UPS battery calculator

Project | Article by Maarten Tromp | Published | 409 words.

This calculator will help you calculate battery capacity and charging current for your UPS.

Background information on the project can be found on the DIY UPS project page.

Battery calculator

The interactive calculator needs JavaScript to function. However, all calculations are shown below, so you could run those yourself.

Calculating battery capacity

Determine the required energy needed to run the UPS for the given load, time, and inverter efficiency.
needed energy = output power × run time inverter efficiency = 50W × 2h 0.80 = 117.65Wh

Convert energy requirement into battery capacity, accounting for depth of discharge (DoD).
needed battery capacity = needed energy battery voltage × DoD = 117.65Wh 12V × 0.2 = 49.02Ah

Use Peukert's Law to calculate battery C20 rating.
rated battery capacity = effective capacity ( rated time actual time ) (1-Peukert coefficient) = 49.02Ah ( 20h 2h ) (1-1.25) = 87.17Ah

Check against maximum discharge rate.
discharge rate = output power system voltage × inverter efficiency × rated battery capacity = 50W 12V × 0.80 × 87.17Ah = 0.06C

Result

You need a battery of at least 87Ah.

Charger calculator

The calculator needs JavaScript to function. However, all calculations are shown below, so you could run those yourself.

Calculating charging current

Determine ideal charging current.
charging current ideal = battery capacity × ideal charging rate = 100Ah × 0.1C = 10.00A

Check charging time against requirements.
charging time ideal = DoD ideal charging rate × CEF = 0.2 0.1C × 0.85 = 2.35h

Minimum and maximum charging current and time are calculated in the same way.
charging current min = 100Ah × 0.07C = 7.00A

charging time min = 0.2 0.07C × 0.85 = 3.36h

charging current max = 100Ah × 0.15C = 15.00A

charging time max = 0.2 0.15C × 0.85 = 1.57h

Result

You need a charger that can supply between 7A and 15A, idealy 10A.