United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Awards Polar Power Initial Contract to Assure Uninterrupted Quality Electric Power for African Offices
December 20 2023 - 7:01AM
Polar Power, Inc. (“Polar Power” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: POLA),
a global provider of prime, backup, and solar hybrid power
solutions, announces a contract award from the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (“UNHCR”) to provide a nano grid for one
of its offices in Africa. The pilot project is designed to
demonstrate the reliability, durability, and low operating costs of
Polar Power’s nano grid technology to provide uninterrupted,
quality electric power in bad-grid locations throughout the world.
It is anticipated that Polar’s efficient power technology will
enable as much as a 70% reduction in diesel fuel consumption, lower
operating and maintenance costs, and simultaneously reduced
greenhouse gas emissions. UNHCR operates in over 130 countries,
worldwide.
Arthur Sams, CEO of Polar Power commented, “This
initial contract provides us with a unique opportunity to
demonstrate the reliability and efficiency of our technology, and
to show its benefits in regions where the grid is bad or
non-existent. The difficulties that current backup systems incur
are the momentary loss power and high operating costs. Consider the
moment that grid power is lost, the AC backup generator starts,
warms up and then switches online to power the loads. Even power
interruptions for milliseconds can cause servers and computers to
fail, resulting in reduced office productivity with data loss and
downtime as computers reboot. Our technology solves these problems
by eliminating the switch-over from grid to backup generator.
Polar’s solution has the inverter on 100% of the time, the battery
feeding the energy to the inverter, and the utility grid and DC
generator charging the battery as needed.”
Polar Power’s compact, lightweight, mobile nano
grid systems will first use energy from the solar PV array (when
available), secondly from the electric grid when additional energy
is needed, and when the grid is down Polar’s DC generator provides
the additional energy required. The battery collects the energy
from the solar, grid, and DC generator, and through the inverter
powers the AC loads. This is also referred to as an online
uninterrupted power source (UPS); the difference between Polar
Power and other systems is its DC generator.
The AC backup generator is not typically
referred to as a UPS as there is a power interruption as the
generator comes online. The AC generator runs continuously during
the power outage consuming fuel even when electrical loads are at
their minimum. The Polar nano grid is engineered for fuel
efficiency by turning off the DC generator during light loads and
using smaller generators allowing the battery and inverter to
supply the peak loads (load leveling). Allowing the generator to
operate at peak efficiency saving fuel while reducing the DC
generator’s run time also reducing the maintenance cost.
AC backup generators are sized to meet the peak
load demand plus an additional margin to prevent the circuit
breakers from tripping. The DC generator in the nano grid is sized
to deliver the kilowatt hour usage over a 24-hour period and the
inverter with the battery supplies the peak load demand. In
bad-grids, AC generators are running longer than they are designed
for creating significant additional costs from equipment breakdowns
and lower fuel efficiencies.
“While this initial contract will power an
office providing important humanitarian aid to the region, and
there are over 100 other locations within UNHCR that can benefit
from our unique power solutions, other applicable markets could
include FEMA and other relief agencies, construction sites,
military bases, financial institutions, small data centers, and
even healthcare facilities. We look forward to collaborating with
UNHCR, and to creating new opportunities in the region,” concluded
Mr. Sams.
Polar Power expects to deliver this mobile nano
grid solution to UNHCR in the second quarter of 2024.
About UNHCR
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is a global
organization dedicated to saving lives, protecting rights, and
building a better future for people forced to flee their homes
because of conflict and persecution. The organization leads
international action to protect refugees, forcibly displaced
communities, and stateless people. Its vision is a world where
every person forced to flee can build a better future.
Formally known as the Office of the High
Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR was established by the General
Assembly of the United Nations in 1950 in the aftermath of the
Second World War to help the millions of people who had lost their
homes. Today, UNHCR works in 137 countries. We provide
life-saving assistance, including shelter, food, water and medical
care for people forced to flee conflict and persecution, many of
whom have nobody left to turn to. It defends their right to reach
safety and help them find a place to call home so they can rebuild
their lives. Long term, it works with countries to improve and
monitor refugee and asylum laws and policies, ensuring human rights
are upheld. In everything it does, UNHCR considers refugees and
those forced to flee as partners, putting those most affected at
the center of planning and decision-making.
About Polar Power, Inc.
Gardena, California-based Polar Power, Inc.
(NASDAQ: POLA), designs, manufactures and sells direct current, or
DC, power systems, lithium battery powered hybrid solar systems for
applications in the telecommunications market and, in other
markets, including military, electric vehicle charging,
cogeneration, distributed power and uninterruptable power supply.
Within the telecommunications market, Polar Power’s systems provide
reliable and low-cost energy for applications for off-grid and
bad-grid applications with critical power needs that cannot be
without power in the event of utility grid failure. For more
information, please visit www.polarpower.com. or follow us on
www.linkedin.com/company/polar-power-inc/.
Investor Relations Contact:
At CORE IR
Peter Seltzberg, SVP Investor Relations and Corporate
Advisory516-419-9915peters@coreir.com
At Polar Power Inc.
IR@PolarPowerinc.com
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