Dealing with Power Drops and Brownouts?

There are other possibilities _- I've been looking at them because my home supplier has issues.
Solar power should be pretty much a reliable option over there for daylight hours, and battery back up is an option for night time.
Another way is to pop in a charger/inverter from the mains supply with a pile of batteries.  They charge the batteries when the power is on, then use the stored power when it dies.
Of course this is a more limited option as batteries don't come cheap so, if you have a long power cut, it will only last for  given time (depending on how many batteries you have), but it's quiet and works.

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Great ideas, Fred.  Thanks!

I found charger/inverters in Ace hardware - I think you have them over there so that might be a start. I find Ace stock good quality gear, but the prices aren't always the best.
Short of anything else, it'll let you see first hand what you need.
Batteries vary, but I still prefer lead acid leisure batteries as they tend to work very well, are reliable, and tend to be cheaper than Lithium ion - However, they are less efficient.

Computers are easy - use a USI bought one after many power cuts over several days and have never had a problem since.
However, I just use laptops now so that sorts that out. Most mortals can use a laptop happily as these things are easily powerful enough to run the sort of software most people use. I set my kids up with laptops, then added larger monitors and a keyboard and mouse.
Works a treat for school stuff and so on, but it isn't a solution for people with more extreme computing needs.

So let's explain a couple things about the power grid.  Most of us get our power from one of the three EDE'S. Edenorte edesur and edeste.

They have 4 categories A through D.

A has no scheduled power outages.  But can have unscheduled outages due to demand or breakdowns on the grid.

B has up to 4 hours a day of scheduled outages plus unscheduled.

C has up to 8 hours a day of scheduled outages....

D don't even consider it.

The category depends on the paying history of the area and "load loss" or theft from the lines.

The theft from thing into the lines is a massive problem in some areas. But don't be fooled it happens in high end and commercial areas too.

We have seen massive improvements and many more people now pay for electricity.

An inverter and battery system is your fastest and easiest way to ensure your machine works.  Living in an A grid is important too.  It is not fun to live with scheduled outages.

But the inverter and batteries here unless you are shipping a container.

We don't have Ace but we do have other options!

Once you decide long term where you want to be and buy a place, you can look at other options.

I put a surge protector on important items but many appliances purchased here have them already built in.

It sounds like you have an absolute need for an alternative system in your houses out there.
I'm taking a serious look at solar because we have similar, but far less severe, issues here.
Add I would like the AC on all day for my kids but the electricity bill would look like an international phone number if I did, and I'm leaning towards it.
The panel cost isn't horrible, but the batteries add a lot so a daylight only system with a small battery backup looks like the way to go.
That gets me the AC all day, and enough to keep the fridge and some fans running for a few hours at night when all else fails.
I don't want an on grid system as I really don't want to deal with the local power company - looking at Planner's post, I suspect that would apply to you as well.

Here it is tough to get completely off grid.   The costs are still pretty high to go solar.

And,   educate me please -  I am told you need a specific kind of  air conditioner to run it on  only solar. Is that correct?

As to back up -  I would not live here without at least  an inverter and batteries to run fans, computer, TV,  internet etc.   Running fridge and everything on an inverter  requires a LOT of batteries and isn't necessary for a  4 hour outage.

There are two types of solar I'm looking at. The first is a 12v system for my car (it's a mini van). The reason I'm looking at that is I want to spend a couple of days away every so often so I would like to install a 12v fridge and a few other bits and bobs, perhaps even a 12v air conditioner if I can get one for the right money. That means no hotels so total freedom. I have worked out a 'no build' system that gives me a bed, toilet, and shower. I was amazed at how cheap and easy it was to work out how to do it.
I'll decide on the solar system when I can find a self contained 12V AC unit. If they cost too much, a very small (cheap) solar system will do the rest of what I want, including a microwave for warming things up (using a small inverter). I'll use a sealed lead acid battery as it will do the job at a better price, albeit less efficiently.

The main one is for home because using air con all day is crazy money but we could really use it. That would, with just a single battery, mean I can run AC all day at zero cost after instalation, but run it at night from the mains.
A system with a pure sine wave inverter will run anything you can from the mains, including AC. However, inverters are not 100% efficient so you need more panel generating capacity that just the peak wattage you use.

We are going the solar with battery backup route. 24 panels and 24 batteries. We will also be connected to the grid, selling our excess solar production (after batteries are full) to offset the power we might need to draw from the grid at night, during peak demand, or if we happen to have a few days with little sunshine!

We’re working with EVR Solar in Las Terrenas. They import everything from Germany. The entire package with panels, batteries, inverter, smart panel controller thing is less than half what we were quoted for just panels and inverter in the US!

ddmcghee wrote:

We are going the solar with battery backup route. 24 panels and 24 batteries. We will also be connected to the grid, selling our excess solar production (after batteries are full) to offset the power we might need to draw from the grid at night, during peak demand, or if we happen to have a few days with little sunshine!

We’re working with EVR Solar in Las Terrenas. They import everything from Germany. The entire package with panels, batteries, inverter, smart panel controller thing is less than half what we were quoted for just panels and inverter in the US!

I would love to hear how things go for you, and I suspect a few more readers will as well.
Please keep the thread up to date with costs and savings, as well as your experiences with the instalation and power companies.
That stuff might very well be of interest to a lot of people, especially if the local grid is a bit of a problem.

There is a Tesla Powerwall dealer in SD.  Ten year warranty, automatic electric quality conditioning, full sine wave output.

Fred wrote:

Please keep the thread up to date with costs and savings, as well as your experiences with the instalation and power companies.
That stuff might very well be of interest to a lot of people, especially if the local grid is a bit of a problem.

This is a new build with solar from the start, so we won’t be able to compare. We’ll gladly share feedback on how it’s working once it’s in place! We’ve now spent almost 4 hours with the solar guy, talking through what we need, how much space the system will take, how much ventilation is needed in the electric room, etc. I’m hoping all of our up front planning will make this a success!

Fred wrote:

There are two types of solar I'm looking at. The first is a 12v system for my car (it's a mini van). The reason I'm looking at that is I want to spend a couple of days away every so often so I would like to install a 12v fridge and a few other bits and bobs, perhaps even a 12v air conditioner if I can get one for the right money. That means no hotels so total freedom. I have worked out a 'no build' system that gives me a bed, toilet, and shower. I was amazed at how cheap and easy it was to work out how to do it.
I'll decide on the solar system when I can find a self contained 12V AC unit. If they cost too much, a very small (cheap) solar system will do the rest of what I want, including a microwave for warming things up (using a small inverter). I'll use a sealed lead acid battery as it will do the job at a better price, albeit less efficiently.

The main one is for home because using air con all day is crazy money but we could really use it. That would, with just a single battery, mean I can run AC all day at zero cost after instalation, but run it at night from the mains.
A system with a pure sine wave inverter will run anything you can from the mains, including AC. However, inverters are not 100% efficient so you need more panel generating capacity that just the peak wattage you use.

Fred: 

You sound like the quintessential maker, tinkerer or fixer.  A gift for things mechanical, electronic or whatever.

More power to you!  (In more ways than one...)


Jim

Thanks, everyone!  This is exactly what I was hoping for, and more. 

I looked at solar in Idaho, but it doesn't make as much sense there.  Too far North.  I hadn't transitioned mentally to the far-better for solar DR. 

If anyone else out there has other experiences or additional advice, please share them.  I'm sure many expats, current and future, will benefit.

Good luck getting a portable AC unit to run off solar panels you can carry with you.

If my life depended upon electricity being on 24/7 I would have a charger/inverter system with a generator that automatically kicks on if the batteries go below 50%. 
I would also have a whole house surge protector or at least a surge protector on the circuit to your medical device.

I am a retired electrical engineer, when I moved here in 2003, we had power on 10 hours a day.  About 2 years ago we were put on a class A 24/7 circuit, such as 24/7 power is in the DR.  Been through many inverters and batteries and fuel along the way.

So both the education and the experience! A valued voice here Windeguy

For the property I built in the campo, the mains power supply is very variable so I bought a pole mounted transformer to ensure the supply is consistent. It wasn't so expensive. 500USD plus concrete pole.

Nobody pays for electricity in this part of the campo but I am sure the Edeeste will get around to doing that when they put in decent infrastructure.

An inverter and  back up generator is sufficient now for me and no doubt the solar option will become viable in the future.