The continued growth of the data center market is constantly increasing the demand for UPS. As an important component of the UPS system and the last line of defense for power supply, batteries are undoubtedly the last insurance in UPS power. However, due to their disadvantages in lifespan, energy density, security, and cost, they are often considered the "weak link" in the data center power chain.
The proportion of lithium batteries in data center backup power continues to grow.
Over the past few years, strong market demand has driven the evolution of lithium-ion battery technology and structure, resulting in significant improvements in performance, safety, and cost. According to statistics from Energy Trends, while lead-acid batteries still dominate data center backup batteries, lithium-ion batteries, with their advantages of longer lifespan, faster charging and discharging speeds, and smaller size, are expected to gradually replace lead-acid batteries in the future. In 2019, lithium-ion batteries accounted for 12% of data center backup batteries, and this is projected to grow to 16% in 2020.
Besides requiring a dedicated battery room, lead-acid batteries typically have a lifespan of 5-6 years. How to better match their lifecycle with that of the data center to reduce Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is a challenge facing data center users. Given the characteristics of the data center industry, minimizing operating costs and saving on system cooling energy consumption, battery maintenance, replacement, and service expenses is crucial, and lithium batteries, due to their superior performance, are key to solving these problems.
Choose lithium batteries, choose high-quality energy storage.
Eaton, a global power management company, began its foray into the data center lithium battery market several years ago and currently offers a range of high-power UPS products that are fully compatible with lithium battery technology. Lithium batteries outperform lead-acid batteries in terms of performance, size, weight, lifespan, environmental friendliness, and safety, providing data centers with a more ideal new UPS solution option.
With a 15-year design lifespan, lithium batteries require no replacement for their entire lifespan. The lifespan of lithium batteries is typically 10 years, almost twice that of lead-acid batteries. As lithium battery prices gradually converge with lead-acid battery prices, the total cost of ownership (TCO) of lithium battery UPS systems is significantly decreasing. This is why large data centers have long been pioneers in adopting this new energy storage solution. The 15-year design lifespan of lithium battery systems ensures stable performance over a 10-year service life and allows connection to high-power UPS products such as the Power Xpert™ 9395. The longer lifespan effectively reduces battery replacement costs and maintenance burdens. Therefore, the primary purpose of investing in lithium batteries is to reduce the overall cost of ownership, rather than short-term profits.
Volume reduced by 40% and weight reduced by 60%. Data centers, constrained by space, are constantly increasing their power density. Compared to lead-acid batteries, lithium batteries occupy only one-third of the space while reducing weight by 60% to provide the same power, eliminating the need for floor reinforcement. This effectively helps customers scale up the deployment of existing IT systems while reducing heat dissipation requirements, saving on investment and operating costs.
With excellent high-temperature resistance, lithium batteries can operate from 0-40℃ without air conditioning. Lead-acid batteries have an optimal operating temperature of 20-25℃; for every 6-10℃ increase in temperature, their lifespan and cycle life are significantly shortened. In contrast, lithium batteries have a high-performance operating temperature range of 0-40℃. Therefore, the high-temperature resistance of lithium batteries can help customers reduce cooling requirements and lower operating costs, which is a significant advantage of lithium batteries in ultra-large cloud computing centers.
The built-in BMS enables individual battery control. As the core technology for the safety of the entire lithium battery system, the Battery Management System (BMS) can quickly cut off the fault current to protect the entire system from damage when any fault occurs, such as overvoltage charging, overcurrent discharging, or short circuit. Besides accurately understanding the health status of the battery system, the BMS can also actively balance the charging and discharging of the cells, ensuring safe charging and discharging, thereby extending service life, reducing overall TCO, and lowering the maintenance burden on staff.
Benefiting from the rapid development of the electric vehicle and energy storage markets, lithium battery prices are falling rapidly, enabling data center UPS systems to quickly transition from lead-acid to lithium batteries. Eaton, as a global power management company, is at the forefront of new energy technology reform, driving the application of lithium battery technology in data centers through innovative technology and forward-looking research, helping customers easily address the challenges brought about by future energy demand changes.
