This is an article about Kunwer Sachdev’s blog on the Times of India website. It discusses job descriptions and their importance in the hiring process. In India, many organizations fail to create detailed job descriptions. This can lead to confusion and problems during the hiring process. The author of the blog is Kunwer Sachdev, an entrepreneur and innovator.
If entrepreneurship is also about turning failures into successes, Kunwer Sachdev is a born entrepreneur.
This is an article about a company called Su-kam Power Systems Limited. It discusses the company’s basic information, including its authorized capital, paid-up capital, and directors. The company was incorporated in 1998 and is currently active. It is a non-government company that is registered in Delhi.
Meet man who once used to sell pens on streets, now owns Rs 2300 crore company, got idea from…
Setting goals and achieving goals are two different things because winners and losers have the same goals, but most fail and few win. Kunwar Sachdev is one such example of achieving his goal. The saying “one thought changes your entire life” is often heard but rarely demonstrated. Kunwar Sachdev, for example, used to make a little money by selling pens door to door. One day, however, he had an idea and decided to invest some money to launch a successful business that is now operating not just in India but also in many other countries.
IBBI – A Law Impacting Entrepreneurs and Make In India Campaign
The new law, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code made with excellent intention by the Narender Modi government,IBBI – A Law Impacting Entrepreneurs and Make In India Campaign as he has the vision and the guts to change the country. Still, the law’s implementation is full of flaws, regulations keep changing every six months, and the intention with which they were made was never achieved. Instead, it became the tool for the destruction of existing Indian companies, as the companies that the Indian entrepreneurs built through blood and sweat were ruined with a single stroke of admission into the NCLT. The banks also lose their investment. The primary intent of making this law was to revive the companies and make them run if they were in trouble, then preserve their value and run them so that employment is not lost, banks can make their investments safe, and suppliers and other stakeholders can get the value. Still, if we see the data until today, most companies admitted to the NCLT have gone into liquidation, where entrepreneurs, banks, employees, suppliers, distributors, and customers suffer huge losses.
The Domino EffectThat Harms Everyone.
One big company going into liquidation creates a situation where a few suppliers and distributors also go bankrupt, which no one notices.
This law was enacted with the right intention by the BJP government, but who were the people involved in making these laws? Were they entrepreneurs, politicians, bureaucrats, advocates or academicians or bankers? In India, when the rules are being made, generally some people are chosen to make the committees who have hardly any knowledge about those subjects, or people who are celebrities in these fields are made members and don’t have time to look into the nitty gritty of that particular law point. So this law was imported from the United Kingdom and enacted, and then Indian thought was mixed with this law.
If we see the complete history of this law, we know that it keeps changing every six months. Changes were made randomly, and still, more lacunae are found out later, and changes keep happening, but a lot of money from banks is already lost. Entrepreneurs are also ruined, and so many people are suffering. However, even today, the mess is still there, courts pinpoint the areas where lawmakers did not clear so many aspects of the law, and the grey areas are left. The ultimate objective of this law didn’t achieve its purpose, and the destruction was rampant. Initially, banks were also very enthusiastic about quick recovery from this law but also realized it was a destruction of their loan amounts. As the law progressed, bankers were also punished by being put behind bars, and the bankers stopped disbursing loans. Now another challenge started for the government: bankers were not ready to give loans, and the government tried to convince them that no action would be taken against them. Most entrepreneurs were put behind bars, and the CBI, ED, and SFIO all started the harassment for the same cases. First, CBI came, then ED, and then SFIO, asking the same questions repeatedly.
Who were to decide that the loans they classified as bad loans were bad because, one day, the RBI changed the definition of bad loans to put a spanner in the running economy, which used to have easy money available? Businesses were growing fast, and maybe a few entrepreneurs and bankers were taking advantage of the systems that could have been improved by an alternative method. Implementing this law at a large scale without due diligence was a big goof-up. Still, one fine day, everything is changed without adequately considering what will happen if we restructure the system overnight. What will happen to Make in India companies that could be destroyed with this law? Are we prepared because there were many agencies for implementation, and they were not prepared and trained to handle such a situation?
IBBI – A Law Impacting Entrepreneurs and Make In India Campaign
The major challenge was determining who would run the company during the moratorium period. Their things were taken very lightly, which became one of the primary reasons for failure. The government created a post for a resolution professional and made an exam for the professionals to come and clear the exam and become the RP. All professionals who were not settled in life or people who were young and inexperienced cleared the exams and became RPs.
Big 4 And the Corruption
The next big goof was when those big four jumped into the arena, seeing the massive potential of making money, and they put these RPs on their rosters, or some other agencies that were doing similar businesses came to the fore and hired these RPs.
IBBI – A Law Impacting Entrepreneurs and Make In India Campaign
The corruption started significantly as the RPs gained experience, and they never ran companies. Even the big four never ran the companies and lacked the entrepreneurial skills and expertise to run the companies. Even the lawmakers who enacted the laws did not know how the companies were run. In the company changing management is not possible, and if done overnight, the company can be finished; this is a very tricky situation. That’s why entrepreneurs are struggling to keep their flock together who know their job, and everything is not black and white and governed by the laws that happen wherever the government functions runs on the system and processes whether they are being adhered to or not.
So when they enacted the law, the first thing was to publish an advertisement in the newspapers that the company had gone into liquidation, so please file claims against whoever had to take money from the company.
Now, people running the companies know that one day the company’s valuation will take a big dip as soon as this announcement is made in the media because all the stakeholders will stop investing money, time and effort as they become insecure about the company. The company will take a big hit. All the stakeholders or customers get a jolt about what will happen next to the company.
The customers are swayed away by the competitors with bad stories. Employees become insecure, and suppliers worry about what will happen next.
IBBI – A Law Impacting Entrepreneurs and Make In India Campaign
The IBBI guidelines do not mention the handover of the company or employees or procedures for dealing with an existing entrepreneur and the employees, suppliers, distributors, or customers. How to run the current concern as a going concern, and everything is left to the RP and his team, supported by the team provided by the companies that have hired the employees, and now the loot maar starts. Banks generally do not want to invest, and now the company that is at this stage and having cash flow issues and other issues is paying the bills of RP and his team, which can’t contribute to running the company. They only try to scare the promoter and employees with their powers. Most good employees leave the company, and a significant portion of expenses are done in the name of following processes and procedures. The company becomes broke in no time. The company which goes into the NCLT already has a very tight fund flow position, and the moment they enter, they start charging the company for various people and processes, which becomes an enormous burden on the company, which is already stressed and most of the time banks don’t invest money to save the cash crunched company. These big four make fat bills in the name of processes, people and legal expenses, which become the sure-shot recipe for a company closing down and going for liquidation. Once the running company closes down, its value is eroded completely. This has happened to most of the companies which went into the NCLT. First, the running companies are closed down by these people and then sold to buyers at 5% to 20% of the company’s value on the valuation they took over. The valuation of the company is a standard procedure in which they have to get it done by two valuers; one should get the data from the IBBI on how many companies are sold at the same valuation or more when these big fours entered the company if they have eroded the valuation than who is responsible that. Is the entrepreneur responsible for that destruction as he is kept out of the company from the day these firms take over? The RP and these big fours don’t involve the entrepreneur even in the valuation process and don’t give him valuation reports in the name of the law. Still, once everything is sold at throw-away prices, they demand the rest from the entrepreneur.
IBBI – A Law Impacting Entrepreneurs and Make In India Campaign
IBBI – A Law Impacting Entrepreneurs and Make In India Campaign
Why keep the promoter out of the valuation is a big question mark, so his company is taken over. He doesn’t get a chance to show the valuer what he has created as the promoter is the first and the last person in the small and mid-size company to tell the valuer what is lying where and how much it can be valued and to whom can be sold but that not the valuer’s concern. But not involving the promoter in the valuation and not telling him the valuation after it is done is a fundamental right being denied to the entrepreneur.
How Are Suppliers Affected?
Even the suppliers face the next significant brunt as the law stipulates that the supplier can’t get the money for his previous supplies. He can get only new money against the new supplies, which makes him pissed off and not ready to cooperate with the management, and the administration is unique. It can’t give him any commitment or assurance. So the supplier is insecure, employees get insecure, and the promoter is put in a legal tangle where he is a defaulter. He is answerable to every government agency in this world. He is accountable to RP, the banks, forensic auditors, and later to the CBI, ED, and SFIO. Now he will become old, answering to all these agencies, and will be harassed till his death.
The purpose of the law was to run the companies, which are stressed by the promoters, and give another chance to the champion to make another company and add value to society, but what came out was that the promoter was fighting his legal battles and lost his reputation. The agencies and banks also didn’t get their dues. These same agencies and countries also harassed bankers as a whole. Once the CBI raid is done, the promoter’s name and company names tell how much money he has embezzled and not what he has created, such as what brand or what kind of factories and human resources he has trained, how much tax revenues he has created for the country, how much exports he has created, or how many establishments with knowledgeable people he has built around him.
Let us take the case of Su-Kam, and when they entered the company, RP got the valuation done, which was the process part, he got the value done from two valuers, and it was approximately 300 Cr which was higher than the loan amount of that time. This valuation was done by the RP, keeping me in the dark and repeatedly, they didn’t disclose the valuation to me, which is a big question mark for the IBBI process as the banks and IBBI for the RP and the agency which ran the process whether these people sold the company more than its valuation or not. If not, then it’s a significant loss they have done to the exchequer as they could not do the right job. We are losing on a critical point as this should become the assessment point for the banks and IBBI. The bank was overdue on the day of the company going to NCLT at approximately 260 Cr, and the banks filed a complaint with the CBI that I owed them 260 Cr, and CBI filed an FIR against me and started proceedings against me. I have a question to ask from the banks and IBBI why didn’t they file the same complaint against the RP and agency handling the liquidation about how much loss they created for the exchequer by selling the company at such a low price and so many people lost the jobs and suppliers got ruined. Dealer distributors lost money in warranties, and a few closed their shutters. Where is the company valuation they took over from me and valued at Rs 300 Cr? If the company’s valuation was 300 Cr after the advertisement of liquidation, imagine they had done the valuation before the ad in the newspapers. It would have been 500 Cr plus. This has no significance in the whole process while the company is in the NCLT, as valuation is only done as a formality. In contrast, it should be seen as an entrepreneur’s honesty.
The government spent so many crores on skilling but couldn’t get jobs for the people, but here, entrepreneurs hired people without any skills and made them talented. So many people went abroad with the help of the entrepreneur’s professional setup. Now that the kids of entrepreneurs are watching their parents go through these uncertainties and bad times where all the agencies are after you, CBI, ED, SFIO, and legal cases in DRT, NCLT, high courts, or local courts being harassed by cheque bounce cases by the customers and suppliers that the company bounced. All the customers are filing cases in local courts against the company and the entrepreneur, and the company has a moratorium, but the entrepreneur has no moratorium. So, we keep going from one court to the other, fight our endless cases, and die fighting these cases, and people who are close to us will never dare to do business in this country. This law has created fear among the entrepreneurial community, as the question is not whether companies will prosper or fail but whether your business will fail in India. If you have taken a loan from the bank, then the failure of your business will become a battle for an entrepreneur, as his case will be classified as a fraud account by the banks, and his case will be handed over to the CBI for investigation. The same harassment will continue by the other agencies. Since these agencies don’t have the time to investigate such a massive load of cases, the investigation continues, and maybe till our deaths, these cases will not be decided. So, this is the real story of a failed business entrepreneur. I will die with the blame that I made a significant loss for this country by taking loans from the banks, and I’m a fraudster in the eyes of the common public. Every day such news appears in the newspaper that the entrepreneur made losses to the bank to the tune of 1000 crore or 2000 crore, and the ordinary person does not understand the meaning of this news. But there is not a small column in the news that states that when banks take over the company, then what was the company’s market value, and the rest of the amount is a loss to the banks and not the complete loan taken from the banks is a loss. The banks and the system make the rest of the loss.
Many companies that were examples of Make in India got perished and went into liquidation, and the expertise that the entrepreneurs had created went down the drain. It is a significant loss for the nation as a whole. Su-Kam is one example of the destruction done by this law, as it went to the NCLT in April 2018, and Kotak Bank was ready to give me an investment in 2019. They committed 250 crores as an investment into the company, which was refused by the bankers sitting in various courts, and the su-kam case went on in different courts. The ultimate banks received eight crores in principal out of 260 crores, and the company was sold for 50 crores. Out of 50 CR banks, while running the company, PWC already had loans from the supplier and made bills for running the company, which they couldn’t run for more than one year, and for legal expenses and salaries due to the employees, etc.
So the result is that the company was valued by them when they entered after RP loved NCLT by two valuers at Rs 300 cr, and the banks got only eight cr, for which probably the legal cost incurred by them will be more than that. I’m sure. The entrepreneur destroyed suppliers and got nothing; employees lost their jobs, dealer distributors suffered losses financially and reputationally, and the customers didn’t get service for the product they bought. Then who got benefit out of this saga?
The Supreme Court has set aside the fraud declaration by the banks as a wrong step, and we have already lost reputation, health, and confidence because of the fraud declaration. CBI registered a case against me and harassed suppliers, dealers, distributor employees and me for more than two years, and CBI also spent resources investigating the case. They called at least 100 distributors and suppliers employees, and so many were connected to the company that they were harassed. So this one case is study material for the nation, showing that a small wrong can destroy so much for so many. How will I get my pride back that I’m not a fraudster and I had a role in building the nation by creating a company which provided direct employment to 3000 people and made technology patents, kept China away from the Inverter Industry, created exports against China created RnD in the industry. They built world-class factories in India worth visiting with all the latest machinery and infrastructure sold at a meagre amount of 50 Cr. My one battery factory was constructed at an investment of 80 Cr. All my factories’ brand and distribution network was sold in Corona Times, and the buyer deposited money for two years when the properties alone could be valued at 200 Cr. Is this the fair system, and I’m asked to pay for the rest of the amount where the interest amount continues every day, and my loan of 260 Cr has become 550 Cr and will continue to add every day?
Can the Supreme Court or any other court in India get me back my five years of fighting my battle rather than decorating myself for creating an industry where I developed export of inverters rather than importing the inverters? I stopped China from entering India’s inverter industry. In the last five years, all Chinese solar inverters are ruling the market, for which my R&D had already developed the technology, which has gone to waste.
The recent development is that my RP and liquidator were found guilty in the Su-kam Power Systems Ltd. case, barred from the practice, and imposed a fine. My concern of Sharing concerns about IBBI law is not my issue only. Many companies and entrepreneurs have faced the same fate but are silent.
I thought I had the right to ask these questions and write for many entrepreneurs facing similar challenges.
To understand the charging time, one has to understand the charger’s capacity, which has been designed by us so that it charges in the defined period.
Multiple types of batteries are available in the market, with advantages and disadvantages; accordingly, we charge them based on their characteristics.
For example, if we have to charge a Tubular Lead Acid battery, we have to take a minimum of 10 hours before completely charging it.
If we try to charge faster, these Batteries will be short-lived and need frequent water topping.
Water topping in Tubular battery
If we have to charge the Valve Regulated Lead Acid Batteries, which are called sealed Maintenace Free batteries, they need to be charged in 6 to 8 hours, and if we try to charge them faster than that, their life is also reduced.
In the case of Lithium batteries, we can charge them in 2 to 4 hours, and they are designed like that and have a double or 5-time life compared to Lead Acid batteries.
It’s very important how the charger of a UPS is designed to take care of the battery as the life of the battery will majorly dependent on the charger technology.
Our UPS has a charging capacity of 15 Amp, which can charge the 150 Ah battery in 10 hours and the 200 Ah battery in approximately 13 hours. So the charger size is very important to check before buying any UPS/Inverter.
The next parameter is how the charging is done. Is it flat charging, or it’s done in stages?
In Lead Acid, battery charging has to be fast till 80 per cent of the charge, but the rest, 20 per cent, needs little slow charging because the water is hot inside the battery when we are charging it, so we need to follow a pattern by which we reduce the heating when we are charging it so that water doesn’t evaporate and the more we control the heating the life of the battery is increased.
How the temperature affects the battery is very important to understand. External temperature is very important to take into consideration when we are charging the battery. If the temperature is high outside, charging is less to charge the battery, so the cut-off voltage is lower. Still, when the temperature is higher than the charging takes more time as we need to put in more charge to charge the battery. This technology completely is called ATC Automatic Temperature Compensation technology which is required by each type of battery to make it healthy and increase its life. Lithium’s temperature plays a major role, so we must stop charging if it crosses the desired temperature.
At Su-vastika, we have designed a six-stage charger to operate the charging based on the internal and external temperature of the battery.
The charging time and the inverter’s efficiency will define your home’s electricity bill.
People complain that their electricity bill has increased once the inverter/UPS is installed at home.
This is true because when customers choose UPS, they are not given enough knowledge about the product.
So we at Su-vastika designed the charger and Inverter technology based on an efficient charging circuit to minimize the bill. So it’s important to check the efficiency of the Charger and Inverter so that the battery size can be reduced if the inverter efficiency is higher.
The concept of trickle charging is also very important to understand as this can increase the electricity bill and reduce the battery life if not designed properly by the UPS.
The companies give the battery Life as a warranty by the battery companies.
So let us understand the concept of battery life as it depends on the UPS technology to maintain and increase the battery life or reduce it via charging.
Low Voltage areas.
In some areas, the voltage is very low, and charging doesn’t happen most of the time,t especially in rural areas, because the charger works under the range of specific voltage only like most of the UPS charger works properly from 140 to 270Volts. We at Su-Vastika designed our charger to work properly even if the voltage goes as low as 100 Volts. This helps properly charge the battery in 10 hours in the case of Lead Acid batteries.
In this scenario, the power quality becomes very important for the UPS. So there are three major portions.
Waveform of the Inverter
The voltage and frequency
Switching Time
So let us start with the Waveform. When the Mains line goes in the house, and the Inverter kicks in, then people hear the noise in the fans, and people come to know that fans are working on Inverter or UPS as the noise created in the fans is because of the impurity in the waveform. So companies use various types of terminologies like sinusoidal.
Pure Sinewave form
A square wave or quasi sine wave etc., but all these waveforms create noise and heat in the appliances and reduces the life of the appliances. The waveform we get from the Electricity department is pure Sinewave, so why do we take a UPS which doesn’t give us Pure Sinewave? We at Su-vastika design our products based on Pure Sine wave only so that you can run any sensitive appliances on our UPS, like TV, Computer Music Systems, etc., with peace of mind.
The voltage required for running the appliances is generally good for appliances is 200 to 230 volts which is ensured by our UPS and the Frequency of 50 Hz only.
The switching time in UPS is crucial so that TV and appliances are not interrupted when you watch any serial or work on the computer, where the data will be lost. So we at Su-vastika designed our switching time, which is less than five milliseconds, so that no appliances can see the power cut happening and they work uninterrupted.
Every household experiences voltage and frequency fluctuations in their house. For example when the voltage goes down then we can see the speed of fan goes slow or the light goes dim in the bulbs or sometimes the tube light doesn’t get on if the voltage goes below to a certain level so that condition is called Low Voltage condition.
Also there are times when the voltage goes very high and our sensitive equipment starts getting problems. We all have experienced this condition when some times we get early morning and we switch on the light and it goes out and we realize the bulb got fused because at the time of the early morning, the voltage is generally high because the Load on the grid is minimum. So we define the voltage into three categories
Low voltage condition
Normal voltage condition
High voltage condition
It is to be noted that low as well as high voltage conditions can pose a threat to your appliances.
Therefore, in order to cope with such situations and provide protection to your appliances, our inverter/UPS consists of AVR (automatic voltage regulator). Accordingly, whenever the voltage level rises or drops to an undesirable level, the inverter/UPS automatically switches off the mains and connected appliances are run through the battery to keep them safe all the time for your peace of mind.
II Extra Protection – MCB/Special Resettable fuse.
When we design our UPS than we make sure that we provide you with an extra window for the load. So, for example, our UPS, which can run the 800 VA load we give you the option to connect the 2000VA load approximately so that in case of emergency, you can switch between the loads and also, this feature help you to give extra protection to the connected load so that they can be protected for the low and high voltage protection.
So, for example, your whole house is connected to the UPS and your fans lights and washing machine, fridge etc are connected to the inverter and suddenly high voltage comes and in that case, MCB of your house will not protect those appliances but our feature in UPS will help those appliances to switch to battery mode and in case the load is higher than the UPS will give a warning and stop the output and you can reduce the load and restart the UPS but in this case if the voltage remains high than UPS will not let you operate those appliances, and by switching off those appliances you can keep running essential appliances at that point. This is a big protection for sensitive appliances at your home, so we give you complete insurance with this feature.
The next big protection is the short circuit of any appliances connected through the UPS so they will be protected by the MCB or Special resettable fuse given in the UPS before the MCB of your home trips. So we give you double insurance circuitry.Thus, providing first and extra protection to your appliances.
Our inverters/UPS are built with the Automatic Bypass feature. Its function has been explained with the help of the following illustration:-
Imagine a situation when mains power supply is available but due to some problem occurring in your UPS and you are not getting any power unless some electrician come and remove or replace the UPS. In these kind of conditions people are very irritated specially when the inverter goes bad and it’s middle of night and the Mains power is available and they can’t call any body at that point of time and have to wait for the morning so that they can call some one for getting the power connected. We at Su-vastika have seen these situations and after doing lot of RND created a feature in which what ever goes wrong with the inverter or power you will get uninterrupted power at your disposal.
To save you this hassle, the automatic bypass feature of our inverter/UPS allows you to simply connect your appliances to the mains power supply with just the push of a button within the inverter/UPS.
E-rickshaw has become an effective mode of transportation in a country like India. Be it a Bus stand, Railway station, Hospital or Market place, e- rickshaw is easily accessible and affordable for regular commutes.
Not only economically, but it is also a green ride far-far better than conventional modes of transportation. It has also become a good source of earning for some people in society.
According to e-rickshaw owners, battery-related problems, maintenance & replacement makes it a bit expensive. Otherwise, it’s an ideal source of earning for them.
Major Challenges of E-rickshaw owners
Not only battery replacement cost but how e-rickshaw is being driven, how a battery is charged and how is the quality of the battery are also challenges that e-rickshaw owners are facing.
Let’s understand it with an example….in a normal day, an e-rickshaw driver wants to ride it for at least 10 hours so that he can earn Rs. 400 to 500 after paying the rent. But practically, he does not run it for complete 10 hours; there will be some waiting time when he waits for passengers. People don’t know, but a waiting e-rickshaw harms the battery. These waiting and uneven stoppages create different size lead acid in battery plates, which means that in 10 hours, there will be 10 different size lead sulfate crystal in his battery, and to charge these, he needs 10 different charge factors….
Normally we give one input during charging which overcharges the bottom and under charge the top lead sulfate of the charge factor. In short, such driving patterns create overcharge and undercharge problems in the lead sulfate of the battery, and going forward; it results in poor battery performance and faults in the battery.
The reality is that a huge share of his earnings goes into battery maintenance and replacement.
What is the solution?
Battery Management System (BMS) is a unique product that equalizes two or more batteries in a battery bank connected in series, thereby eradicating imbalance in the form of unequal voltage.
The way wheel balancing enhances the life of car tires, the battery management system enhances the battery life by preventing under-charge and overcharge of the batteries. Battery equalizer helps you save money by delaying the replacement of the batteries, as you get optimum life from the batteries.
Benefit of Battery Management System (BMS)
-Enhances Battery Life up-to 50%
-Saves on Electricity
-Saves Money
-Works with multiple batteries (2 or more)
-Saves from over & under charging
-Increases battery life
-Reduces battery replacement chance.
Features of Battery Management System (BMS)
Built on Microcontroller based AET technology (Active Equalization Technique)
Reduces the frequency of battery water topping, which saves maintenance cost.
LCD display Multimeter for easy viewing of equalized voltage of batteries.
Easy to install
Suitable for new & old systems.
Applications
As mentioned, it is a helpful device for equalizing multiple batteries.
A vehicle with 2 or more batteries like truck, bus, e-rickshaw
On-grid or grid-tie solar inverters are by far the most common and widely used by for homes and commercial purpose. These inverters do not require batteries and use solar inverters and are connected to the electricity grid. Whatever excess solar power is generated is exported to the electricity grid and owner get paid a feed-in-tariff (FiT) or credits for the energy you export.
But there is a challenge, On-grid solar inverters or Grid Tied Inverters are unable to work or generate electricity during a blackout due to safety reasons. Since blackouts usually occur when the power grid is malfunctions; If the solar inverter was still feeding electricity into a damaged grid it would risk the safety of the people repairing the fault/s in the network. It also stops working during voltage fluctuation. In both the cases there will be wastage of Solar Energy.
Off-grid Inverter
Off-grid inverters are not connected to the power grid that is why they require batteries for power storage. Off-grid solar systems must be designed such a way that they generate enough power throughout the year and have enough battery capacity to meet the home’s requirements, even in winters and monsoon when there is less sunlight.
High cost of batteries and off-grid inverters means off-grid systems are much more expensive compare to on-grid systems and so are usually only needed in places which are in remote areas and are far from power grid like vacation homes, resorts, farm houses etc.
A hybrid solar system has best of both On grid and off grid. It combine solar and battery storage in one and are now available in many different sizes and configurations. Due to the decreasing cost of battery storage, systems that are already connected to the power grid can start taking advantage of battery storage as well. This means storing solar energy which is generated during the day and it at night. When the stored energy is less, the grid is there as a back-up, allowing consumers to have the best of both worlds.
Hybrid Solar Inverter allow full control over your power, while keeping you grid-connected in case of emergency. Hybrid Solar systems generate power similar to a normal grid-tie solar system but use special hybrid inverters and batteries to store power for later use. This quality to store energy enables most hybrid systems to also operate as a backup power supply during a power outage like UPS.
If there is a power failure or the grid becomes unstable the unit will automatically switch over to battery supply immediately and continue to operate independently from the electricity grid.
Many governments and network operators have reduced the solar feed-in tariff or FiT. This means traditional grid tied systems have become less attractive as most people are working during the day and not at home to use the solar energy as it is generated, thus the energy is fed into the grid for very little return.
A solar hybrid system stores your excess solar energy and can also provide back-up power during a power outage. This is perfect for domestic use, farm houses, resorts, vacation homes etc.
Hybrid Solar Systems enable you to store solar energy and use it when you face an electricity cut.
The ability to store and use your solar energy when desired is referred to as self-use or self-consumption. It works in the same way as an off-grid power system but the battery capacity required is far less, usually just enough to cover peak consumption (8 hours or less) as opposed to 3-5 days with a typical off-grid system.
Key benefits of hybrid systems
Hybrid inverters have many advantages – here are some of the top ones to consider:
Flexibility
A common misbelief about solar is that if you install a Grid Tied inverter, you’ll always have power during outages. In most cases, this is not true. Traditional GTI systems automatically shut off during power failure for safety purposes, cutting off power generation from your solar panel system.
If you want to keep your home or commercial establishment running on backup solar power during a grid failure, hybrid solar system paired with batteries are perfect solution. Some hybrid inverters have both on-grid and off-grid capabilities, allowing you to continue running on solar power even if the grid fail.
Easy Monitoring
With a hybrid solar inverter, all of your solar electricity–whether being sent to the grid, self-consumed on your property, or being stored in your battery–is converted through one component. This allows for “centralized monitoring,” which means you can monitor both your solar panel system and battery performance through one platform.
Easier installation process
One of the biggest benefits of a hybrid solar inverter is that it combines the functionality of two separate pieces of equipment into one. This mean an easier installation process for your solar installer. Depending on the prices of the individual components and the labour cost, you may save money by installing a hybrid inverter from the get-go as opposed to paying for both a solar inverter and a battery-specific inverter separately.
Future-ready (Add- on is possible)
A hybrid system is possibly the most expandable, future-ready home solar setup. With some customisable hybrid systems, you can expand capacity by buying more panels or batteries. Hybrid systems may also be compatible with newer solar technologies — for example, an electric vehicle (EV) might function as one of the ‘batteries’ in a hybrid setup.
Latest Technology
While Off Grid is an obsolete technology, Hybrid Solar System is latest, cost effective and more useful.
Have you experienced a power outage when you were in a moving lift/elevator that stopped with a sudden jerk at society or hospital or business house or listened about it? What panic you observed there. I was trapped once in the cabin of our society’s lift with my little daughter. She was very terrified when the lift stopped suddenly with darkness between the two floors. And the situation can become worse in the closed lift if there are pregnant women, children, senior citizens, and patients with high blood pressure, heart disease, etc.
But there is a fullproof solution to this horrifying situation and claustrophobia of people if lifts/elevators are attached with Emergency Rescue Device (ERD). An Emergency Rescue Device (ERD) is an electronic and electrical apparatus that provides emergency power back up to the lift or elevators with almost zero switching time when the input power source or mains power supply fails suddenly. The power supply outage can be due to a fault, shortage of power, Natural Disaster, or Fire.
An Emergency Rescue Device (ERD) differs from an auxiliary or any other power backup system like Generator and Automatic Rescue Device(ARD). No Generator or existing ARD system available in the market can provide smooth operation of elevators like an ERD during a critical period of a power failure, fire, or earthquake.
Generator as Power Backup for Lift
There are two types of generator sets, Automatic Genset & Manual Genset, attached with the Control Panel that supply current to the motor for the movement of Lift/Elevator upward and downward. If the power supply fails due to any reason like power shortage, Fire, or Natural disaster, the Automatic Genset takes 45 Sec to 1 minute to provide power to the lift. Whereas in the same situation, Manual Genset takes 2 to 5 minutes to restore the power supply. Here we can think of a horrible and terrifying situation if there are Children, Pregnant women, Sr. Citizens, or critical patients on the 11th Floor and the lift stops suddenly with a waiting time of 45 Sec to 5 Minutes to resume power by Generator.
Automatic Rescue Device (ARD) as Power Backup for Lift
An Automatic Rescue Device (ARD)is a device used to stop the lift first when the main power supply is cut suddenly and rechecks all the circuits to confirm if everything is okay. This process takes at least 45 Sec and then it moves the lift to the next lower or upper floor with a lot of jerks and turbulence. It causes different problems to heart patients and pregnant women can have long terms issues in that state. It also damages the electronic mechanism of the device and becomes one of the major causes of the lift’s costly maintenance.
What is Emergency Rescue Device (ERD) & how it differs from ARD and DG?
An Emergency Rescue Device (ERD) is an electronic and electrical apparatus based on future technology developed by collective efforts of qualified and experienced electronic, electrical, and computer hardware & software engineers. An ERD provides emergency power to the lifts/elevators with a 3-phase power supply, when the mains power fails. It differs from any other emergency power system, like a generator or ARD, because it provides near-instantaneous protection from input power cut by supplying electric current stored in batteries with zero switching time.
The technology used in the development of ERD is different from inverter technology. The ERD technology is specially designed for lift loads only. It takes care of the regenerative load and the switching time is almost zero. As a result, the lift/ elevator does not come to know of the switching from one load to another.
What are the features of the Emergency Rescue Device (ERD)?
In a nutshell, the ERD has different features like a lift emergency power backup, for examples:
It provides smooth running if the power supply goes off suddenly.
It gets off at any floor without any sudden jerk.
There is no fear and claustrophobia in the mind of lift users inside the cabin.
There is a panel inside the lift to show the status of power and its back up.
There is no chance of damage of elevators for the sudden stop or excess current at the start. And finally
It provides complete peace of mind to lift’s users whether they use it in high-rise apartments or hospitals, or business offices.
What are the key benefits of ERD?
There are various benefits of ERD if it is attached to a control panel which supplies current to the electric motor to move the lift up or down:
1. ERD Protects Lift Users Life
When people are stuck in closed lifts/elevators due to sudden power outage, it creates a fear psychosis through claustrophobia and they feel choked despite proper ventilation in the lift. According to the American Journal of Psychology, this can aggravate serious and life-threatening situations for the lifts’ occupants, especially kids, pregnant women, elders, disabled, and serious patients. This small time-lapse of 30 to 45 seconds can lead to panic and horrible situations like fainting of occupants to such a situation that can trigger cardiac arrest.
2. ERD Prevents Apparatus Damages
The switching time of most Diesel Generators to supply backup current to lift control panel is relatively sluggish from 90 seconds to 5 minutes or more that causes lift electronic parts damages. But in the case of ERD, the switching time is almost zero that prevents damage to the lift’s electronic mechanisms in the long run.
3. ERD Saves Lift’s Users from Disaster
An ERD provides an uninterruptible electronically controlled software program-based power supply to the lifts in all scenarios. It includes natural disasters like Fire, Earthquake, and Grid Failure, especially for high risers in urban areas. For example, in case of fire main power supply is cut and survivors on the upper floors can come down with the help of the ERD power supply and saving them from any untoward happenings.
4. ERD will be the only power backup in future (Add-on Point)
ERD will become the only option for power backup because generators emit particulate matter containing burnt hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides (NO2). These hydrocarbons and NO2 add to air pollution. If the generator is in bad condition, it can also emit unburnt hydrocarbons, which are even worse for the environment. They also produce noise. So generators are getting banned in most of the cities in future as pollution is a big challenge for the future generations. Moreover, ERD can give as much power back up as required by the generator without any rest.
Thus ERD-enabled lifts eliminate the most horrible situation while providing disaster resilience to the buildings, users, and operators. And it saves the lives of lift users in an economical and environment-friendly manner that no generator or existing ARD system can provide.
Advantages of ERD in Brief
ERD is environment friendly as it does not produce air pollution, noise pollution, or vibration and it can be solar-powered.
ERD is developed and based on Disaster Response Management System. It maintains Fire Safety norms for the lifts and protects against Lift accidents due to power failure and earthquake.
ERD is cost-effective in the market if compared with the size and load of UPS’s cost. It has less running cost of electricity and longer life of its Batteries.
It can provide the backup time to run the lifts from 10 cycles of lift operations to 2,000 cycles depending on the load capacity of ERD attached to the control panel. And the one cycle counts for the complete one operation of the lifts from ground to top floor and top floor to ground floor.
Lithium batteries can also be used in ERD for saving space and maintaining the longevity of battery life and reduction of the battery’s weight.
The ERD is technologically designed to put on solar charge controller externally for saving the electricity cost and providing complete green solution prescribed by the green building norms.
Thus, ERD is the “All in One” Power Backup Solution for Lifts and Elevators that works with minimal human intervention and saves lives, apparatus, lifts, cost, and environment.
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