[ikk157]

South Africa is very badly affected.  Electricity supply as a rule is unreliable.  There is a problem with reliable supply in that the power stations have to undergo major maintenance and are lacking in skilled manpower with the result that the power now and then goes down on an unpredictable unplanned basis and we then have to share power for a few weeks at a time until the units have been repaired.  During such period we have to do power sharing.  Which means power goes down on a selective basis according to the region you are in and depending on the stage needed 2 to 4 sessions of 3 hour power breaks in one's area.  That is bad for business.  So business - particularly the large corporations have developed their own backup plans.  Some are creative with solar panels but solar panels are not cheap to install.  Others have worked out their own expensive methods to have their own backup plans - but of course all of this is very expensive and I guess the consumer has to pay for it in the end.

Personally it's a great headache for me with my computer.  Particularly when the power comes back on.  I could get a UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply) which will help to buffer the electricity loads, but haven't bought one yet.  I'm very careful with trying to follow the schedules of power sharing, shutting my computer down immediately after use, and I have two rechargeable torches for light.  I just pray for all of my other appliances to be OK during loadshedding periods.  

For those willing to invest in equipment to protect one's appliances one can get mini-UPSs that are cheap and that would just help power down your computer so you can shut it down.  Or you could get much more expensive UPSs where you can have more power to work on your computer.  It could go from very basic systems that are more or less affordable, to very sophisticated systems that are installed by electricians and are very very expensive - unaffordable for most.  Basically it's a backup power supply with batteries that are set up to charge when power supply is available, and once power supply is shut off by the electricity supplier, the unit kicks in with generating power.  

Some people use generators that are petrol driven but those are horribly expensive to run as one needs lots of petrol and very disruptive with noise.  Quite a number of households who have a few dollars to spare have opted for more sophisticated UPSs.  One can get a whole domestic unit consisting of a battery pack that is portable and that one can plug in TV, some lights and appliances or computers selectively.  Quite a number of homes have gone for that solution.  They can range from very basic and cheaper to very sophisticated and high-end more expensive.

Here is a good example of a high-end sophisticated inverter/battery system that would work seamlessly with the main power supply, i.e. computer or TV won't power down when the main electricity stops - the backup electricity kicks in within 15 seconds.



Here is the price for it in South African Rand.  This is approx 830 US Dollars
https://sinetechstore.co.za/shop/solar-k...tem-white/

In the above youtube show it also shows a demo for the "Ratel" product, which is a very powerful handheld inverter/battery set as backup for laptop computers and phones.  It is much cheaper - only 56$ US


https://ecodepot.co.za/products/omnipowe...charge-15w

I’d like to point out my opinion on several things you’ve mentioned in your reply:

First off, you’ve mentioned that when equipment in the power grid goes down such that it can’t supply enough power to everyone at once, you end up “sharing” power by the system you just described of cutting power to certain zones at certain times of the day. While thats an absolute nightmare on the receiving end (your end), I personally find it quite smart. Why? Well, it’s actually quite a decent temporary solution of providing at least some power while their grid is getting fixed up... much better than keeping the power up 24/7 for unaffected zones while completely shutting the power down for affected zones until whatever failed is fixed. Sure, it’s a major disadvantage to those who aren’t directly affected by the failure as now their power is getting cut to provide power to those affected directly by the failure, but it’s also great to the latter. Sure it’s not a great solution, but it’s not half bad, better have power at certain times of the day rather than no power at all!

Also, dont you think it’s about time you sell your desktop pc and buy a laptop instead? I dont quite understand why you’re sticking with something that requires constant mains power to operate when laptops are a thing! Plus, with a laptop, you won’t have to go through the financial and general trouble of getting a UPS... since laptops have their own UPS known in the modern day and age as {drum roll} a battery! (Didn’t see that coming did you?   ) It just makes zero sense to be dealing with a desktop pc while going through those persistent power outages. 

As for using UPSs as backup power (an inverter is just a device that changes a DC current to AC, it’s not the backup device thag stores the power for later use itself... but it just changes the Direct Current coming in from the batteries to Alternating current, which is what anything that plugs into the wall runs on), those aren’t that cheap at all. The one you linked wont be able to supply much power. You need something with significantly higher capacity to serve as a reliable backup during these outages, which doesn’t come cheap. Not to mention that batteries do wear out, so you’d see yourself spending more and more replacing them when they’ve been worn out past the state where they can be of any use anymore.

Also, arent the issues with parts of the power grid failing eventually resolved and power goes back to being on 24/7? Or does no one bother fixing stuff there so the issue remains forever?