Keeping computer equipment running when the electricity goes on and off several times a day can be frustrating.   Not only are power fluctuations and power cycling dangerous for the equipment, but restoring a computer to its normally functioning status after an outage can burn up dozens, possibly hundreds, of hours each month.  As more professors, students, and staff use these tools to conduct their business, such outages leave them incapacitated, losing precious productivity.

A UPS, uninterruptible power supply, offers a limited amount of protection.  Most consumer level UPSs are designed to work in the U.S. or European market, where power outages are rare and power supply is well regulated and constant.  These devices provide 10-15 minutes of battery backup power, enough time for the user, if they happen to be sitting in front of their computer at the time of the outage, to shut down the computer safely.

However, a UPS should not be relied upon for surge protection.  Most UPS devices use inexpensive MOV resistors to detect surges and these have been shown to weaken or fail entirely after repeated surges.  Since repeated surges are the order of the day in Nigeria, UPSs are bound to be vulnerable.  As well, MOVs sacrifce themselves to stop the current from affecting your computer.  After a surge has blown the MOV, you'll have to replace the entire UPS.

UPS batteries are designed to work for a year or two, but not at a rate of one shut down per day.  Many organizations find themselves having to replace batteries after the first year and sometimes the replacement batteries are just as expensive as the UPS itself.

But shutting down one's computer when the power fails is not a good thing either.  It can be sheer pandemonium dealing with a classroom of 30 computers when students are trying frantically to save their work before the power disappears.  

Then there's always that time when one thinks they have just enough battery time left to do one more function and then "pop" their computer turns off in the middle of their efforts.  This leads to corrupt files, lost work, many hours of restoring the machine, and tons of frustration. 

And the costs of having students and staff idled by lack of power are simply staggering.

The best solution is a building-wide battery backup system.  

A typical backup power rig involves a battery charger and an inverter (sometimes in the same unit), along with a collection of batteries.  The capacity of the inverter determines how much equipment can be run at a given time.  The number of the batteries determines how long the inverter can supply power to the equipment. Because inverters are not perfectly efficient (they expend 10% of the battery power converting it to AC), some people  set up more efficient 12 volt lighting systems for use during power outages.

When commercial power is available, the battery charger charges the bank of batteries while the inverter feeds the power to the computers. Having the power pass through the inverter allows it to switch to battery power in a matter of nanoseconds when the commercial power fails, providing uninterrupted power to the computers.

When commercial power is off, the inverter draws on the batteries to power the computers while the 12 volt lighting draws directly from the batteries.