page_title: Uninterruptible power supply
section_title: Outdoor use
hierarchical_section_title: Uninterruptible power supply / Applications / Outdoor use
caption_attribution_description: English: The guts of the Sunny Boy 3000 inverter.Français&#160;: Vue d'un onduleur Sunny Boy 3000Deutsch: Blick ins Innere eines Sunny Boy 3000 Wechselrichters.
context_page_description: An uninterruptible power supply or uninterruptible power source is an electrical apparatus that provides emergency power to a load when the input power source or mains power fails. A UPS differs from an auxiliary or emergency power system or standby generator in that it will provide near-instantaneous protection from input power interruptions, by supplying energy stored in batteries, supercapacitors, or flywheels. The on-battery run-time of most uninterruptible power sources is relatively short but sufficient to start a standby power source or properly shut down the protected equipment. It is a type of continual power system.
  A UPS is typically used to protect hardware such as computers, data centers, telecommunication equipment or other electrical equipment where an unexpected power disruption could cause injuries, fatalities, serious business disruption or data loss. UPS units range in size from units designed to protect a single computer without a video monitor to large units powering entire data centers or buildings. The world's largest UPS, the 46-megawatt Battery Electric Storage System, in Fairbanks, Alaska, powers the entire city and nearby rural communities during outages.
context_section_description: When a UPS system is placed outdoors, it should have some specific features that guarantee that it can tolerate weather without any effects on performance. Factors such as temperature, humidity, rain, and snow among others should be considered by the manufacturer when designing an outdoor UPS system. Operating temperature ranges for outdoor UPS systems could be around −40 °C to +55 °C.
  Outdoor UPS systems can either be pole, ground (pedestal), or host mounted. Outdoor environment could mean extreme cold, in which case the outdoor UPS system should include a battery heater mat, or extreme heat, in which case the outdoor UPS system should include a fan system or an air conditioning system.
  A solar inverter, or PV inverter, or solar converter, converts the variable direct current (DC) output of a photovoltaic (PV) solar panel into a utility frequency alternating current (AC) that can be fed into a commercial electrical grid or used by a local, off-grid electrical network. It is a critical BOS–component in a photovoltaic system, allowing the use of ordinary AC-powered equipment. Solar inverters have special functions adapted for use with photovoltaic arrays, including maximum power point tracking and anti-islanding protection.
caption: Internal view of a solar inverter. Note the many large capacitors (blue cylinders), used to store energy briefly and improve the output waveform.
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