Eaton Unveils 400V UPS Configuration To Power Data Centers In North America

Eaton Corp. announced its Eaton 9390 and Eaton 9395 uninterruptible power systems (UPSs) in 400V UL-listed configurations. These systems are said to allow consulting-specifying engineers (CSEs) and customers in North America the ability to recognize significant energy savings and efficiency gains while employing proven technologies and architectures.

According to the company, of the several alternative power distribution systems currently found in the U.S. and Canada, 400 and 600Vac systems are generally accepted as the most viable. While the 400V power scheme is common in Europe, the Middle East and Asia (EMEA), Eaton states that it is the first to offer this configuration with UL approval in North America. Eaton leveraged the transformer-free design of the 9390 and 9395 systems to provide a 400Vac solution specifically for North American markets.

Eaton states that it conducted a quantitative comparison of these configurations to demonstrate the 400Vac power distribution system offers the highest degree of electrical efficiency for modern data centers, significantly reducing capital and operational expenditures and total cost of ownership as compared to both 600 and 480Vac power systems. Traditional 480Vac and the newly touted 600Vac power systems have an approximate end-to-end efficiency of 76% while 400Vac architecture has an end-to-end efficiency of 80%.

"UPS vendors are constantly looking to improve system efficiency and performance. 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, 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."