A UPS system is a device that ensures that the load connected to the inverter will always be safe and protected from any mains supply failure or irregularity like dips and spikes. As long as the battery backup is available, it will ensure a 100% clean, smooth power supply to any load it is supplying.
Uninterruptible power supply systems, also known as UPS systems, are available in a wide range of types and makes. The most common in South Africa being:
- The online double-conversion UPS, which offers the best power protection and backup supply.
- Line-interactive and offline UPS, which is generally used for small applications such as a router or small PC.
- Home inverter backup system, which generally comprises an offline modified Sine wave inverter with a big battery charger to recharge the battery after a 4-hour power outage during rolling blackouts. The UPS charger will have the battery ready for the next power failure in 20 hours. That is if your UPS supplier knows what they are doing technically and size the battery correctly.
Due to the large variety of UPS systems in South Africa, you must select the right for your application, which offers the best load backup and protection against bad power or power failures.
Many home backup UPS or inverter users in South Africa get caught out by unscrupulous UPS suppliers. They will team inverters with second-hand batteries or not size the battery for regular daily discharges, known as cyclic application, but rather for float application, where there is discharge every month or two.
Besides home backup solutions, UPS systems are used in many industries to protect sensitive electronic loads from power failures and the all-around bad power we have become so accustomed to in SA.
Other UPS users include:
Data centres and IT
IT hardware is especially sensitive to bad power, which is the cause of over 90% of IT failures. The components used in IT hardware have very stringent power supply requirements. Without a UPS protecting them from the bad and unpredictable power supply in South Africa, they would fail at an alarming rate.
Communications
In the modern world, communications hardware is essential to any country’s growth and backbone. Without this hardware, there would be no internet, no cell phone or landline calls, no data, no way of being in contact with each other and the rest of the world. With the bad grid supply in South Africa, it is essential for communication hardware to have a UPS backup or, as is more common in this industry, a rectifier and battery backup system for many hours of continuous power supply when ESKOM goes offline.
Industrial
Many industries and production lines are computerised or operated by robots. When the power fails, some industries can lose a whole day of production due to furnaces needing to be mechanically cleaned, control systems reprogrammed or reset with a lot of product wasted due to production being interrupted during the production process and spoiling the goods.
Safety also becomes a big issue when the grid supply fails with industries like mining where people need essential air, lighting, and cooling underground and the ability to get to the surface with lifts, from many kilometers below. UPS systems and emergency generator sets are essential to ensure industries survive power failures, keep production running to keep profits, and not lose money while ensuring the safety of personnel.
Medical
UPS systems are widely used in the medical fields from protecting sensitive laboratory equipment from bad power and providing backup power to life support and other medical loads. For certain medical imaging equipment, a UPS is essential to prevent the purging of massive amounts of Helium gas used to cool the superconductive magnets. Suppose this equipment experiences loss of power during scanning. In that case, they are forced to purge massive amounts of the cooling gas to prevent damage. The gas is very expensive to replace, and the loss thereof causes delays in service and loss of income until new gas is delivered.
UPS systems are used widely all over South Africa for many different applications. With the ever-weakening ESKOM power supply grid, they are even protecting homes and ensuring continued homeschooling.