UPS & Backup Power Sizing: VA vs Watts, Runtime, Batteries & Generators
Build a load inventory in W and VA, size a UPS with headroom on both ratings, estimate runtime, size battery strings for a target runtime, plan replacements for heat, size a generator for motor starts, model N+1 vs 2N availability and compare 10-year cost of ownership: 8 graded labs on a fictional server room.
The first lesson is free — no account needed.
About this course
A UPS and backup power course that sizes the protection of the server room of one fictional engineering firm, Corvane Labs, in a spreadsheet, for IT and data center staff, facilities managers and electrical students. You list the load in watts and turn it into VA with each device's power factor, pick the smallest UPS whose VA and W ratings both cover it with headroom, estimate runtime from battery watt-hours and inverter efficiency at six loads, size series and parallel battery strings for 15 minutes at end of life, set battery replacement intervals, size a standby generator for a compressor's starting surge, compute the availability of N, N+1, N+2 and 2N with BINOM.DIST, and compare the ten-year cost of a VRLA tower with modular lithium-ion. Simplified, illustrative values. Electrical work must be done by qualified people, and no vendor is affiliated. The first lab is free.
Lessons
- Load Inventory: Watts, Power Factor & VAFree
- UPS Sizing with Headroom: VA and W Ratings & the Next Standard Size Pro
- Runtime from Battery Wh & Inverter Efficiency (with Chart) Pro
- Batteries Needed for a Target Runtime: Series & Parallel Strings Pro
- Battery Ageing & the Replacement Interval Pro
- Generator Sizing with Motor Starting Surge (Simplified) Pro
- Redundancy N, N+1, 2N & Availability with the Binomial Model Pro
- Total Cost of Ownership: VRLA Tower UPS vs Modular Lithium-ion (Chart) Pro