Enemalta not plugged into facts

‘Homes experience low voltage energy supply as demand increases’ read a heading in the Times of Malta on February 14.

Yes, we experience power failures and fluctuations like most people in Malta. As a result, we check our incoming supply multiple times per day. We really can’t control the amount of power supplied to us. What we can do, and do, was to have an OVR installed to see what we are supplied with multiple times a day. When it goes below 207V, we shut most things down. We know that this wildly swinging voltage can fry our electric oven and induction hob, not to mention the dishwasher and washing machine. Not to mention the A/Cs as well. And it does go into the 190s at times.

As a way to somewhat insulate us and to offset the high electricity bills of the summer and winter was to install a solar panel system, complete with battery backup that will keep our two refrigerators running when Enemalta fails. We save money, keep our food fresh and feed quite a bit of electricity to the grid. And, with our battery backup, we do not pull from the grid at night, unless we use more than what is in our battery.

The government is not pressing hard enough to have more PV systems installed. Photo: Mark Zammit Cordina

Which brings me to the most glaring point in this letter. The Enemalta spokesperson said that several factors cause low voltage, especially the need for more substations. I can see that need as our power outages happen all throughout the year.

Enemalta must work faster to install more substations. What they fail to state, however, is that developers/contractors do not always specify that each building needs more power than they are willing to pay for. Adding floors to existing buildings, without adding more power, diminishes power to all residents in those buildings. This is a major problem.

But what really caused my blood to boil was the spokesperson’s statement: “Other factors contributing to an unstable energy supply include problems caused by solar panels emitting low voltages.” In short, that statement is horse pucky.

When we researched solar panel systems before we bought, we learned many interesting facts. First, solar panels generate direct current, which is then inverted to alternating current through electronic inverters. Solar panels are not connected to the grid directly but through inverters that regulate output voltage, frequency and other parameters to match the grid. It is also a fact that modern inverters produce higher quality power output than available from the grid.

PV systems cannot cause voltage drops in the grid. As has been said before, a higher demand causes voltage drops.

Another reason for questioning the spokesperson’s statement is that, by making that assertion, he has people questioning the value of PV systems in Malta. Nothing can be further from the truth.

The real issue is that the government is not pressing harder to have more PV systems installed. PV systems are not the source of problems but the solution to Malta’s long-range energy needs. PV systems should be mandatory on all new construction - commercial, manufacturing or residential. The government should do a better job to support this challenge.

Alan Zelt – Naxxar