For electrifying households or small companies in rural areas, features like easy installation, reliability, and robustness are pivotal. Various participants in international development cooperation, as well as aid organizations, use the Power-Blox system in many projects. “Reliable electricity is crucial to achieve almost all the goals of sustainable development, as well as for disaster relief operations. Our power cubes are currently being used by the Swiss aid organization for humanitarian aid in Indonesia for electrifying water treatment plants and in emergency accommodation during tsunami relief,” says Matthias Mack, Director of Alternative Energies at Stäubli Electrical Connectors.
Power-Blox is a full-fledged power system, which supplies 230 V of AC power in addition to the conventional 5/12 V of DC current. All the necessary components are combined in a compact red box. The modular concept makes it possible to set up an isolated application that is independent of the power grid and to power individual devices by simply stacking the cubes until the required power and capacity are achieved. In contrast to conventional systems, this avoids the risk of over- or under-dimensioning. With patented swarm technology, the “plug-and-play” concept for the individual cubes allows the network to be commissioned, expanded, reduced, or divided up – without technical planning or installation work. Like a school of fish in nature, all the components adapt to the environmental conditions without a central controller.
The innovative Power-Blox power cube was appointed finalist for PV Magazine’s “Array Change Technologies Award” this month. “In addition to its use in Indonesia, the nomination by PV Magazine’s expert panel confirms for us that we are on the right track with this concept for off-grid projects,” declares Boris Horn from Stäubli.
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