A question that seems to arise quite frequently is whether or not an inverter and storage system is just a type of UPS. The answer is that a UPS is a particular type of inverter and battery system.
A UPS is used to protect a sensitive device or critical device against any type of electrical outage.
A microgrid or inverter and battery system is situated on the incoming side of the distribution board to provide continuous power to a large number of often disparate devices.
A UPS system is designed to be connected to a single circuit from the distribution board to supply power to a specific device or devices during short infrequent outages - for example when the earth leakage trips due to a kettle being overfilled. The UPS might then be used to ensure that a PC can stay connected while you attend to the problem and reset the earth leakage. Or if you are not present to immediately resolve the problem, the UPS will shut the PC down in an orderly manner. A UPS has additional circuitry to provide automatic voltage regulation.
A UPS should not be used to try and power devices during long frequent outages such as load shedding. The UPS is not designed to run for that amount of time and the batteries are certainly not able to cope with frequent cycles of full depletion.
We use a number of APC Back-UPS Pro series units to individually protect our ICT infrastructure at home.