American Power Conversion Offers Remote Management for Stationary Batteries in Data Centres and Facilities

American Power Conversion (Nasdaq: APCC) (APC) announces its Battery Management System, a browser accessible 1U, rack-mountable appliance designed to monitor health of battery power for three-phase uninterruptible power supply (UPS) applications. Unlike traditional battery charging, which applies a single charge to the entire battery string, APCs Battery Management System charges each individual battery in the string, resulting in longer battery life. With faulty batteries accounting for a high percentage of UPS problems, it is essential for batteries to be proactively monitored and managed to ensure optimal performance. The Battery Management System provides IT and facility managers the ability to monitor stationary batteries with their network or building management system, increasing availability of their network-critical physical infrastructure (NCPI) Power, Air Conditioning, Environmental Monitoring, Physical Security and Cabling.

With power being the foundation of the NCPI and a critical part of the infrastructure that facility managers are responsible for, it is important for them to stay informed and have the ability to manage and prevent potential problems, said Michael Adams, managing director, APC UK & Ireland. Early warning of conditions such as individual batteries failing allows facility managers to react to problems quickly and ensure reliable battery backup power to their IT systems.

Additional benefits of the Battery Management System include:

Comprehensive system for monitoring up to 240 batteries;

Supplemental charging ensures individual batteries are fully charged and prevents premature aging;

Monitors room environment and individual battery temperature change for early detection of thermal runaway, as well as monitoring for shorted cells, open circuits, or bad batteries;

Monitors voltage and current to ensure optimal battery performance;

Integration with network or building management system allows managers to monitor critical building infrastructure from a single system;

Provides the ability to mix and match new batteries with old batteries, eliminating the need to replace the entire string;

Monitors VRLA or wet cell 2-16v batteries.