PUTTIN THE 'U' IN UPS - THE ROLE OF BATTERIES.

When it comes to UPS, the standby battery subsystem is one of the most important but least understood.

PowerShield’s UPS fundamentals eBook provides an in-depth look at battery monitoring, replacement intervals and life-cycle stages. 

Along with a refresher on the fundamentals of a UPS, we dive into battery installation, configuration, health management and charging, as well as environmental and safety considerations.

Written for the hands-on technically orientated people who want to understand the topic better we have included a glossary at the end.

Read the uninterruptible power supply paper, Putting the ‘U’ in UPS, to learn about:

Topics covered

  • UPS 101 – an overview
  • Battery configurations in data centers
  • Battery charging regimes
  • Failure modes in lead-acid batteries
  • Battery environment and safety considerations
  • Battery cabinets vs. battery racks
  • VRLA battery installation and commissioning
  • Monitoring VRLA state of health
  • Battery replacement intervals
  • Battery Management standards
  • Thermal runaway and thermal walkaway

Providing clean, quality, uninterrupted power means having properly installed, monitored and managed batteries. A UPS is the heart of a data center’s backup power, and a single battery cell within a UPS battery string can create a risk of downtime for data center operations.

Regular maintenance of your batteries is critical to ensure you have backup power when you need it and avoid the costs and other negative implications of a battery-related outage.

Download this UPS eBook

Snippet from the eBook

“Of the three main subsystems, the battery is what makes the system “uninterruptible”. Depending upon the system design, the battery can constitute as much as 50% of the cost of the UPS.

Without a reliable battery, the operation of the entire data center can be put at risk. Power interruptions are rare and unpredictable, but when they occur they can disrupt the entire business or operation. Costs of downtime can range from hundreds to millions of dollars, depending upon the mission of the data center.”

About the author

Steve McCluer

Steve McCluer has worked in the UPS industry for more than thirty years. He is a Senior Life member of
the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and has served on several other standards and
code-writing organizations. He has chaired, co-chaired, or served on the technical committees of many
battery standards, most notably as Chair of The IEEE Standard Glossary of Stationary Battery Terminology.
After retirement Steve agreed to contribute to the collection of technical papers compiled into this
PowerShield eBook.

Putting the U in UPS

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