Comparing battery back up units

Current technology for uninterruptable power systems (UPSs) is discussed, and some guidelines for determining the cost-effectiveness of integrating battery backup with the power supply are presented. As the percentage of systems with backup increases, it becomes cost-effective to integrate the battery backup with the power supply. A custom design may be required for maximum cost benefit. The choice of an integrated magnetic approach would appear to be the most cost-effective, but the distributed power approach may offer some benefits because of its flexibility. Custom-designed battery-supported switching power supplies have been limited to high-power kilowatt and above power applications. The author attempts to show that a properly designed battery supported supply can be cost-effective to use at much lower power levels