A UPS is an ‘Uninterruptible Power Supply’, alternatively known as Uninterruptible Power Source. A UPS provides instantaneous power to a load requirement. A UPS system can be used either on its own, or in conjunction with a backup generator.
What is a UPS made up of?
A UPS is made up of 4 main parts, a rectifier, UPS battery(s) inverter and static switch. Put relatively simply, the rectifier steps down the voltage if required, and converts from AC (alternating current) to DC (direct current), this is done to allow for smooth flow of current through the UPS. The rectifier can also aid with the charge of the UPS battery(s).
The UPS battery can be charged either by the rectifier, or by an external battery charger. The battery(s) can be either built inside of the UPS system, or in standalone casing, pending the UPS autonomy and KVA specification.
The inverter converts the DC current back to AC.
Finally, the Static Switch, works similarly to how a ATS panel works with a generator. The static switch acts as a safeguard to the UPS and connects the load to the mains supply and can bypass the other parts of the UPS as mentioned above should there be a fault with the UPS.
The cost of running a UPS.
The pricing of a UPS ranges massively pending on the size requirement you are looking for, from 1KVA which can power a computer for example, will be much more inexpensive compared to a 100KVA or even larger. It is all pending on what you believe your down time is worth. If you run your business from home, can you really afford to potentially lose all of your work when a power cut doesn’t give you time to save and shut down? If you have servers, can you afford to have them lose potential data?
If you own a shop, I’m sure you will have experienced your tills not working properly or even at all after a power cut, this means that you could be losing thousands if you have no other means of taking payment, it all depends on the engineers response time.
Here at Constant Power Solutions Ltd we are here to help, if you do have any inquiries or requirement for UPS’, don’t hesitate to contact the team and we will happily assist.
Constant Power Solutions. Not just your ordinary Power Solutions Company.