Fast Track

Optimising power backup

Vineet Malhotra

According to a recent survey, power outage-related costs are a staggering Rs 30 crore. In such a scenario, the role of UPSs becomes critical.

Batteries constitute at least 35 to 80 percent of the cost of a UPS, and this is just the capital expenditure. On the need for UPS, Vineet Malhotra, National Marketing Manager, Amara Raja says, “All the visible infrastructure that an organisation has are rendered invalid if power is not available.” Thus, the role of UPS is of a critical link that provides significant and precarious data. Unlike other IT products, a UPS battery is a consumable with a defined life.

According to Malhotra, in a ten-year lifecycle, the total cost of a UPS system would be about Rs 2 lakh, while the amount for batteries would be Rs 3.75 lakh. Thus, the selection of batteries has to be done carefully. “Most batteries are oversized by 30 to 50 percent,” says he. “And just as for any other IT product, finding the right vendor support/credentials is significant for batteries for UPS systems.” Look for batteries that last longer, advises Malhotra.

While choosing batteries, a few things that need to be checked are the power rating, assured lifecycle, recharge time required, reliability of the battery, and local vendor support.

Malhotra also spoke of the latest offering from Amara Raja, the Quanta. This, according to Malhotra, provides for more backup/lower rating usability by using the Radgrid design. The Quanta is designed for longer life and faster charge for hostile site conditions. “One of the main advantages of Quanta is that it has been manufactured keeping in mind Indian conditions like PPCP containers, high recharge current limits, side wall ribs and flappon protector.”

—Shivani Shinde