Company K, a measuring instrument manufacturer, manufactures and sells security and surveillance camera systems for government agencies and other organizations.
Recently, the company was consulted by a local government, to whom the company provided a surveillance camera system a few years ago, about long-term operation of the system in the event of a power outage. Ms. N, manager of the company's development technology department, said:
"In recent years, there have been a number of natural disasters on an unexpectedly large scale in Japan, including some that have been designated as national disasters by the government. In response, local governments nationwide have been strengthening their initiatives based on the guidelines of the Fundamental Plan for National Resilience policy that was announced by the government. This time, we were asked to provide 24-hour power backup for surveillance camera systems in case of a power outage from natural disasters."
Ms. N started gathering information about uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) for power backup.
"First off," Ms. N explained. "I looked for a UPS to back up our surveillance camera system, but then I figured that we would need to expand the lead-acid battery capacity to get a backup time of 24 hours. Since surveillance camera systems are normally installed on utility poles, a large UPS couldn't be used. Moreover, these UPSs require periodic maintenance because the expected lifetime of a lead-acid battery is generally 5 years at a 25˚C ambient temperature.
Furthermore, the surveillance camera systems that we provide are also used in winter to monitor snow buildup and road ice. Many of the UPSs that I considered had operating temperatures of 0°C or higher, and we were concerned about using them in snowy environments.
As this project assumed use on a utility pole, we needed an outdoor UPS that was small enough and capable of long-term backup."
Ms. N consulted SANYO DENKI, who had previously worked with another department of Company K, about these problems.
She discussed these problems in detail with a SANYO DENKI sales rep, who later proposed their SANUPS N11B-Li.
"The proposed UPS has lithium-ion batteries that are more compact than lead-acid batteries, so it can provide backup power for over 24 hours despite its small size," explained Ms. N. "It seems this UPS was designed to be installed on utility poles and came with pillar-mounting brackets. This means it can be installed on utility poles where surveillance cameras are installed. In addition, lithium-ion batteries don't need to be replaced for 10 years. The reduced maintenance work makes it very appealing. Furthermore, its IP65-rated protection would allow it to be used outdoors worry-free, and the -20 to +50°C operating temperature would ensure stable operation even in cold regions."
Ms. N found the UPS impressive, and promptly tested it at her company.
After confirming that it could be installed on utility poles and provide a backup time longer than 24 hours for the surveillance camera system application, Company K decided to use the SANUPS N11B-Li.
"We proposed our surveillance camera system together with the SANYO DENKI UPS to our customer," said Ms. N. "We were relieved that we could fully meet their requests, such as backup time and installation on utility poles. When a contractor installed it on site, the installation was easy and problem-free. I will continue to count on SANYO DENKI's help in the future."
