With low PuE scores the aim of many data centre operators, they are always on the look out for greener alternatives to UPS batteries. There are a number of different technologies receiving attention right now but so far none has risen up as a real commercial competitor to traditional UPS batteries or flywheels.

When you’re talking about components of an electrical back-up system – the cornerstone of a data centre’s livelihood – any alternative has to be the real deal and proven, not just a pretender. Some of the technologies being talked about now include: Ultracapacitors (or Ultracaps as they are colloquially known), flow batteries, superconducting magnetic energy storage and lithium-ion batteries but none has yet managed to gain a foothold in the UPS market place.

Here at Riello we are keen market watchers of new and alternative technologies so we keep a constant eye on developments. Here’s an overview of where some of these up-and-coming technologies are:

Ultracapacitors

Ultracaps are electric double layer capacitors, a promising technology that at some point may give orthodox energy storage a run for its money. The way they work is that they store energy at the surface of two carbon plates with opposite charges, separated by a sheet of paper dipped in a liquid electrolyte.

The advantages for the data centre environment are that they require less floor space than their UPS battery equivalents; their maintenance needs are low; they can operate in higher temperatures (and therefore need less cooling) and they use more environmentally-friendly materials in their manufacture.

However, the disadvantages are that the capital cost of buying an Ultracap at today’s prices means that they are not a cost-effective alternative. They also have a short ride-through time (less than 10 seconds), which is not enough for critical data centre environments. Also, as they are a new technology, they may require specialist engineering and not many engineers will be familiar (or experienced) at working on Ultracaps.

Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage

Or SME as they are known; is only just in research and development so is nowhere near ready for the open market but it uses a coil made of superconducting material, which is cryogenically cooled below its critical temperature, thus giving it zero resistance. A dc current is applied to the coil, which creates a magnetic field. The coil’s lack of resistance prevents the energy from dissipating as heat and allows for energy to be stored in magnetic form until required.

The advantages of SMEs include an absence of harmful materials and mechanical simplicity, which makes it more reliable. However, as with Ultracaps they currently carry a high capital cost and short back up time (again, only around 10 seconds). Also, their requirement for a cryogenic cooling system to keep them at below critical temperature would render their lifetime costs hugely expensive.

Sodium Nickel Chloride Batteries

There are a few companies planning to launch such batteries on to the market within the next few years, such as GE, for example, which is planning to bring to the data centre UPS market an energy storage solution with zero cooling requirements. As you know, UPS batteries do not respond well to temperatures outside of a constant 21-25 degrees centigrade and so the ambient temperature around them has to be controlled.

GE’s battery (it claims) will also offer a design life of 20 years, long discharge rates and will serve both ac and dc loads.

It has always been hard to compete with standard VRLA or Sealed Lead Acid batteries but then flywheel UPS started offering a real, commercial alternative some years ago and has gained real ground in the data centre market. Compared with the alternatives outlined above, flywheel UPS offers low initial and lifetime costs, a long lifecycle, high storage density, wide operating energy range, and environmental advantages. Flywheel UPS is also highly efficient and offers a compact footprint.

In July 2011, Riello AROS UPS unveiled details of a new range of flywheel UPS. Master MHF series is a modular, scalable, power protection system incorporating flywheel UPS technology. It is ideal for eco-targeted data centres looking to get the most out of their UPS investment.

The new Master MHF series offers 99% efficiency and is Smart-grid ready. It also boasts a 20-year design life. More details can be found on our website.

In his speech at the Conservative Party Conference earlier this month, Chancellor George Osborne gave a strong signal that sorting out the economy is a higher priority than cutting emissions.

Britain’s businesses must not be jeopardised by the country’s low carbon commitments he suggested. “We must have investment in greener energy.” He said. “And that is why I gave the go ahead for the world’s first Green Investment Bank but we are not going to save the planet by putting our country out of business.” he added.

Compared with other world-leading economies such as China and America that combined have a 40% share of the world’s carbon emissions, Britain’s is only 2%. Chancellor Osborne said that we should not cut our carbon emissions any slower but also not any faster than any of our fellow countries in Europe. He went on to mention the recent carbon budget, which came out earlier this year and put a floor price on carbon. Lobbyists and business leaders have warned it will drive business out of Europe, and the UK in particular. The CBI (Confederation of Business and Industry) has asked for major energy users to be exempt from the so-called ‘carbon tax’.

What’s interesting is the potential rift in the cabinet that may arise out of the apparent polarisation in priorities between the fiscal needs of the economy and the rebuilding of the UK power sector in order to meet increasing demand for electricity. Earlier on at the conference, Energy Minister Charles Hendry urged the rebuilding of the sector “in a way that is genuinely low carbon”.

The UK has a legally binding agreement to slash greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050 compared with 1990 levels.

Well, there is always going to be a conflict between what’s best for the economy and what’s right for the planet and I am only glad that I am not the Chancellor or Energy Minister. However, Riello has made it our business over the past decade or so to ensure that our UPS products and power protection solutions offer the highest levels of efficiency and lowest total cost of ownership as possible. The UPS you buy today can actually go a long way towards saving you money in the future and using less energy. To find out more visit our website.

According to a report published by CRN.com earlier this month, data centre power consumption is not as high as it was expected to be. Rather than attributing this to better data centre design and the work by data centre managers (DCMs) that has gone into implementing strategic efficiency measures, the slow-down is being accredited to the fact that the installed server base seems to have levelled off.

How unfair is that?

Nowhere do we see energy efficiency being placed higher on the list of priorities than amongst our data centre customers! Alongside TCO (total cost of ownership), energy efficiency ratings and PuE scores are top of the agenda for DCMs.

The European Union issued an analogous document in 2007 with regard to UPS devices, prepared in collaboration with the CEMEP, the European Committee of Manufacturers of Electrical Machines and Power Electronics, of which Riello UPS is a member. Towards the end of 2008, the Union disseminated a Code of Conduct for improving the energy efficiency of Data Centers. Riello has set itself the target of being the most environmentally friendly power protection company in Europe. We are at the forefront of UPS research and development in terms of finding ways to improve UPS operating efficiencies and reduce their dependence on and usage of consumables such as batteries. To that end, Riello UPS developed the unique ECO Energy rating system – a clear method of identifying how Riello UPS products comply with and exceed the European Code of Conduct.

Findings in CRN’s report suggest the total consumption within data centres from servers, communications, storage, cooling and power distribution equipment accounts for between 1.7 and 2.2 percent of the total electricity used in the USA in 2010. A year prior, it was anticipated that it would be 3.5%.

I think the emphasis should be on decreasing power consumption, alongside increasing efficiency. UPS and cooling equipment perform at their most efficient at full load and this is not something data centres should do. Superbikes are designed for maximum performance and optimum efficiency but operating at maximum cannot be sustained indefinitely. A UPS is a critical piece of equipment and so reliability must take top priority. So, therefore, using efficiency on its own as a measure of success in reducing energy consumption, although important, is misleading. If you decrease load, efficiency will drop but then you will also be consuming less electricity.

In terms of lowering costs and energy consumption, the key to data centre design is to ensure you build flexibility in from the start. In terms of UPS, that might include installing flywheel UPS instead of battery banks to reduce the use of floor space and preserve it for revenue-earning servers. Flywheel UPS also offers greater efficiency and lower lifetime costs than battery equivalents. Instead of ripping out and replacing your UPS system every five years as your requirements outgrow it, you may also want to look at installing modular UPS, which gives you the option of increasing system capacity by bringing in additional UPS modules as you need them and simply slotting them into the system.

There are many ways you can reduce energy consumption in data centres and I think this report is testament to that fact. That’s what DCMs have been doing. Efficiency is but one way of doing that.

I read an interesting article in the trade press last week about the potential of Lithium Ion (Li-ion) batteries for UPS applications. It seems Li-ion battery manufacturers have done much to improve the design and manufacture of these batteries and addressed some of the design flaws that have so far struck them off as a serious contender in UPS applications. Could it be that they are at last taking the potential growth in the UPS market seriously?

Reports so far focussed on the USA market suggests the market for Li-ion batteries will grow 23% per annum until 2016.

Li-ion batteries have been slow to penetrate the UPS market. They are more readily employed in portable consumer electronics, primarily because of safety concerns. Lithium is highly flammable so if the batteries are exposed to over charging or over currents, it can present a fire hazard. Cost has also been an issue (they can be 5-8 times more expensive than VRLA equivalents). Many countries do not allow Li-ion batteries to be transported by air, only overland or by sea. They are more expensive to produce than Sealed Lead Acid batteries, more commonly found in UPS systems. Due to their chemical make up and design, Li-ion batteries can present a significant fire hazard if not carefully monitored.

On the plus side, however, Li-ion batteries display rather better ‘green’ credentials than their VRLA counterparts. They are also lighter in weight and take up less space than comparably-rated VRLA battery sets (some reports suggest by as much as 50%). Li-ion batteries can offer longer back up times at higher discharge currents and are said to be less temperature sensitive (VRLA batteries require a constant ambient temperature to preserve battery life). Li-ion batteries can tolerate more and faster discharge cycles. They have no gas emissions and can operate in a totally sealed environment.

Some Lithium Ion manufacturers are now designing batteries with charging and monitoring circuits built in, which control battery charging and protect against hazardous situations from developing.

I can see the potential of Li-ion batteries and will be watching with interest how the market develops. However, VRLA batteries have been in use in UPS systems for a long time, the technology is stable and they are cost-effective. There are battery alternatives (such as flywheels and fuel cells) that are much more exciting and in my view offer a more significant alternative to batteries but a I cannot see VRLAs being replaced in UPS installations by any other battery technology anytime soon.

A couple of weeks ago, a bomb disposal team safely exploded a World War II mine, which was on-site at the Greater Gabbard Wind Farm off the coast of Suffolk. It turned out to be a 680 kilo German ground mine and an ROV (remotely operated vehicle) was brought in by ex-Royal Navy explosives experts to blow it up.

There are many areas around the British coast were unexploded ground mines from World War II are known to exist. Unlike other types of mine, or floating mines, ground mines are not designed to explode on impact, instead they employ magnetic sensors to detect the presence of an enemy submarine or ship overhead, which makes them exceptionally difficult to detect.  Areas of heavy shipping traffic, such as ports and marinas have been cleared but old mines are becoming a problem now in the light of the off-shore wind sector’s rapid expansion.

Ex-Navy and/or privately-owned bomb disposal teams are now busier than ever clearing sites for the development and expansion of new wind farms.

This article got me thinking about how important it is before any major power protection installation project to prepare the ground first with a thorough site survey. It’s extremely unlikely that land-based businesses on industrial parks or in office blocks will stumble upon unexploded bombs but you’d be amazed at how much material and information, relevant to the installation, surveys unearth.

In a tight economy, the temptation may be to either not carry out a survey at all or to massively scale it down. The installation time and costs saved as a result of the information contained within a site survey almost always far outweigh the time and costs associated with carrying it out.

A site survey will reveal all sorts to do with the complexity of the project and installation, such as logistics, environment and location and electrical installation. It covers a set of standard criterion that identify site-specific actions and information and areas requiring further investigation, all of which is documented in a formal report (a copy of which will be given to the customer for their files).

There is a long list but some of the issues a site survey can reveal are:

• The final positioning of the UPS and requirement for cranes or specialist lifting gear (stair climbers, for example).
• The existence of a low bridge on route to site and requirement to find an alternative route.
• The need for local authority and law enforcement permissions to close roads for equipment unload.
• The existence of floor loading weight restrictions (which can occur in computer rooms with raised floors) and need for reinforcement.

Nothing should ever be assumed or taken for granted when surveying a site. Wherever possible it should be completed with a site representative present, whose local and site knowledge will be invaluable. Visit our website for more details.

The importance of power conditioning within a power system cannot be underestimated and it is a little-known but very important feature of a UPS system.

At its source, mains power is ‘unclean’ and generally badly behaved and this can cause all sorts of problems within an internal power distribution system and for any equipment attached to it. It can ultimately lead to costly and disruptive breakdown or system crashes.

Power Problems

Alongside total blackouts and power failures, power problems manifest in several different ways:

• sags – short duration voltage reductions in mains power supply, which can cause computer equipment to malfunction and lead to data loss.
• Brownouts – longer duration reduction in mains power supply voltage, which can also result in equipment failure.
• Surges – these are short duration voltage increases, which can lead to system crashes from activated automatic cut-out protection within the equipment. Surges can also cause wear and tear and general equipment degradation over time.
• Spikes and transients – are fast-moving, high energy bursts (in excess of 6kVA in some instances). They last only a few milliseconds but can cause widespread and costly damage to equipment and motherboards.
• Electrical Noise – electrical noise exists in all electrical systems and if not filtered out can disrupt the operation of circuits and equipment and cause damage.
• Harmonics – harmonic pollution is a problem associated with proliferation of SMPS (Switch Mode Power Supplies) being connected to electrical distribution networks. Harmonics can cause distortion of the mains power supply voltage, overheating of building wiring circuits and nuisance tripping of breakers.

Power conditioners within a UPS system are designed to attenuate spikes, transients and electrical noise. But in environments where these problems are most severe, such as in industrial settings, for example, other types of power conditioner and/or filter may also be employed. Constant Voltage Transformers (CVTs) can be used to stabilise voltage over a wide input voltage window. This is a type of Ferro resonant design.

Other types of protection include AVS (automatic voltage stabilisers), which can protect from sags, brownouts and surges. TVSS (transient voltage surge suppressors) can be employed to guard against transient voltages and high-energy spikes. Some also have filters that protect from spikes, transients and electrical noise. Standard filters and filter strips may be employed in some installations to protect against spikes, transients and electrical noise but rather than attenuating performance, they ‘clamp’ peak voltages to predefined, acceptable levels.

A power quality review, prior to embarking on a power protection project, upgrade or change to your power protection plans, is recommended as it will reveal essential information pertinent to the design and configuration of your new system. For more information, visit our website.

There’s been a lot written in the press recently about Ofgem’s move towards cleaning up and radically reforming the energy industry. The regulator launched a retail market review earlier this year. In early August came the announcement that it was paving the way towards an enforceable standard format for utility bills and ensuring transparency for consumers.

The energy watchdog set about undertaking market research to identify best practices, language and formats to support enhanced clarity and engagement, which will form the new rules for billing and identify those key words or phrases that either help or hinder consumers in understanding their bills, annual statements and price rises.

It is often the case that energy users (business and consumer) fail to get the best deal because they are confused by what’s on the bill and are ‘bamboozled’ by the technical detail presented. Many energy users are resigned into a state of acceptance of what they are getting – whether or not it is the cheapest and best tariff for them. The number of tariffs being offered by energy companies has increased from 180 in 2008 to around 400 in 2011.

The ‘big six’ (British Gas, Npower, E.on, EDF, Scottish Power and Scottish and Southern Energy) energy companies are being blamed for monopolising the market through complex billing and tariff practices, not allowing consumers to make more informed decisions and allowing smaller companies to be competitive in the market. Ofgem is pushing for a market overhaul in 2012.

Accountants BDO have been brought in to examine how the profits of the big six are calculated to find out if retail profits have been deliberately underestimated to justify higher energy bills. Ofgem claims it has evidence that the big six have increased prices in response to rising commodity costs more quickly than they reduced them when those costs fell. Five of the big six have recently announced price increases equivalent to 15% for the year.

Given the amount of money businesses spend on electricity, can they really afford to wait until next year to reduce their bills?

At Riello, we employ a team of UPS Technical Energy Consultant (TEC). These are experts in the role power protection plays in business continuity planning and they can help customers design, install and manage the most energy efficient power solution that will save on energy bills from a wide range of Uninterruptible Power Supplies and Standby Power Systems, generators and automatic transfer switches. We can also carry out energy surveys and advise you on how to reduce your energy use. For more detail, visit our website or follow the links above.

A flywheel is a rotating mechanical device that employs a spinning mechanism to store energy that can be used as an alternative to mains electricity to power equipment. Its history dates back to Neolithic man and ultimately the invention of the wheel itself.

The wheel provided a means of transport, a way to spin wool and make textiles and a way (via a water wheel) of grinding crops for food production.

In the Industrial Revolution, James Watt contributed to the development of the flywheel in the steam engine, and his contemporary James Pickard used a flywheel combined with a crank to transform reciprocating motion into rotary motion.

Flywheel energy storage systems store kinetic energy (energy produced by motion) by constantly spinning a compact rotor in a low-friction environment. When short-term back-up power is required when utility power fluctuates or is lost, the rotor’s inertia allows it to continue spinning and the resulting kinetic energy is converted to electricity.

Flywheel UPS offer many advantages for certain applications over traditional battery-based UPS, although it’s important to point out that there is a distinct market for both. Flywheel UPS offers increased efficiency, greater environmental credentials (no emissions, no battery disposal), compact footprint (up to 50% less space requirements than battery-based systems), lower TCO (total cost of ownership) and almost instantaneous recharge.

In July we unveiled details of our new Master MHF series, which is a modular, scalable, power protection system incorporating flywheel UPS technology. It is ideal for eco-targeted data centres looking to get the most out of their investment in UPS.

The new Master MHF series offers 99% efficiency and is Smart-grid ready. It also boasts a 20-year design life. More details can be found on our website.

I read with interest a couple of articles this month in Marketing Week, entitled Studies Show it Pays to be Ethical and The Only Way is Ethics (nice pun).

Basically, recent studies carried out among consumers have established a link between business’s ethical credentials and the preferences of affluent, ethical consumers to buy their products. One study found that 91% of consumers take ethics into account when purchasing products.

A couple of other interesting pointers that grabbed my attention are that perception is just as important (or perhaps more so) than actual environmental performance. Top brands that scored higher on ethical perception than performance did rather better in consumers minds than other brands that are actually more ethical in their actions but not as vociferous.

Wealthy consumers of FMCG are happy to pay premium prices for goods and services they perceive to be ethical but I suspect it’s a little different in the business world. In business, cost is still king. Companies need to be seen to be ethical and environmentally sensitive but it cannot come at a cost. Products have to be ‘green’, ethical and cost less. The bottom line is as sacred as ever, especially in a struggling economy.

As a UPS manufacturer, we invest £thousands into researching how to make UPS more eco-friendly and in developing new products accordingly so that our customers genuinely use less energy and can be kinder to the environment at the same time. More details are available on our website.

The CBI (Confederation of Business and Industry) is up in arms about the Government’s proposed Carbon Tax and claims that energy-intensive manufacturers should be exempt from it, or the Government will risk making the UK an uncompetitive market where heads of heavy industry and manufacturing will no longer wish to base their businesses.

In a report (Protecting the UK’s Foundations: a blueprint for energy-intensive industries) published at the end of August, the CBI stressed that the Government must ensure energy-intensive manufacturers are not undermined by rising costs and climate change energy policies. These companies form a crucial part of the manufacturing and supply chain alongside employing a quarter of a million people and accounting for £15bn of UK GDP. As such, so says the CBI, they need protection from laws like the carbon floor price, which would penalise many of them in their manufacturing processes.

Such companies make a diverse range of products such as steel and chemicals required for wind turbines and low-rolling resistance tyres.

The CBI wants the Government to find a way of moving businesses to a low carbon economy while exempting certain ‘carbon-heavy’ companies from so doing. How can that be possible?

Thanks to our Master Plus Industrial range of rugged and energy efficient UPS, at least energy-intensive manufacturers can enjoy efficient and cost-effective power protection. Based on our leading Master Plus UPS range, the Master Plus Industrial is designed for tough installation environments, such as petrochemical manufacturing sites, where operating conditions (levels of vibration, mechanical stress, ambient temperatures and dust ingress) require a more robust and industrialised UPS design. We’ve incorporated a number of design features to make it applicable to this market, such as:

• HIGH Icc
Master Plus Industrial has a higher short-circuit current (Icc = 3In) making it suitable for loads with high current peaks, during switch-on or a load step-change.
• 220V DC VOLTAGE
- the UPS has a 220Vdc bus bar (from 108 to 114 blocks) – a common standard for industrial applications.
• REDUNDANT VENTILATION
- Master Plus Industrial has 100% redundant ventilation with 50% fan loading at nominal load. Each fan is monitored for failure to ensure optimum temperatures are maintained.
• IP (Ingress Protection) Rating Various IP protection levels are available on request.

For more details visit our website.