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To find a power backup option

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aaronhelzer

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We have started a design and printing company in Toronto. We have more than 20 systems in our office and some devices like printer, scanner etc. We need to find a power backup solution for the printing machines and these systems. Which would be the better power backup option among UPS and solar inverters? More than implementation and maintenance cost, we give priority the system efficiency. Because power failure or such situations should not affect the functioning of the company. We are planning to take these services from Staticon Ltd in Scarborough (https://www.staticon.ca/). If you have any idea about them, Please share the reviews about that company.
 
While I am not familiar with Staticon I read in part:
Staticon is a well-established Canadian manufacturer of built-to-order, DC and AC power supply equipment and industrial battery chargers. Our unit and system products provide utility grade power solutions for your essential backup, auxiliary and battery charging requirements.

My guess is that they will have someone visit your facility and note your demand and needs for emergency power requirements. Before I retired I was involved with a project in my department where I worked. We setup a large UPS system, I want to say 48 KW 3 Phase 480 Volt. The idea was that UPS supplied several very critical control computer systems. The main backup was a 200 KW Cummings Diesel generator which would come online with fully automatic transfer within about 30 seconds of a mains power failure so in reality the UPS only needed to run about 30 seconds.

The guys who specialize in mission critical backup power systems have applications engineers and that is who they should send to determine your specific needs. In my case it was special systems which could not lose power and control or very bad things start to happen. So while I am not familiar with the particular company you mention they should work pretty much as I mentioned. They review your needs and present several options. You will likely also be asked about the project budget so the cost analysis can be figured into the budget you want to work with. This is where it all starts with their applications engineer.

Ron
 
I'll suggest you look at natural gas fuel cell technology such as: https://www.bloomenergy.com

especially if your looking at 24/7/365. Sometimes an option is a motor/generator/flywheel type system which gives the generator time to start. The fuel cell technology gives you the ability to use the waste heat too.

Many times the UPS system gives just enough power for an orderly shutdown or time for the generator to kick in.

Where I worked we had a 40 kW system that we quickly outgrew. It's primary purpose was ventilation. Secondary was toxic gas alarms and access control. The Fire alarm had it;s own backup power and so did most emergency lighting. In one lab, the lights were put on the generator.

We did one system that was put on emergency power for convenience. If the power failure lasted more than about 5 minutes, it would take a day to bring that system back up again. When we needed more power, it was the first to go.

There were also some large loads that were not put on the generator, but it could cost a day or more to bring those systems back online. If the outage was brief and we were there we could circumvent problems. Night mode was set so that damage was minimal. Again 15-20 minutes and your not there you have a lot of work ahead of you.

I wanted to create a small system that would have done an orderly shutdown, but it was vetoed. Some systems would have benefited by a pneumatic large valve

Only in one case, I used a UPS and that was to keep a "safety PLC" powered, so it could shut a system down properly which basically meant, a purge gas had to run for a short time and certain valves had to close.

For some reason, our company hated automation. We did basic research.
 
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Where I worked we had a 40 kW system that we quickly outgrew. It's primary purpose was ventilation. Secondary was toxic gas alarms and access control. The Fire alarm had it;s own backup power and so did most emergency lighting. In one lab, the lights were put on the generator.

Always include future plan and leave room in your demands for growth. Our old 100 KW system was Natural Gas fired before the 200 KW Diesel went in. It seemed every year I was adding to the generator buss so when we upgraded just prior to my retiring we were at just over 100 KW forcast with a 100 KW generator. It was then I got with our new facilities engineer and said screw this, let's just go with 200 KW. It is a monster but I doubt they will ever outgrow it. :)

Ron
 
Usually the combination is a ups with a diesel generator. The ups is typically equipped for 5-10 minutes battery capacity, enough time to get the generator started.
 
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