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What Is An Uninterruptible Power Supply?

Electricity supply is vital to any project or organisation.

Whether that be a manufacturing plant, supermarket or large office, having a reliable supply of energy is key to ensuring that you’re able to keep things running smoothly. Energy management can often be an afterthought for many businesses either through lack of budget or being lower priority. Although power disruptions can be rare in these modern times, they can still happen. In some areas, power disruption can occur quite frequently due to stress on the power grid and this can have a detrimental effect on business operations.

Uninterruptible power supplies provide an excellent solution for commercial settings. Also known as UPS, these power supplies are separate to the electrical mains that you’ll find in standard commercial locations. By backing up your electrical supply with an uninterruptible power supply, you’ll be able to continue running business operations while minimising disruptions.

How does Uninterruptible Power Supply work?

An Uninterruptible Power Supply provides a reliable power supply, when the main power source is suddenly disrupted or cut off. It provides instant or near instant protection from input power interruptions by using one or more attached batteries or associated electronic circuitry for low power users or more powerful generators and flywheels for high power users.

There are different forms of UPS depending on the type of unit. All Uninterruptible Power Supply units provide a safe and suitable amount of time in order to shut down equipment or allow time in order to bring in an auxiliary power source online. There are 3 different types of UPS;

• Standby – the most common type of uninterrupted power supply technology. Standby UPS basically resorts to battery back- up power. This can be used for the most common types of power problems such as; voltage sags, blackouts or voltage surges. This version of UPS is excellent for consumer electronics like entry level computers, POS systems and other basic electronic equipment that doesn’t rely on too much power.
• A-line interactive UPS incorporates technology that corrects minor power fluctuations such as under or over-voltages without the need to switch batteries. These versions of UPS have an auto transformer that helps to regulate low voltages such as brownouts or swells (over voltages). An a-line interactive UPS unit doesn’t rely on needing to switch to a battery. These systems are ideal for most consumer electronics such as PCs or gaming set-ups. They’re also suitable for network equipment or entry to mid level severs.
• Double conversion UPS provides a consistent and reliable power storage solution. These units are suitable for the bigger tech set-ups, such as critical IT equipment or data centre set-ups. They’re also perfect for high- end servers, large telecom installations and large storage configurations. Double conversion systems operate on isolated power, meaning that there is minimal to no transfer time in one seamless switch. This works by converting incoming alternating current (AC) to a direct current (DC) then back to AC again. These units are designed to effectively protect and manage specialist electrical equipment from any damage that can be caused by a power outage. This includes voltage surges or sags, voltage spikes or frequency noise and variation or harmonic distortion.

The benefits of installing a UPS in your organisation

There are several advantages of using a Uninterruptible Power Supply set-up in your business;

• Continuity is a key benefit to using a UPS apparatus. Discover no power outages to important equipment or industrial set ups such as factory production lines or computers. This means that your business can keep going without any disruptions, costing money and time.
• Certain types of UPS offer a filter system by refining the power as it comes into the UPS. It then adjusts the output so internal systems can receive a clean and consistent power source. This benefit is found with A-line interactive uninterruptible power systems.
• With a UPS, you are getting invaluable protection from common electrical mis-haps, such as surges and power failures. Unexpected power disruptions or fluctuations can seriously damage expensive and sometimes irreplaceable equipment, causing unforeseen costs to you and your business.
• By incorporating a UPS into your business premises, you’ll have the peace of mind that you will have reliable power, should the worst happen. This could save your organisation valuable time, money and equipment going forward. No one likes power disruption, but preparing for the unexpected will save unwanted disruptions for you and your business.