconds, but every few minutes. Last Monday I counted ten within an hour and a half. It would not be so bad if our UPS's caught this, but for some reason they do not - we have changed them and upgraded them to no effect. Talking to the PEA in Nathon on Tuesday they said this was due to a lot of repair work they had been carrying out on faulty lines and should be OK now. So far so good as we only had one brief outage yesterday. Still does not explain some of the longer blackouts we have had in the evenings though does it!

[Mark Wolfe]

This is what we were told by the electric company when we called to find out why the power was off. Argue with them about it.

If they post, I will.

I would expect the power company to tell you any old song and dance to keep you quiet. Sort of the equivalent of the dog ate my homework. You didn't stop to think if it was a tall tale?

Mark: "What's with all these power outages?"

Power Company: "Uh, it's the lightning. It's the ...uh, the lighting hits the ...uh, cable, yes, the cable...and then it, let's see...it, uh...oh, I know! It damages the cable!"

Mark: "Can't you fix the cable or prevent this? It never used to go out so much."

Power Company: "Oh, well, uh...the thing is that the cable is, uh...like...oh, I know! It's underwater! That's it! The cable is underwater and it, uh, the lighting damages the cable under the sea and boats have to come and fix it...but we don't have boats, er, I mean we don't have, ...uh, I mean the boats are busy."

Mark: "Oh, well, you're the electric company, you should know. Thanks."

Power Company: "My pleasure."

[longtom]

Thanks for the information SBK, and rest assured many of us appreciate it.

Mr Wolfe is barking up the wrong tree me thinks.

[Kenbarl]

Thong Sala has not had a blackout since just after songkran.

It will be nice to see Samui in blackness whilst we have lights, instead of the other way round.

[Birdman]

Thong Sala has not had a blackout since just after songkran.

It will be nice to see Samui in blackness whilst we have lights, instead of the other way round.

The cable to KPG comes FROM Samui...

[sbk]

Indeed, but if they are working on the lines in Samui they shouldn't be turning it off in Phangan. There is one cable that connects Phangan to Samui. If the work being done is elsewhere on the island I don't see why they would turn off Phangan as well

As for the electric company, no Mark, they just take the phone off the hook when they turn off the power on Koh Phangan. Answering questions isn't in their job description apparently.

[gerazsolt]

We have power outage again in Bophut, God bless the internet still works. Carabao concert as well, i think the guy who repairs it at the concert now... They have generator of course.

I notice when there is two or more short blackout after we dont have power for hours, this used to be in the past 4 years always...

My sense is nothing to do with underwater cable, or lightening or flood or whatever, its just overloaded from the mass amount of usage on this circuit and the transformators turn off for safety reasons, then they send someone to turn it back on. We need to find out where is this box and go there to turn it of manually or "ThaiVisa Mass Protest" next week at the electric company office in Nathong?

Edited May 14, 2009 by gerazsolt

[Chayaphum]

My sense is nothing to do with underwater cable, or lightening or flood or whatever, its just overloaded from the mass amount of usage on this circuit and the transformators turn off for safety reasons, then they send someone to turn it back on.

that is the truth! All other statements are excuses or lies, from EGAT (www.egat.co.th/en/) or someone else.

We do not have the required power capacity on the island. Thats it

Tonight again, at 22:15, power blackout at Chaweng (Ringroad from BigC until Bangkok-Samui Hospital)

Chayaphum