PacB Group // It is Time to Consider the Value of a UPS Installation

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It is Time to Consider the Value of a UPS Installation

Most of those living and working in South Africa will have, on numerous occasions, experienced the various difficulties that result when their electricity supply is interrupted. While this was once an event that could either be attributed to natural events, such as damage to a sub-station during a thunderstorm, or to deliberate action as a penalty for an unpaid account, more recently, the interruptions have been mainly enforced. For many, these interruptions are merely an inconvenience, but for those involved in collecting and storing data, without a UPS installation, such power outages could be disastrous.

The three-letter acronym stands for uninterruptible power supply. Although this may sound like what we have a right to expect from the national power network, in exchange for the exorbitant monthly sums paid to municipalities, unfortunately, that is merely wishful thinking. Similar to an emergency generator, these devices serve as a source of back-up power when the mains supply is interrupted,

To be effective, any source of back-up electricity, whether it is in the form of a diesel generator or a UPS installation, should be designed to detect any impending failure of the mains current. Once detected, the source should then be able to take over the supply function automatically, and without any interruption to the various processes being powered.

While some types of uninterruptible power supply may be sufficient to support the continuous operation of heavy machinery, one of the more common uses for this type of device is as a means to cope with outages that may affect computer networks, and which could result in loss of crucial data with potentially serious consequences.

While their tasks may be less crucial, even home PC users can be seriously inconvenienced by an unexpected power failure. They might even suffer a costly hard-drive failure. However, just as the use of anti-surge plugs will serve to protect their PCs against the effect of voltage spikes, a UPS installation can protect hardware from damage and prevent data loss or corruption, when the voltage drops.

In addition to acting as an emergency backup solution for use in the home and the small office environment, there are a number of important applications for these units in different industries, such as medicine and transport. There are also some outdoor uses that are of value to the military. What differentiates this type of unit from a conventional backup generator, is that a UPS installation uses stored energy rather than producing its own. It is, in effect, a source of backup battery power and, as such, its output is in the form of a direct current.

Because the source of its stored power is the mains supply, it must first be converted from A/C to D/C. When called upon in an emergency, the stored power must then be delivered via an inverter to transform the output current form D/C to A/C. Both operations are controlled by a static switch, which diverts the flow of the current according to whether the device needs to be charging or discharging.

Given the crucial nature of a UPS installation, larger organisations may be ill-advised to rely on just one unit, as this could become a potential point of failure. Consequently, rather than depending on a single large unit, it actually makes more sense to integrate the use of multiple smaller units in parallel to ensure some redundancy. A good policy is to include at least one more unit than should be required to meet the total load demand in the event of a mains outage.

To ensure their UPS installation meets their needs and functions efficiently, a growing number of South African industrial, commercial, and domestic users now turn to the experts from PacB Power Projects, a specialist division of the PacB Group.