PacB Group // Electricity Utopia Doesn’t Exist, but Uninterrupted Power Supplies Do

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Electricity Utopia Doesn’t Exist, but Uninterrupted Power Supplies Do

To the uninitiated, uninterrupted power supply may sound like an electricity utopia, a place where the electricity is always on and available, however much you need or want, whenever you wish to use it, and the power is never out or off.

It never fails or breaks down; it’s always well-maintained, up and running, and no one enjoying this utopian existence has ever heard of or experienced load shedding – the 21^st century bugbear of the South African population, the country’s economy, and its international investment potential.

No Guarantees from the Grid

Then, there’s the reality. Although load shedding – the term – may be endemic to South Africa, there’s no country in the world which doesn’t occasionally experience power outages or failures, some worse or more frequently than others. Nevertheless, the guaranteed, fail-safe, consistent uninterrupted supply of electricity is what every power supplier strives to attain, here in South Africa and right across the electrified world.

A Component of Seamless Electricity Provision

As it pertains to the seamless and on-going provision of electricity, a UPS (uninterrupted power supply) is a component of electricity-generating equipment. It is a particularly relevant component of large diesel power sets endowed with industrial capacity. These are programmed to take over electricity supply when a failure (even if only of momentary duration) or a power dip or surge in the grid occurs.

Effect on Sensitive Equipment and Processes

Sensitive equipment, such as computer systems, as well as equipment used during production processes, cannot afford to have glitches occur. To operators of sensitive industries and processes, any power interruption may have fatal consequences, resulting in damage and/or loss of money, product and quality, or complete batch destruction. 

Eliminate Effect of Anomalies  

Although tiny energy supply anomalies may not even be noticeable to most people, certain systems are so sensitive that even the slightest variation or gap in available electrical power, as may happen during switch-over from mains to generator, is immediately detected, causing the equipment to react negatively. The use of UPS eliminates this if properly and professionally matched, selected and installed to complement the generator and its capacity.

Stand-Alone Option

An uninterrupted power supply can also be used as an independent, stand-alone power supply solution when a mains failure occurs. However, there are a few ifs and buts, because this technology is battery powered. The UPS will only perform its function if its batteries are charged (via mains electricity, while or when it is available), but once the batteries have run down, your UPS stops providing power until the grid is live and active again, and the batteries have had sufficient time to recharge.

One important limitation of a UPS must be understood clearly. This technology is not intended to act as an alternative to the function of mains or generator-derived energy: i.e. the UPS does not provide electricity to power an entire home, office or plant – it only supplies the sensitive or crucial appliances/machinery.

Stand-alone UPS units are primarily designed and used to continue providing a seamless supply of electricity to computers in data centres, banks and financial institutions, where any interruption or glitch may cause irreparable and irretrievable loss of data.

Generally, the larger your UPS is, the more batteries it has and the more power it’s able to produce. At the same time, it can operate for a longer period before the batteries are discharged and the unit itself loses power – just like any rechargeable battery-powered small appliance or tool. The prices of uninterrupted power supplies increase commensurate with their size and capacity.

PacB Group UPS 

PacB Power Solutions, one of the key companies in the PacB Group, is recognised as a prominent manufacturer of unbeatable uninterrupted power supplies, which the company distributes throughout South Africa and other African countries.

A sister company in the Group, PacB Global, is responsible for the import and export of various components required in the manufacture of generators, renewable energy solutions and UPS/batteries. PacB Electech attends to installations, service level agreements, repairs, and monitoring of all PacB products, inclusive of uninterrupted power supplies.  

Comprehensive Range 

Broadly viewed, the PacB Power Solution’s UPS ranges are twofold – single-phase and three-phase, starting with 1kVA – 10kVA single-phase, followed by above 10kVA, where the three-phase option applies. Kindly note that PacB is also able to assist clients with a “three-phase in” and “single-phase out” option.

Only a few key features of each product are listed below, but there are more, which may be viewed on PacB Group’s UPS webpage or by contacting PacB Group via the “Contact Us” website link or by telephone. 

Axil 1 – 10kVA Single-phase

• High-efficiency mode (ECO)
• Wide input range
• Compact design
• DSP control
• Extendable run time
• Dual input (for 6 – 10kVA)
• 1 + 1 parallel (for 6 – 10kVA)
• Multiple communication ports
• Removable bypass and DB combination for zero downtime
• Optional SNMP and relay cards
• Interchangeable phases available

Makelsan 10 – 800kVA Three-Phase

• True online double-conversion technology (Class FVI-SS-111)
• IGBT rectifier and inverter technology
• DSP control
• High efficiency (up to 93%)
• Wide input voltage range
• Optional dual input
• Customisable as frequency converter
• Advanced battery management
• Advanced communication capabilities
• Selectable number of batteries
• Unlimited number of parallelable modules
• Small footprint
• Easy maintenance
• SNMP card and AS400 included
• Perfect generator compatibility

PacB’s Makelsan UPS units are neutral-, short-circuit and overload protected, an essential feature that is vital for keeping equipment and its integrity untainted and protected.

Client and Company Confidence

If PacB has confidence in their products (which they certainly do, because reliability, performance and service excellence are amongst the factors that are instrumental in maintaining a proud industry reputation), clients may rest assured that their PacB uninterrupted power supply and other associated solutions should serve them efficiently and well over a long period of time.

By calculating your power requirements, PacB Group’s network of experienced technical personnel offers support and advice in the selection of the right power solution for your needs. In numerous instances, technicians are also able to assist in solving problems telephonically, without a call-out to site.

Realistically, and most unfortunately, PacB cannot offer clients a guaranteed fail-safe electricity mains supply grid that’s fit for utopian conditions, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t help out.