Various Types Of Uninterruptible Power Supply Solutions

By Author: Harland Simon
Total Articles: 4
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In times of power supply failure or power outage, an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) can prove critical in supplying a continuous electrical current. Often serving as a secondary emergency power source, various types of UPS’s are available in the market today. Based on the business type, its environment and its needs, one can opt for the most appropriate one. Some of the major types used widely in different industries are described below –
Low Temperature AC UPS
Standard UPS are designed to operate in the temperature range of 0- 40 degree Celsius. To operate in extreme cold conditions and places, specialized AC UPS are build which can operate efficiently in ice cold and even subzero conditions.
High Temperature AC UPS
Specific to the environment, these UPS are designed to operate in extreme high temperature conditions where a normal UPS system may fail.
Offline UPS
Alternatively known as "standby UPS," the system gears into action in case of primary power failure when disruption of electricity happens. Normally remaining on the stand-by-mode, the unit immediately starts supplying electricity ...
... every time power becomes unavailable. These are often inexpensive units with a high degree of efficiency and are often small sized enough to make it the top choice for personal computing. However, some sensitive equipment may not work smoothly with its inherent limitation.
Online UPS
These function as a constant duty inverter by steadily supplying power to equipments needing power. Here the AC electricity is first converted to DC and then back to AC before supplying to various outlets. Here the electricity supply is continuous unlike the offline one and ensures an improved and no break power supply. Apart from it, its static bypass manages voltage irregularities better and provides a more reliable power supply. Even though the unit is trifle expensive and less energy efficient, its reliability is its most important feature which makes it terrific for many mission critical applications.

Ferro-Resonant UPS

It works quite similarly to offline UPS but differentiates in the way the internal transformer is used within the ferro-resonant UPS. The unit takes care of the offline UPS biggest drawback i.e. The brief power loss between the time when the transfer switch gets closed and the battery starts supplying power. Normally, its transformer stores enough power to ensure power supply during the momentary power loss. These units are known for their reliability and line filtering characteristics but their efficiency reduces considerable when used with certain generators or computers. They themselves are prone to voltage distortion and overheating. Thus these are barely used today.

Line Interactive UPS

These essentially cover defects of offline UPS. They maintain no break connection between battery and output and take input electricity from an AC input. When the primary switch cuts off, the transfer switch opens to facilitate the inverter and converter to charge the battery and supply the current. Expensive than offline UPS, they still exhibit regulatory issues with voltage sags and surges.