The following information is taken from Apple's website
Power Nap, available on Mac computers with flash memory, lets some Mac computers stay up to date even while they’re sleeping. When your Mac goes to sleep, Power Nap activates periodically to update information. The information that’s updated depends on whether your Mac is running on battery power (a Mac notebook computer) or plugged into a power adapter (a Mac notebook computer or Mac desktop computer).
When your Mac is asleep and using battery power, Power Nap:
When your Mac is plugged into a power adapter, Power Nap can also do activities such as downloading software updates and performing Time Machine backups.