critical power

US-based Navitas Systems has launched a transportable remote power system with integrated energy storage and power inverter electronics.

According to Navitas Systems, the so-called Frontierion system can be connected to a flexible or rigid solar panel, enabling DC power from the solar panels or the integrated energy storage (lead acid or lithium-ion batteries) to be converted to stable and secure 115/220V AC, 12V DC, and 24V DC power output.

The system is aimed to incorporate multiple layers of protection to include short circuit protection, over-current protection, and externally resettable protection without the need of opening the box.

The Frontierion system is designed to allow users to rapidly deploy and re-deploy mobile power systems that require no fuel for continuous and secure power. The remote power system can come with different sized energy storage modules, ranging from 1.2kWh to 10kWh of total capacity.

“The applications for this new product are numerous, and range from an insurance company's 'Go-Team' responding to a tornado and processing on-site claims while plugged into Frontierion, to a Border agent powering his equipment while the vehicle's engine is off, to a remote construction site needing power for computing and communications,” said Navitas Systems CEO Mil Ovan.

Navitas Systems recently launched a lithium battery family, designed to replace currently used lead-acid batteries in commercial, industrial and military applications.

US power conversion specialist Ideal Power has hired Ryan O’Keefe to take over the role as senior vice president business development in order to lead the company's sales efforts.

Before joining Ideal Power, O’Keefe served as senior vice president and chief revenue officer at German energy storage firm Younicos. Prior to Younicos, O'Keefe spent eight years with NextEra Energy, where he was vice president of solar development, leading the development of solar projects in California and Spain, worth of $2 billion.

“We believe Ryan's industry experience and relationships will be instrumental as we continue to target new commercialization partners and opportunities for our innovative power conversion products," said Ideal Power chief executive officer Dan Brdar.

O'Keefe holds a Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Connecticut and a Masters of business administration from Columbia University. He started his career with General Electric and held several leadership roles at General Electric facilities in the US and Mexico.

Ideal Power recently launched a hybrid converter family for off-grid storage systems at Intersolar America.

Uninterruptible power supply provider AEG Power Solutions (AEG) has launched a modular DC process power supply system for industrial applications with high power demands.

AEG ‘s Thyrobox DC-3 power supply system is designed on the base of the B12-IGBT-chopper technology and has a modular structure. The smallest Thyrobox DC-3 has an output power of 1,500A and can be modularly expanded to 30,000A.

According to Germany’s AEG, load voltages from 20V up to 500V can be achieved with the new product. The system also allows a configuration with redundant modules. The Thyrobox DC-3 operates so that more power modules can be upgraded by parallel connection to an existing DC system.

Due to a high load current and load voltage with a small output as well as an optimised supply network load over the control range, the DC system has a high power factor, claimed the company.

The DC system can be connected to a low or medium voltage grid. Separate power transformer and secondary side wiring with bus bars or cables are optional.

The product was developed at the company's competence centre in Warstein, Germany, where it will also be produced.

Active Power's CleanSource 750HD flywheel UPS reduces risk of system failure by 21% versus a double-conversion UPS, according to a reliability assessment.

Commissioned by Active Power, the study by MTechnology examined the reliability of CleanSource 750HD versus a double-conversion UPS with batteries and quantifies the likelihood of failure during three distinct scenarios: a long utility outage lasting more than 10 seconds; a short utility outage lasting less than 10 seconds; and a demand failure.

For this study, a demand failure is a condition where the UPS fails when called upon to support a load during a utility outage.

The report, ‘Mitigating Risk of UPS System Failure: Reliability Assessment of CleanSource HD Integrated Flywheel UPS versus Double-Conversion UPS with Batteries’, also evaluates the reliability of CleanSource 750HD with a secondary energy source which couples a flywheel with battery energy storage versus a legacy UPS.

Key findings from the independent study include CleanSource 750HD reduced the risk of failure by more than 21% during long outages versus the modeled double-conversion UPS with batteries, 6.73% versus 8.58%, respectively.

For short outages, CleanSource 750HD had an 80% lower probability of failure versus a double-conversion UPS with batteries, 0.50% versus 2.05%, respectively.

The likelihood CleanSource 750HD would not support the load when called upon (demand failure) was dramatically lower compared to a double-conversion UPS with batteries, 0.000067% versus 2.05%, respectively.

The addition of the battery option to CleanSource 750HD further improved reliability over legacy UPS. During long outages, CleanSource 750HD with ‘Extended Runtime’ reduced the risk of failure by more than 23% versus a double-conversion UPS with batteries (6.60% versus 8.58%, respectively).

During short outages, the system reduced the risk of failure by 85% (0.36% versus 2.46%, respectively). The improved reliability is due to the presence of two distinct energy sources (flywheel and batteries).

The most likely failure mode of a double-conversion UPS with batteries is due to undetected battery failures. Non-detectable and detectable battery failures account for more than 83% of all double-conversion UPS failures.

"The UPS should improve reliability in an electrical design, not introduce additional risk," said Todd Kiehn, senior director, Product Management, of Active Power. "We believe this study presents clear evidence as to how operators can enhance reliability and mitigate risk of downtime to their mission critical operation with CleanSource 750HD."

UPS vendor Eaton has launched a suite of warranty and support services it believes can help boost channel partner turnover by 25%.

The services work with small plug-and-play UPS units as well as large three-phase installations. Eaton is offering four warranty options in addition to the standard warranty.

Warranty+ adds a year to the standard 12 or 24-month UPS warranty; Warranty 5 extends standard warranties to five years; and Warranty Advance gives coverage for three years and one site visit in the first two years, plus a routine maintenance visit in the third year.

All must be bought and registered within 30 days of product purchase, but the fourth option, Warranty Extend, can provide an additional year of coverage after expiration.

Eaton is also offering two more new services. Battery Plus is a replacement service for expired or damaged batteries, while Intervention is an on-site support service (excluding breakdown cover, which is part of the warranty structure).

David Oddie, IT channel manager at Eaton, told CRN that additional services are likely to further boost user appeal.

"Even with the best products, problems can occur," Oddie said. "Now our channel partners have the opportunity to provide further peace of mind that will help to ensure these problems are addressed quickly and effectively."

Oddie said resellers should aim to sell these services bundled in with every power management product sold. The vendor has calculated that the inclusion of these warranty and support services can add 25% to total power-management revenues.

"Selling the services is potentially a very significant source of extra income for our partners," he said.