UPS Forum 2014 Puts UPS Experts At Your Fingertips

At “The Battery Show,” coming up September 16–18 in Novi, Michigan, there will be a free series of seminars on the topic of UPS systems. The seminars will delve into current issues with backup power systems, how to keep energy costs down with the help of UPS systems, ensuring a 100% reliable power system, etc.

The first presentation will be by Enersys National Account Manager – Consultants, James Gordon, who will discuss “the pros and cons of a lead battery solution for the UPS industry.” Among other things, the presentation will “compare flooded, 2vdc stackable VRLA, front terminal VRLA and traditional monoblock VRLA battery options.”

That will be followed by a presentation by Mark Townsend, 3-Phase UPS Systems Engineer at GE Critical Power. Townsend will cover “why 1% efficiency matters.” The primer for that talk is as follows: “Total cost of ownership (TCO) is a critical and well understood metric when developing new data centers, yet often the TCO criteria used during the design phase isn’t used during equipment procurement or equipment upgrades. Abandoning TCO metrics at this phase can cost companies hundreds of thousands – or even millions – of dollars every year. This session will present the metrics for why all stakeholders involved in UPS data center projects should deploy a TCO model throughout the process, and ways for bringing together the seemingly divergent goals of purchasing and operational teams.”

The third presentation will discuss the use of lithium-ion batteries in UPS systems — not the norm, but there are some options out there. Yuan Dao, PhD, General Manager of Elite Power Solutions, will give this presentation. “Elite Power Solutions has developed an integrated Battery Control System (iBCS) that combines all the controls and protection logics into one small box,” the webpage for the 2014 UPS Forum states. “The plug-n-play iBCS system makes installation of a Li-ion battery UPS system greatly simplified.”

Six more presentations and discussions follow these first three. To read about them or learn more about the forum, just jump over to the 2014 UPS Forum webpage.

Co-located with The Battery Show is the Electric & Hybrid Vehicle Technology Expo. Unfortunately, I don’t think CleanTechnica will be attending, but these looked so interesting that CleanTechnica and EV Obsession jumped on as “Supporters.” Let us know if you will be attending and would like to meet with any specific person or company at the show or expo!