Turning data into actionable insights - the missing link

What is it that data center managers are most concerned about when it comes to their batteries? We’ve discovered that its peace of mind; confidence that their batteries will perform during outages.

How is this achieved? In PowerShield we offer a modular solution that’s fast, accurate and smart. It combines intelligent hardware devices with smart software, delivering a real-time view of battery health and predictive analytics about future performance. Get that right, and you’re in a better position to use your data for future decisions and analysis.

Why does it need to be fast?
It means you’ll get better visibility, because the measurements are in real-time and are always available. It also allows for rapid fault identification and notification. This is achieved via fast data sampling, which measures block voltage, string voltage and string current simultaneously, every 4 seconds.

The speed of PowerShield8’s fast sample rate means that when it comes to discharge logging, that can be initiated quickly too, because it identifies changes in the battery state immediately. Critical to capturing the full discharge including the Coup de Fouet.

Accuracy is crucial
Reliable, consistent and accurate data is essential for life trending. PowerShield is a high accuracy, high resolution and high repeatability solution to ensure the integrity of your data.

How do I know if it’s smart?
What you’re looking for is a solution where the intelligence is built in at all levels. For instance, the Controller understands the battery state, whether that be float, discharge, charge or idle, and applies specific limits to match. It uses that same logic to prevent the measurement of impedance in charge or discharge, to get the best trending of expected battery life.

At the sensor level, the smarts include ripple and noise rejection – essential for the typically noisy electrical environments the sensors find themselves in – and auto self-calibration to an internal high precision reference, all of which is important for best accuracy and repeatability.

The missing link – battery management software

PowerShield8 comes with software that acts as a window into your batteries health and performance, called Link battery management software. All too often, what we’ve found is that when the system is installed, that Link battery management software is ignored. And this is to the detriment of any data center manager, because the hardware is designed to work in conjunction with the software to highlight exceptions and issues. It’s an important feature that needs to be installed and used to understand and analyse the data that’s gathered.

The value of the PowerShield8 Link battery management software is it:

• Connects to all your PowerShield Systems, gathers information and presents it in a viewable/graphical format.
• Provides real-time battery measurements, updating every few seconds in line with the sampling rate.
• Generates reports on a wide range of parameters.
• Provides detailed alarm notification and analysis tools.

Just some of the things you can use Link battery management software for:

• Easily identify any issues that require your immediate attention.
• Determine end of life by graphing the impedance change on your batteries or running an ohmic report.
• Watch all your batteries in real time during a discharge test.
• Generate a discharge report to identify if you have any battery failures.
• Determine if your batteries are being charged correctly.

What it all boils down to is that an effective battery management system needs to be fast, accurate and smart, and because we’re the experts, our solution, PowerShield8, does all three. It’s designed to provide better visibility to the health and performance of your batteries, while the accompanying Link battery management software turns battery data into actionable insight.

In our subsequent blogs we’ll outline everyday management of your batteries using the Link battery management software and how to stay on top of alarms Get in touch with us to find out more.