When inspecting a fire alarm control panel, you MUST verify that the system:

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The key idea is that a fire alarm control panel must stay operable even when the building power goes out, which requires a backup power source in addition to the normal power supply. The best answer states that the system has both a primary power supply and a secondary (standby) power supply. Under normal conditions the panel runs on the primary power, and if that power fails, the secondary power source, such as a battery bank or generator, kicks in to keep critical life-safety functions active. This redundancy is essential for reliability and is a standard expectation in fire alarm system design.

Saying the panel just has power at all doesn’t guarantee it will endure an outage. Relying on rechargeable batteries is common, but not universal or the defining requirement. Being independent of any outside power source would contradict how these systems are normally fed—they rely on building power with backup power to cover outages—so that option isn’t correct.