Three 20kW uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems to protect sensitive radar installations that monitor and collect real-time information on weather systems for analysis by SA Weather Services, have been supplied, installed and commissioned by UPS specialist Square One Power Solutions (formerly Upscom).
As part of an ongoing upgrading of key SA Weather Services radar stations, the three American Power Conversion (APC) Silcon units have been installed at radar sites in Irene near Pretoria, Bloemfontein and Durban.
Ernst Vermeulen, senior data technologist at SA Weather Services in Pretoria, says it is critical that sensitive electronic equipment used at the radar sites be protected from power spikes, surges and brown outs, and that power supply to the equipment is maintained during a mains failure.
"The radar scanning conducted at these sites allows us to measure many weather parameters, including precipitation. They also monitor the build-up and movement of bad weather systems for disaster mitigation, allowing us to issue flood warnings and so on. The information is also particularly important from an aviation perspective to alert airports and commercial and private air traffic."
Vermeulen adds that the electronic data that is gathered on the radar systems is stored for further analysis. The archived data is also useful in many other ways such as checking the validity of a hail damage insurance claim and so on.
Square One Power Solutions, the UPS arm of JSE-listed IT distributor Square One Solutions Group, was asked to provide a solution that would ensure the radar equipment receives battery power at full load for a period of 15 minutes when there is a mains power supply failure, following which standby power is provided through the UPS from a diesel genset.
Square One Power Solutions Johannesburg branch manager Newton King says the critical nature of the radar systems required a special UPS solution.
"We are an APC High Power Partner, and selected the APC Silcon range as its unique delta conversion technology offers exceptionally high efficiency with low operating costs. These units always operate at a power factor corrected input of unity. External phase compensation is not necessary and less energy is consumed, giving savings on monthly power bills sufficient to recover the capital outlay for the unit in five years.
"The Silcon unit is very economical in terms of genset requirements. It needs a genset with a rating of only 1.3 times the UPS capacity as opposed to a conventional UPS, which requires between 1.5 and 2 times the capacity. "
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Square One Power Solutions is the UPS arm of the JSE-listed Square One Solutions Group. APC (American Power Conversion) is the largest global manufacturer of UPS systems. An APC High Power Partner, Square One Power Solutions has a national infrastructure and provides UPS solutions for the SOHO, PCA and SME network environment, telecommunications, medical, security, lighting and general industry as well as major corporations and government.
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