Our entire modern ecosystem depends on electrical power, and temporary outages can wreak havoc on our lives, businesses, and organizations. This is especially true for spaces like medical centers, airports, and public safety organizations. Businesses suffer data loss, a loss in productivity, and profits too. Thankfully, we have backup power supplies that assume the role of delivering power should it fail. In an ideal world, you would have an infinite stream of perfect power at constant voltage and cycle precisely the same number of times per second. But it's not always an ideal world. Here we identify the top 10 power generation failure causes and reliable backup power Uninterruptible Power Supply solutions that combat them.
What Causes Power Generation Failures
Power generation failures happen. From electrical grid failure to natural causes, human error, and just an overload of the system, no matter how long they last, they can adversely affect your business. Here we detail some causes of power generation failures.
Top Causes of Power Generation Failure
Power Outages
Whether a blackout or a rolling blackout, power outages occur when the electrical supply is lost. These can occur due to equipment malfunctions, human error, a surge in the system, or storms. They happen most frequently during storms but can occur when an area with a high population overwhelms the system.
Power Surges
Lighting, load disconnection, or line switching can spark a power surge. Electronic components can be devastated when power surges occur, and data can be lost.
Power Sags
Power sags result from faults in the transmission or distribution network and suddenly cause the voltage level to drop.
High-frequency Line Noise and Harmonic Distortion
High-frequency signals caused by electromagnetic interference or insufficient grounding can disturb electronic equipment, leading to data loss. Uneven loads can lead to distortion that causes overload and overheating of equipment.
Brownouts
With voltage drops, brownouts occur. Lasting from just minutes to a few hours, they are caused by an overdemand of electricity at peak times.
Voltage Increases
Voltage increases occur at the onset or end of heavy loads or with ill-regulated transformers.
Overloads
Heavily loaded generators can lead to loss of stability, leading to overworked or underperforming motors that can cause inefficiency.
Changes in Voltage due to Switching Transient
Caused by lightning, switching of loads or capacitor banks, and opening and closing disconnects on energized lines can cause switching transient issues. These changes damage equipment.
Natural Causes
When storms approach, they bring lightning, rain, snow, and fierce winds. Power failures can occur from exposure to water and moisture.
Animals
Birds and other animals can affect power when they come in contact with power lines.
How a Backup Power Supply System Can Help
Electrical power keeps businesses going, and those with critical systems should have a backup power supply system. An uninterruptible power supply, or UPS, takes over when your regular power source crashes for any of the reasons we discussed earlier. With a UPS in place, your systems can keep running efficiently.
The UPS will step in in the short term, and a backup generator takes you even longer. If a disaster happens, your UPS will allow your systems to keep going while your team backs up data, terminates critical systems, and starts generators. You don’t lose critical systems, essential data, and productivity with a backup.
Even in the case of over or under-voltage spikes, UPS backups can help by regulating electricity flow into your network.
Battery Type Matters
Batteries have evolved; has your business kept up? Once limited to a lead acid battery alone, other options are available, including lithium-ion batteries. Lithium-ion batteries have a longer life cycle and are more cost-effective and efficient. Learn more by downloading our helpful guide.
