Data Center UPS System Consideration for Green Data Center

Indodatacenter
4 min readSep 10, 2022

--

A green data center is an environmentally friendly data center that meets certain standards. A data center consumes much electricity, and as an organization,, you want to do whatever you can to save money and keep your business processes running at all times.

So, how do you go about creating a green data center?

This guide will look at Data Center UPS System Consideration for Green Data Center.

Data Center UPS System Consideration for Green Data Center

Energy Efficiency

Green data center focuses on energy efficiency. With the help of UPS switching power supply and digital control, the efficiency of online UPS systems will be improved.

In digital communication networks, paying attention to efficient power sources is becoming increasingly important. In addition to providing clean power for your devices, a UPS system also provides convenience by extending the length of time that equipment can operate.

Input Power Factor

The input power factor or input PF is the ratio of product power to apparent power. This refers to how efficient UPS is. The closer it is to 1, the more efficient it is.

Generally speaking, a UPS with high input PF, such as 0.98, can be considered a highly efficient product.

So when considering running an application on battery backup, you should consider one with a high input PF. For example, battery backup on a 1KVA load connected to a 400KVA UPS will have at least 50 minutes of battery time.

This means that if you have only 30 minutes of battery time left before your load goes offline, you will still lose at least another 20 minutes before the load comes back online if your input PF is 0.4 and not 0.98 (it will take at least 40 minutes for the remaining 20% battery capacity).

System Configuration

UPS Systems for Data Centers are available in different configurations. The most common system configuration you can choose is the Stand Alone (SAS) and Rack Mounted (RAS) systems. Some common configurations are:

  • Rack-mounted Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) with Battery: This is a stand-alone unit installed in a rack with a battery as its power source.
  • Rack-mounted Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) with Generators: This type of UPS has an internal gas or diesel generator to provide power to your critical load during an outage.
  • Stand-alone Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) with Generators: This type of UPS has an internal gas or diesel generator to provide power to your critical load during an outage. It can also be installed outside, but it requires additional hardware like an inverter or power converter to convert the output voltage from DC to AC before your equipment can use it in the data center.

Power distribution architecture

It would be best if you considered how the power distribution architecture will be designed before deciding which UPS units are required for each rack or cabinet.

This includes whether you want to use separate racks or cabinets for different applications or whether they will be combined into one cabinet with multiple racks or cabinets placed next to each other.

Startup And Shutdown

Starting up a UPS system involves two major steps: charging and load shedding. When you turn on your UPS, it first charges its batteries from utility power and then transfers the load from utility to battery power.

These two steps must be performed in a timely fashion so there is no interruption in power supply to critical systems, devices, or processes.

The time required by a UPS system to start up depends on several factors, including:

  • The size of the UPS (in terms of VA rating). The larger the size, the more time required for charging and load shedding operations.
  • The type of battery used by the UPS (lead acid or lithium-ion). Lead acid batteries require more time than lithium-ion batteries to charge due to their higher internal resistance and lower open circuit voltage potential.

Short-Term and Long-Term Maintenance fees

Maintenance is an essential consideration for any data center. The cost of maintenance can be high for large companies, especially if they want to hire professionals for regular maintenance work.

It would help if you decided whether you will do the maintenance yourself or hire outside professionals to do it for you. The costs associated with both options depend on how often your company needs maintenance services and how skilled your employees or third-party contractors are at performing these tasks.

UPS System Impact on Green Data Centers

The power consumption of a data center can be reduced by installing an efficient UPS system. A well-designed and properly sized UPS system reduces the load on generators and helps them work more efficiently. In addition, this also reduces the data center carbon footprint.

With increasing awareness about global warming, organizations are looking for eco-friendly solutions to reduce their carbon footprint. To meet this need, many vendors have launched green-certified models that meet stringent environmental standards, such as those set by UL Environment’s Green Mark program or Energy Star 4.0 guidelines.

Choose the UPS system for your data center wisely

Data Center Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) System will play an essential role in extending the availability of your Data Center, especially when unexpected power problems occur. Having data center power protection requirements is also part of the critical infrastructure routine for any organization.

When selecting a standby or uninterruptible power supply (UPS), many options exist. Earlier generations of Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) equipment used inefficient and expensive technologies that consumed much energy during operation.

Now, the latest generation of data center uninterruptible power supply (UPS) has been designed specifically to meet the growing demand for more environmentally friendly solutions.

--

--