Madurai :

Power cuts and poor voltage have been a regular feature, troubling both residents and industrialists alike in the region. When inverter sales are booming due to erratic supply, a retired electrical and electronics professor here is enjoying uninterrupted power supply without using one. This is possible by making use of basic direct current (DC) from solar power and batteries. The advantages of this scientifically well-proven concept, now tried by P S Kannan, is that power will be available uninterrupted and that without incurring high electricity charges.

Though, low DC power is more efficient than alternating current (AC) is the common system world over for power distribution is AC due to its transmission efficiencies. Kannan has made his home immune from power vagaries by using solar panels and batteries. He uses minimum AC-based grid supply during night.

“Solar power is DC and the power stored in batteries is also DC. I use DC power for running electronic equipment at home without using an inverter. Most electrical appliances and electronic gadgets can be used with DC power. Running a DC system along with the common AC system eliminates the need of inverters, the method is useful to avoid sine-wave problem in inverters. Battery life will be high and there is no transmission loss,” Kannan said.

An inverter converts AC into DC which is enough to run a few lights and fans or other low-power devices.

All electronic equipment/devices available in market can directly be powered using 180 to 280 volts of DC sources, instead of 230-volt AC sources required for normal operation, Kannan explained. Thus television, personal computers, tube lights with electronic ballast, CFL lights, mobile chargers, DVD players, digital set top boxes, electronic table and ceiling fans can be operated with a DC source, say solar batteries, without using an inverter drawing power from AC sources, like typical power grids, he said.

“The problem of using inverter is that it depends on power supply in the main grid. It affects the quality of power supply at home. In turn, the grid is affected when more number of inverters is used by power consumers,” Kannan said while stressing on the disadvantages of AC system.

To exploit the advantages of DC power, one has to invest in a solar system which is available between Rs 30,000 to 70,000. “My objective is to sensitise public about the option of an uninterrupted power system without using inverter,” he said.

R N Karunanidhi, a former colleague of Kannan, said they have installed it in a colleague’s home. One model is installed in a private engineering college for research and development. “I am working on using DC for induction stoves. If it succeeds, it can be very useful for cooking with solar power and ideal for places like forests and remote areas without electricity,” Kannan added.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Madurai / by J. Arockiaraj / March 12th, 2014