The appearance of a possum in a Celesc (Santa Catarina Electric Power Plant) substation left neighborhoods in the municipality of Jaraguá do Sul (SC) without access to electricity on Monday night (7).
The wild animal caused a short circuit when it approached one of the unit's transformers, leaving more than 3,5 residents without power.
The dealership's maintenance team worked through the night to repair the damage caused by the animal, which died from the electric shock.
At the beginning of last month, more than 1 million consumers were left without power in the cities of São Paulo (SP) and Guarulhos (SP) due to a blackout caused by a kite falling into an Eletrobras substation.
The object also caused a short circuit at the site and triggered the protection systems to prevent further damage to the equipment, leading to the complete shutdown of the substation, which consists of two busbars.
Unfortunately, cases like these are more common than many people imagine, and can cause countless problems for the population, as explained by Geraldo Silveira, engineering manager at CS Consulting.
“Records of power outages in substations and transmission lines (TLs) are quite common in the country’s distribution and transmission companies. It is common, for example, for birds to build nests near transmission line insulators and end up causing power outages in the network. Another example, in this same equipment, is birds that deposit their droppings on TL insulators and end up compromising their insulation and causing short circuits in the lines,” he says.
The professional highlights that weather-related interference also causes problems for transmission lines. “During rainy seasons, power outages are very common. When caused by atmospheric discharges, the system is normally shut down, but it resumes service since it is a temporary event that is not permanent.”
“However, depending on some storms and accidents involving the electrical equipment that make up the power system, this damage may be permanent and require intervention by the maintenance team to restore the power supply. In the meantime, consumers are left without power in that region,” said Silveira.
For this reason, the engineer emphasizes that the use of solar energy systems with batteries ends up being an option for consumers who do not want to be held hostage by accidents in the electrical grid and thus have a plan B to avoid running out of supplies.
“If this consumer has any equipment at home or in their business that needs energy to function, such as a lighting system, essential electronic equipment and other critical loads, hybrid systems with batteries are essential, as they help this consumer to have autonomy when the grid is disconnected”, explains the manager.
hybrid systems
Over the past two years, the solar energy market has faced a series of challenges for the expansion of DG (distributed generation) due to suspensions, cancellations of photovoltaic projects and technical availability of the grid in some concession areas of the country.
In this scenario, hybrid photovoltaic systems with batteries are gaining ground due to the ease of approval, since (according to the Normative Resolution No. 1098/2024), if there is no energy export, the flow inversion study by the distributor is not required, since the distribution network is not used.
Silvio Robusti, Product Marketing Manager at Growatt Brazil, explains that the demand for hybrid solutions has not only been growing in the country but is also being increasingly used in homes, businesses and industries.
The executive highlights that one of the company's products in high demand has been Lithium-Iron-Phosphate batteries, which stand out for their safety and for being modular, adapting to energy backup needs.
“Connected to the photovoltaic system, they can be charged using solar energy. In addition, Growatt offers a solution without connection to the solar system, ideal for places like apartments. With the hybrid Off Grid solution, it is possible to ensure a continuous supply of energy to the apartment, even in the event of failures in the electrical grid”, explains Robusti.
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