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SXS Events

  • SolCell

SolCell

SolCell is a revolution in sustainable temporary power. Temporary Sustainable Energy.

SolCell allows your event, construction site, or other temporary power requirements to be fulfilled by energy from the sun – even when there is no sun.

What is SolCell?

SolCell is a hybrid energy system that blends solar energy and stored battery energy to provide the most sustainable energy solutions available.  The energy from SolCell is sustainable, reliable, scalable, silent and exhaust/fume free.

How does SolCell work?

The SolCell Racks are stored adjacent to our commercial solar farms and are charged over a number of days to fill their capacity with readily available energy.  All energy that goes into SolCell racks is entirely sustainable and has zero-emissions.   The SolCell Racks then leave our base fully charged and ready to provide power where and when it is needed.

Once the SolCell Racks are onsite they can provide 48 volt DC or 240 volt AC electricity.   High-power sine-wave inverters are used to create 240 volt AC electricity which is exactly the same as what you would typically get from power sockets fed from grid electricity.

When in live use mode the SolCell racks can continue to collect solar energy with photo-voltaic (PV) solar panels setup onsite.   Of course this requires sun.    This energy is then used directly by the equipment onsite with any excess being used to charge the batteries for later use.

How does SolCell deliver solar power at night or when there is no sun?

The is the first question people ask! SolCell uses the latest industrial-grade batteries to store energy that was captured earlier from photo-voltaic (PV) solar panels.  This means SolCell captures the sun when it can and delivers power when it is needed.

What can be powered by SolCell?

Anything that can be powered by mains / grid electricity can be powered by SolCell.    The only limit is the amount of power that can be delivered.   The standard SolCell MR-7-VLA Rack can deliver a continuous 7000 watts of energy with peaks far higher than that.    That is over 1,500 modern downlighters!    We are developing a system that will provide a continuous power supply of 200kW which is comparable to larger diesel generators.

Can SolCell power larger systems?

Absolutely!  SolCell is an entirely scalable system – both in terms of stored energy, inverter power and solar input.   The standard MR-7-VLA rack has additional “Slave Racks” which can be attached in parallel which doubles the power capacity – there is no limit to the number of Slave Racks that can be added to the system.

What Happens if the SolCell battery runs out of power?

If a system is designed properly this should not happen.   But if it does, don’t worry because SolCell Racks have a main-input for charging.  A standard IP-rated 32amp supply can be plugged in which will both run the equipment onsite as well as recharge the batteries.   However, we like to avoid using this because it means the system is not using fully-renewable sources.

Do you operate educational programs around solar and sustainable energy production?

Aboslutely!   A major part of the SolCell project is educating people about the merits of sustainable energy and how this can be integrated into mainstream energy usage.    For all projects where SolCell systems are used we are glad to run a workshop that gets people involved with learning about solar and battery systems.  This workshop is particularly suitable for young people and is hands-on and fun.    Workshop leaders are DBS Checked and the program has been risk assessed and conducted with a  number of groups.   We do not charge for these workshops.

Are the batteries harmful to the environment?

There is a lot of debate over the extent to which battery systems are reusable and how damaging they can be to the environment.  Many people are concerned that the benefits of battery-based energy solutions are outweighed by the environmental impact of end-life disposal of the batteries.   One of the best things about SolCell is that we have completely sidestepped these issues by only using batteries that have already had a full life as utility-critical backup supplies.   This means we are essentialy up-cycling batteries that would otherwise be disposed of.

But doesn’t that mean they have less life in them?

Not necessarily.   The applications the batteries have been used in are ones where they may have never been discharged.  The reason they are no longer usable in that role is because it is utility-critical and they are replaced on a rolling basis to ensure they never fall below optimal performance. 

What happens to the batteries when their performance is no longer good enough for SolCell applications?

These batteries continue to be used for other applications.  At our Bristol-base we capture our excess solar into batteries for later use.  While this is less efficient with older batteries we are still collecting energy that has zero-emissions.    In this application the batteries have a very long usable life.   We also donate sub-optimal-performance batteries to workshops, off-grid hobby systems and enthusiasts.   We have never, and hopefully never will, dispose of a single battery!

How reliable are the batteries?

Prior to being installed in SolCell racks all batteries are tested extensively to ensure they are performing optimally.    All batteries are tested prior to each use also.

The batteries we use are made up of four cells.   These batteries are then wired in series to create of a 48volt supply from a total of 16 cells.   These 48v arrays are then wired in parrell which means that even if one fails the rest of the array will continue to deliver power.

Where can I hire or buy SolCell Systems?

SXS Events are the sole supplier of SolCell systems in the UK.  Please contact us for more info

SolCell Racks are not available for purchase – this is because we insist that they are always provided pre-charged exclusively from solar energy which we do at our facility in Bristol.

For more information call 0333 022 0171

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