Eaton Debuts 400V UPS Units

400v-ac

In yesterday's Higher-Voltage AC as a Power Savings Tool we noted that Emerson Network Power was running 240 volt power to the equipment in its new data center, while APC by Schneider has advocated using 400/230V distribution system.

Today Eaton Corporation announced new configurations of its Eaton 9390 and Eaton 9395 uninterruptible power systems (UPS) using a 400/230V AC power scheme. Eaton said the 400/230V approach, which is widely used in Europe and Asia, proved to be the most efficient approach in its evaluation of alternate power distribution systems.

Eaton's analysis found the 400V power distribution system provides 80 percent end-to-end efficiency (see diagram above) compared to 76 percent for a North American standard 480V system and a 600V AC system (see a detailed analysis). 

“Our 400V configuration offers a space-saving alternative to conventional power distribution in the data center and requires no changes to IT devices and power loads," said Jim Davis, business unit manager, Power Quality and Control Operations for Eaton. “With 400V implementations of our 9390 and 9395 systems, we deliver clean power directly to the IT rack at 230V without the need for a stand-alone power distribution unit (PDU).

"This approach further maximizes energy and cost savings and conserves valuable data center floor space. Between the transformer-free designs of the 9390 and 9395 and removing the need for a PDU, the energy, footprint and cost savings are significant.”

Eaton Corporation is a diversified power management company with 2008 sales of $15.4 billion. It has approximately 70,000 employees and sells products to customers in more than 150 countries.