Maxwell Technologies Inc. (San Diego, CA) announced that it has realigned its Power Systems Group to focus on developing and marketing ultracapacitor-based backup power solutions for telecommunications and other industrial applications that require "zero downtime" power reliability. Richard Smith, Maxwell's executive vice president for strategic business development, noted that the power blackout that crippled much of the northeastern US and eastern Canada last week underscores the need for enhanced backup power solutions for telecommunications and other mission-critical systems.
"We have been collaborating for some time with uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system integrators and fuel cell and other backup power generator manufacturers to develop more reliable, lower-maintenance alternatives to current UPS offerings," said Smith. "The first of these systems, using our PowerCache™ energy storage modules for short-term 'bridge' power, already are being deployed in field trials by telecommunications service providers in the US and Europe."
