Many people only know one problem related to electricity and power currents; it is a power outage. It can happen either scheduled or sudden. Whatever the reason, a power outage is an incident that can disrupt business operations and daily household activities. For technology-intensive companies, a power outage can cause losses of up to millions of rupiahs per day. This is why a backup power supply or UPS is very much needed.
In fact, electricity problem is not only a power outage. There are seven (7) other electrical interferences that can occur anytime, especially due to the vulnerable electric current in Indonesia. This vulnerability is affected by weather and various other problems. Here are eight of the most common electrical interferences:
- Blackout: Everyone must have experienced a power outage. The time of outage ranges from a few minutes to a few days. During that time, electronic devices cannot be used unless there is access to an alternative power supply from solar energy.
- Surges: Electrical surges are generally triggered by lightning. This drastic spike can damage any electronic hardware, from televisions to computers (PCs).
- Brownout: Voltage can drop over time, either intentionally or suddenly. In an emergency, PLN can lower the voltage to reduce load and avoid a total power outage.
- Voltage Sags: This is similar to a partial blackout (Brownout). Usually, it only lasts for a short time. But the problem is, voltage instability can also shorten the life of your electronics.
- Over Voltage: This is similar to voltage spikes (surges). Usually, it lasts longer and is not as high.
- Frequency Noise: This electrical fault/interference is harder to detect, but it can also interfere circuit performance by injecting abnormalities into critical devices.
- Frequency Variation: This is not a common problem when you have a stable power supply. But it can become one when power frequency fluctuations increase in generator usage.
- Harmonic Distortion: Changes in the ideal electrical signal given by an energy source.
Well, after knowing these eight electrical interferences, can you identify which one is the most common? Before buying a UPS, you should know which problem needs to be resolved because each backup power supply type is designed to deal with different problems.
The Standby UPS is enough to handle voltage spikes and total or partial power outages. The Line-Interactive UPS can handle these three problems, as well as interference caused by voltage fluctuations. Meanwhile, the Double Conversion UPS can solve all eight problems at once, including the problematic harmonic distortion.
Are you still confused about which type of UPS to buy? Don’t worry, the UPS Surabaya purchase consultation service can help you assess, budget, implement, and maintain your backup power supplies. You can also ask for suggestions about whether you need backup solar energy in supporting more environmentally-friendly power stability.
