Energy-efficient UPS systems 'vital' for industrial applications

Malavika Tohani, a Frost & Sullivan Programme Manager, comments: "Spiralling energy costs and increasing attention to reducing carbon emissions are driving the growth of energy-efficient UPS systems. It is, therefore, vital that applications consuming high amounts of power such as data centres and industrial applications adopt energy-efficient UPS."

Commenting on the report, Peter Bentley, sales and marketing director for Uninterruptible Power Supplies Ltd (UPSL), said: "Concerns over relatively high initial prices have in the past inhibited the uptake of energy-efficient UPS systems. However, as energy costs continue rising, total cost of ownership (TCO) increasingly favours a high-efficiency solution, as savings quickly compensate for the initial purchase premium."

By comparing the TCO for a traditional UPS and for an advanced modular system, the savings become very apparent. The TCO advantage of a modular UPSs derives from factors including size, transport and installation logistics, power security, maintenance, training, spare parts and upgrading, as well as energy costs and carbon emissions.

Class-leading modular systems such as UPSL's PowerWAVE range bring efficiency through modularity. This improves efficiency by working closer to the load capacity than traditional UPSs but without sacrificing the security of the system. The more a load approaches the capacity of any UPS, the more efficiently the UPS operates. A traditional standalone parallel redundant system is typically just 50 per cent loaded, while a modular product typically achieves a 70 per cent loading or higher. This reduces both energy and UPS cooling costs.

As the table below shows, for a modular 200kVA N+1 UPS system supplying a load of 180kVA, the TCO savings over five years can be nearly 145,900, with a reduction in carbon emissions of around 712 tonnes and a carbon-neutral offset equivalent to 1083 trees.

Go to www.upspower.co.uk for more information about uninterruptible power supplies and to order a copy of the The UPS Handbook.