UPS Battery Failure and the Impact of Downtime

Gregory Ratcliff, Director of Life Cycle Management Services
Emerson Network Power, Liebert Services

Batteries may be the most “low-tech” components supporting today’s mission critical data centers, but battery-related failures account for more than one-third of all UPS system failures over the life of the equipment. Since the continuity of critical systems during a power outage typically is dependent on a data center’s power equipment, comprised of UPS and their respective battery backups, it could be argued that batteries are one of the most important components of the data center. Read more about UPS Battery Failure and the Impact of Downtime

It’s Time to Align US Lithium Battery Air Transport Rules with International Standards

George Kerchner, Executive Director
PRBA – The Rechargeable Battery Association

For years, PRBA–The Rechargeable Battery Association, along with other business and transportation groups, has urged the US Department of Transportation (DOT) to update its regulations applicable to air shipments of lithium batteries by harmonizing its regulations with the more stringent international requirements.   Read more about It’s Time to Align US Lithium Battery Air Transport Rules with International Standards

Energy Harvesting: Is There No Free Lunch?

Upal Sengupta, Staff Applications Engineer
Texas Instruments, Battery Management Solutions

We’ve all heard the familiar saying “there’s no free lunch.”  It seems to apply to so many situations in life as well as in circuit design.  But still, we all like the idea of getting something for nothing.  The concept of “Energy Harvesting” has been getting some attention lately because of newly available technologies that allow us to take advantage of free energy sources like sunlight, ambient heat, or the vibration from traffic on a roadway.  So do we finally get our free lunch? Read more about Energy Harvesting: Is There No Free Lunch?