Vestwoods brings sophisticated batteries with advanced BMS technology to SA
Vestwoods, a fast-growing international battery manufacturer, has established a formal presence in South Africa to meet growing demand for advanced batteries to support the move to reliable renewable energy.
Headed by power industry specialist Brendon Scott, Vestwoods South Africa brings to the market advanced technology, local commissioning, and support, with warranties and a swap-out policy for greater peace of mind.
Scott says Vestwoods first arrived in the South African market in 2018, with telecommunications companies among the first to welcome the brand. “Vestwoods’ market share has grown in a short period of time to over 10%,” he says.
Vestwoods South Africa opened its first office in Centurion last year. Scott believes the brand is well positioned to meet growing demand in South Africa. “Vestwoods is a trusted global brand seeing growth in over 30 countries, including India, Japan, Korea, the US, Germany, and Hungary, as well as 10 African countries. The company will soon also be operational in Australia,” he says.
“The quality and technical capabilities of the product are superior. As an R&D focused company, Vestwoods is continuously improving and enhancing its products. Importantly, the Vestwoods proprietary battery management system (BMS) is a particularly advanced and robust system built to optimise the performance of the batteries and reduce the risk of failure.”
He notes that a significant cause of battery failures is due to the BMS. “Thanks to the quality of our BMS and battery technology, we have an extremely low failure return rate of under 0.2%.
Vestwoods South Africa offers four product streams – residential inverters and batteries; a 12V series for smaller backup applications such as camping and marine; a UPS series; and a high voltage range of commercial and industrial size batteries.
Growth opportunities in C&I market
Scott expects significant uptake in the commercial and industrial sectors, as more businesses move to optimise renewable energy for backup and to reduce their electricity costs. “In Gauteng, we get around 300 days of sunshine a year, so it makes sense to use solar where possible,” he says.
“Initially, many installers offered businesses and industries multiple residential low voltage batteries for backup and solar power, but as these businesses make solar a permanent fixture, they are looking to move to high voltage batteries that are built for commercial and industrial use.”
“The price gap between high voltage batteries and the equivalent capacity in multiple low voltage batteries is closing, so organisations are now moving to appropriate battery technology.”
Vestwoods is seeing interest in these batteries from manufacturers, office buildings, schools, game farms and agriculture.
“With our quality and well-designed technology backed by continuous research and development, customers get a safer, longer lasting product that will operate more efficiently. We have local availability, with local warehousing, which means no lengthy waits for stock.”
“The batteries are installed by approved partners around the country, and our local engineering team does the commissioning of the system once it’s installed, all included in the price. Local commissioning includes skills transfer and training to ensure installers are equipped to install and maintain Vestwoods products.”
“Local support gives our customers a great deal of peace of mind: we honour warranties locally and have a local repair centre. Our swap-out policy is also very important for customers, as they know they won’t be at risk of significant downtime in the event of battery problems,” he says.
Scott says customers typically enjoy solid savings by moving from grid only or generator power to a solar hybrid system, coupled with the appropriate batteries for the application.
“We can calculate to illustrate to the end customers how much they can save, depending on the variables of the project,” he says. “There’s always a saving in the long term, especially when you consider the avoidable losses of not being able to operate due to a power outage.”
Vestwoods – Your energy partner for a sustainable future
The first 10 installers to register on the Vestwoods website will receive a mystery prize.
For more information about Vestwoods please click here or contact the team at 012 030 5000 or [email protected].
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