A recent survey of data center executives revealed that over half have already deployed modular data centers, and 99% plan to in the future. Made from prefabricated units and preconfigured equipment, prefabricated modular data center systems (PMDCs) can be deployed in a much wider array of locations than traditional facilities, and offer multiple benefits: reduced costs, faster construction, greater customization, and easier scaling of the data center’s equipment and systems over time.
Three Ways to Improve Data Center Sustainability
March 21, 2023
In today’s information and technology-driven economy, data centers are fundamental to maintaining the day-to-day operations that keep businesses, organizations, and governments running. They act as centralized information hubs and enable the storing, processing, and dissemination of data and applications — vital to the operational continuity underpinning contemporary economic growth.
The intense processing power behind data centers inevitably means that they demand significant energy resources and produce heat waste. In fact, data centers are so energy intensive that they account for 2.4% of global electricity usage and 0.5% of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in the United States, which contains more data centers than any other country.
The outsized environmental impact of data centers has garnered increasing attention in recent years as businesses face growing pressures from investors, consumers, and regulatory agencies to integrate sustainability into their operations, and the industry is responding. For many organizations, data centers comprise a significant portion of their overall emissions (either scope 1 or 3, depending on ownership), making the issue quite salient.
The good news is the variety of ways in which data centers can upgrade their facilities to meet evolving pressures, hedge against uncertainty, and become more sustainable, efficient, and highly cost-effective. Effective methods include optimizing airflow dynamics, adopting modular design, and switching to alternative battery technologies like nickel-zinc.
Optimizing Cool Airflow
The industry-recognized optimization standard for data center infrastructure (“hot aisle/cold aisle”) was pioneered in 1992 by IBM’s Robert Sullivan — an internationally recognized engineer — and remains a practical way of boosting existing cooling technology without needing additional capital investment. In this specific configuration, cabinets containing processors are placed so that the front of one will never face the back of another, where heat exhaust escapes.
Rearranging a data center in this manner effectively creates alternating rows of cold supply and hot return air, reducing energy usage. It’s also important to reinforce the separation of alternating aisles with physical barriers that seal off gaps for air and to clear airflow obstructions — often poorly placed cables — from intake and exhaust openings. Doing so will deliver the highest-quality airflow dynamics, guaranteeing reduced energy costs, improved corporate sustainability metrics, and greater operational reliability.
Batteries and Cooling Combine for Data Center Sustainability
Read BlogAnother economic — albeit geographically and logistically restrictive — way data centers can optimize their airflow is by making use of free air cooling. As the name suggests, free air cooling is a process whereby external ambient air temperatures are used to cool data centers’ processors via heat exchange. The caveat of this cooling method is that it’s location-dependent — and many of the most attractive places for data centers to locate (i.e. big tech hubs) don’t have the required climatic conditions.
Mountainous and some northern hemisphere regions are especially effective for free air cooling, as they boast low and stable temperatures year-round.
Modular Data Centers
PMDCs’ ability to add and replace components as needed provides several environmental benefits. Since they don’t need to be designed on a massive scale on location, they generally have smaller footprints, more efficient power and cooling options, and the ability to easily replace equipment with more climate-friendly alternatives such as nickel-zinc batteries. Some modular data centers can even be built in existing buildings, lowering the construction footprint even further. As the survey shows, data center operators plan to take full advantage of modular designs’ financial and environmental benefits in 2023 and beyond.
Sustainable Backup Batteries
Batteries comprise an integral part of information technology but are often overlooked when it comes to a data center’s sustainability directives. Since even a few seconds of data center downtime can disrupt operations around the world, uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems are essential to maintain uptime during a power outage. These UPS systems must contain backup batteries, which present a key opportunity for contributing to sustainability goals.
For example, because nickel and zinc are four and five times more abundant in the Earth’s crust than lead and lithium, and boast more sustainable mining processes, nickel-zinc batteries have six-times the GHG avoidance compared to lithium-ion, and four-times relative to lead-acid. They also reduce overall water usage, eliminate volatile organic compounds during manufacturing, and are non-flammable.
Additionally, nickel-zinc allows for higher operating temperatures, offering reduced cooling requirements and resulting in energy savings. In many cases, the UPS is rated to operate at up to 104°F (40°C) or higher, but the battery operating temperature limits the ability to increase temperature and reduce cooling costs in that space. Fortunately, nickel-zinc can tolerate higher temperatures, thus providing an opportunity to reduce cooling costs and improve Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) and sustainability.
The Powerful Benefits of Nickel-Zinc Batteries for Data Centers
Read BlogUnsurprisingly then, nickel-zinc batteries have achieved the highest climate rating of 9.4/10 according to Boundless Impact Research and Analytics’ analysis of environmental and performance-based factors for battery chemistries commonly used in data centers. This is one of a few key reasons why Corscale recently announced that it will make use of nickel-zinc chemistry in its uninterruptible power supply system.
Conclusion
As major consumers of energy around the world, data centers have proactively taken it upon themselves to become leaders in reducing emissions, and are well-positioned to continue meeting the increasingly stringent environmental demands of investors, consumers, and regulatory agencies in the years to come. Though it’s not a silver bullet solution, the positive economics of airflow optimization, modular design, and alternative battery chemistries offer impactful, accessible, and low-risk ways of improving data center sustainability.
Previously published by Data Centre Solutions
5 Trends Shaping Data Center Power Infrastructure In 2023
March 15, 2023
Flexible, resilient, and green might be words you associate with your garden – but in 2023, they’re also exactly what clients want from their data center operations.
Each year brings exponentially higher demand for speed and power to run the metaverse, edge computing, IoT, 5G, AI, and hybrid cloud deployments. And it doesn’t take a crystal ball to see that as the digitization of global entertainment, industry, and medical centers accelerates, so will the need for data center infrastructure to support this heavy load.
The following five concepts, each proving itself to be more than just a trend, will define how data centers meet this increasing demand in the new year.
1. Sustainability is a necessity, not a luxury
Like the rest of the world, data centers are now facing a climate crisis as temperatures and weather events soar. This last summer saw extreme heat waves causing stress for European and Californian data centers; Twitter itself lost a key data center to extreme heat. Fortunately, many data center operators are preparing their centers to withstand such extremes.
Meanwhile, data centers are seeking ways to increase their power load and serve higher client demand, without significantly increasing their electricity and emissions burdens. Solutions that help decouple power load and emissions will help data operators prepare for increased emissions regulations and clients’ growing awareness of the need for sustainable data center operations.
Nickel-Zinc Climate Impact
Boundless analyzed the climate impact of the ZincFive nickel-zinc (NiZn) battery technology, scoring ZincFive’s NiZn batteries at 9.4 with 10 representing the highest positive environmental impact.
Read Report
Solutions such as nickel-zinc (NiZn) batteries can reduce scope 3 emissions and attract clients by helping them adhere to reporting requirements. NiZn batteries’ life cycle GHG emissions are four times lower than lead-acid batteries’, and six times lower than lithium-ion batteries’. Their carbon payback time – the time required for emissions savings from the product’s use to offset the GHG from its production – is a mere 25 percent of lithium-ion and lead-acid batteries’ payback time. Other ways to increase a data center’s sustainability include incorporating clean energy into its power supply, reusing waste heat, and cooling options that use less water; the green Wyoming Hyperscale data center uses several of these options.
The green data center market is projected to grow by 14% annually through 2032, partly due to these centers’ lower costs over time. For both financial and environmental reasons, wise operators are taking heed and incorporating more sustainable measures into their centers’ operations.
2. The quality of backup power strategies matters
On-site power failure is the most common cause of significant data center outages, with the majority caused by uninterruptible power supply (UPS) failure. High expenses associated with outages make maintaining immediate power with dependable UPS systems even more critical. UPS systems must contain backup batteries that perform reliably under any circumstances. For example, NiZn batteries remain conductive even if weakened or depleted. So, unlike lithium and lead-acid chemistries, these battery strings continue to operate even with depleted cells and make what would otherwise be an expensive emergency into a simple replacement at the next planned maintenance action.
For prolonged power outages, diesel generators are typically used for temporary power production. These generators require batteries to start them, and the batteries must also be reliable to avoid instances where the backup generators fail to start when needed. For this purpose, starter batteries with high current discharge capability and reliable string operation like NiZn enable improved generator availability.
Hyperscale data centers have another option for backup power as well: rack-level battery backup can overcome some of the challenges of centralized backup, such as excess heat and conversion losses. Rack-level backup both saves significant space and power in hyperscale data centers and improves reliability. While a centralized UPS approach often impacts significant segments of downstream equipment, rack-level backup limits any effects from one faulty BBU to a single rack.
3. Costs must be reduced without sacrificing performance
Data center operators are working under economic constraints and face continual pressure to deliver more with less. Reducing costs in 2023 while simultaneously improving performance will require the adoption of key strategies that take advantage of new technologies and practices, with the acknowledgement that it will require a collection of tactics as opposed to a single silver bullet.
Space is at a premium in data centers, and the less space that equipment takes up, the more computing power and associated profits can be accommodated. Data center operators thus prioritize power capability, where a smaller machine or device can deliver the same or greater amount of service to the facility as its larger counterparts. For example, a NiZn battery system nearly halves the space needed for batteries in data centers compared to traditional lead-acid and over 30% less than newer lithium-ion solutions. These smaller footprints stem from NiZn batteries’ high power capability: they can operate at higher powers to deliver more megawatts in fewer cabinets, and so can be sized to support shorter end-of-life runtimes while removing stranded battery capacity.
Outages are costly, and although those related to power problems are thankfully becoming shorter, even outages of a few minutes are becoming more expensive. Between 2019 and 2022, the portion of all outages which cost under $100K dropped from 60% to 29%, while outages costing over $1 million jumped from 11% to 25%. Power disruptions are the biggest cause of these outages, and their prevention will continue to be a priority for operators looking to minimize costs. Fortunately, higher reliability batteries and UPS solutions are now available to address this issue.
For data center operators looking to reduce costs, a series of strategies have emerged that should be adopted in 2023, if not already in place. Reducing physical footprint of equipment and addressing causes of power related outages can both manage costs without hindering the ability to meet customer demands.
4. Higher operating temperatures reduce the need for cooling
Rising temperatures aren’t only happening outside data centers: 2022 saw data centers increasingly using higher operating temperatures to reduce the costs associated with cooling. Data centers dedicate large amounts of their operating budgets towards facility cooling: on average, 40% of a data center’s energy consumption goes into powering its cooling and ventilation systems. Operating at higher temperatures can help lower energy load and help fulfill sustainability goals while lowering costs.
Of course, increasing temperatures require a balancing act to ensure they don’t result in shortened equipment lifespan, safety issues, and voided product warranties. For instance, lead-acid batteries’ sensitivity to heat has often traditionally stymied efforts at raising temperatures. Fortunately, this is changing: nickel-zinc backup batteries are approved for operation at up to 10 degrees Celsius above lead-acid batteries’ recommended limit.
Temperature flexibility is an emerging strategy that has become possible thanks to the availability of alternative technologies. As these strategies are increasingly adopted in 2023, data centers can reduce cooling system investments, improve sustainability, and lower costs while maintaining operational reliability and safety.
5. Modular power solutions are becoming widespread
Each year sees a more urbanized world, with more data center operators serving densely packed populations where space is at a premium. These operators find the smaller sizes and flexible designs of modular data centers increasingly appealing. In contrast to traditional data center designs, these centers are composed of prefabricated units and preconfigured equipment. They require less space (and so lower real estate costs), are easier, less expensive, and faster to build, and can be deployed almost anywhere.
Why Modular Data Centers are Good for the Environment
Read BlogModular data centers also allow operators to scale and replace systems as needed, instead of having to pay for expensive reconfiguration projects. This only-add-as-needed feature makes modular data centers both more cost-efficient and more environmentally friendly, which helps data centers and clients meet their above-mentioned sustainability goals. Batteries with smaller footprints, higher operating temperatures and safety in operation can significantly reduce the cost of modular power solutions for data centers.
With all these benefits, it’s no wonder that the modular data center market is projected to grow from $23 billion in 2022 to $88.5 billion by 2030. In fact, a recent survey of 228 data center executives found that over half have already deployed prefabricated modular data centers (PMDCs), and 99% plan to use them in the near future – a wise decision.
What’s Expected of Data Centers in 2023 – and Beyond
The data center of the future is powerful, sustainable, affordable, and flexible. Many characteristics that were previously seen as optional are becoming increasingly necessary, and those failing to catch up to new opportunities risk becoming laggards in a rapidly evolving industry. Data centers are facing fierce competition for clients, and must pursue every advantage they can in 2023. To do so, there needs to be an awareness of technologies, best practices and challenges, and a willingness to adopt the necessary changes and their associated benefits.
Previously published by Data Center Post
The BC 2: Innovative Cabinet Design Meets Unrivaled Battery Performance
February 10, 2023
Data center operators shouldn’t have to choose between having a reliable backup system, saving space on equipment footprint, or attracting ESG-focused clients with sustainable solutions. So we designed UPS battery cabinets with all these qualities. They’re more reliable, power-dense, and sustainable than their lead-acid and lithium counterparts. They also boast the smallest footprint in the industry. The latest generation of BC Series UPS Battery Cabinets, the BC 2, puts all of these benefits into an even smaller package.
What’s new? The BC 2’s optimized design offers a 20% smaller footprint than ZincFive’s original BC battery cabinet, which already led the industry with the smallest footprint per kilowatt and fewest cabinets per megawatt. This not only saves valuable space in the data center for revenue-generating equipment, but also provides even easier shipping, installation, and maintenance.
What’s the same? Within that optimized package live the same nickel-zinc batteries that for the last ten years have delivered best-in-class reliability, power density, safety, and sustainability. It also continues to be paired with an intelligent BMS system which allows for passive operation and no runtime interruptions.
Let’s take a look at what the BC 2 Cabinet has to offer: the best is now even better.
Packing Power into the Smallest Footprint in the Industry
In data centers, space is money. The smaller a UPS battery’s footprint, the more white space it frees up for the data center’s profit-making IT equipment, such as servers. And since UPS batteries are arranged in rows, the battery cabinet’s width measurement matters most: narrow battery systems can pack more power capacity into the same row.
The original BC battery cabinet already held the industry record for delivering the same amount of power as much larger lithium and lead-acid batteries, in the smallest package available. The BC 2 improves further on this: it’s the same powerful battery, but in a cabinet narrowed 20% from a 27” width to 21”.
This battery cabinet delivers as much power as lead-acid battery cabinets twice its size. Lead-acid batteries need 240” width, and lithium batteries need 153.5” width, to deliver 1250 kW of power. In contrast, BC 2 cabinets can deliver the same amount with only 84” of linear width.
Compared to the space lead-acid and lithium batteries take up in a data center, the BC 2’s tiny footprint gives operators multiple options. They can use the extra space to generate more profit by installing more servers and other IT equipment. Or, especially in urban areas with expensive real estate, they can save money by developing a smaller data center footprint in the first place. These cabinets are also well-suited to modular data centers, since operators can use shorter containers for them.
ZincFive batteries aren’t just smaller than their counterparts; they’re also much lighter and more easily shipped. The BC 2 cabinet, which includes both the battery and the BMS system, weighs just one third of a lead-acid system with the same power capacity. It’s much easier to transport, especially since the package ships fully complete and assembled. This reduces onsite installation time and potential for human error.
In the BC 2 cabinet, data center operators get the same power supply as much larger batteries – but with all the added spatial, financial, and shipping benefits that come with the smallest and lightest package in the UPS battery industry.
Most Reliable, Durable Backup Battery for Data Centers
Like the original BC Cabinet, the BC 2 contains the most reliable backup batteries in the data center industry. This reliability stems from several characteristics of nickel-zinc batteries not shared by their lead-acid or lithium counterparts: the ability to pass current through depleted cells, higher current tolerance, and greater temperature range
Each battery string supporting UPS applications contains hundreds of individual cells arranged in series. For example, typical lithium batteries each contain 136 cells per string, and valve-regulated lead-acid (VRLA) batteries 240 cells per string. If just one cell in either chemistry’s battery string fails, it can become a high impedance or an open circuit, which prevents the lithium or VRLA battery string from discharging power. One failed cell can result in the data center losing a critical load. Such an event can mean expensive emergency maintenance visits, or more frequent preventative maintenance visits to ensure all failed cells or batteries are replaced immediately.
In contrast, even a weak or depleted ZincFive NiZn cell can still pass current through its string safely. This keeps the battery string functional and avoids the need for an emergency maintenance call. Instead, one can simply replace the battery at the next routine maintenance check.
In addition, nickel-zinc batteries can operate at higher temperatures than most lithium or lead-acid batteries. While most lead-acid batteries require temperatures under 77°F (25°C) and lithium batteries under 86°F (30°C), nickel-zinc batteries can operate at ambient temperatures up to 95°F (35°C) and remain under warranty. Importantly, ZincFive nickel-zinc batteries have warranty terms that allow for temperature excursions of up to 122°F (50°C) for up to 5% of their operating life without violating the warranty. As data centers consider raising operating temperatures to ease cooling costs and increase sustainability, UPS systems with ZincFive NiZn batteries will provide higher reliability at lower costs.
A bonus for those in earthquake-prone areas: the BC 2 cabinet is seismic-rated with a robust seismic-tested design that makes it resistant to even severe earthquakes, boosting its reliability even further. A wide operating temperature range, coupled with inherent reliability at the cell level, makes nickel-zinc batteries like those in the BC2 Cabinet some of the most reliable in the industry.
Attract Climate-Conscious Customers with Reduced Emissions
The growing urgency around climate change and pressure from stakeholders, policymakers, and the public has made sustainability a factor for data center customers as they choose their providers. Data center operators who can prove sustainability within their operations have an edge in attracting these customers – and nickel-zinc batteries’ low climate impact helps provide that edge.
ZincFive’s nickel-zinc batteries have gone through a third-party climate impact analysis and show a significantly lower lifetime climate impact than that of lead-acid and lithium batteries. Their lifetime emissions are only a sixth of lithium batteries’ lifetime emissions, and only a quarter of lead acid batteries’. Sustainable production processes give them a carbon payback time – the time required for emissions savings from the product’s use to offset the GHG of its production – four times faster than that of lithium and lead-acid batteries.
The findings of this research allow data center customers to include often-elusive Scope 3 emissions reduction in their ESG reporting. By choosing the BC 2 battery cabinets, data center operators can gain a competitive advantage by showcasing their and their customers’ commitment to sustainability.
BC 2: The Complete Package
Our engineers designed the BC 2 cabinet to suit the needs of data center operators without compromising on any features. With the smallest footprint in the industry, the BC 2 offers data centers the ability to maximize their white space and allocate it to more revenue-generating activities. It contains the most reliable UPS backup chemistry available to ensure that critical loads are protected at all times, in any situation. Nickel-zinc’s sustainability advantages paired with minimal maintenance requirements make the BC 2 an attractive choice for data center operators who are looking to reduce their carbon footprint and simplify their operations. Building on the success of the original BC, the BC 2 sets a new bar for the industry for years to come: delivering power whenever you need it, without compromise.
Data Center Power Disruptions are Expensive — The Right Batteries Can Prevent Them
January 9, 2023
In today’s highly digitized economy, businesses and corporations are increasingly relying on data centers to connect them to customers, partners, and other sources of revenue.
As a result, the cost of data center outages is rising, with a quarter of data center operators responding to an Uptime Institute survey stating that their most recent downtime incident cost them over one million dollars in both direct and indirect costs. Power disruptions are the biggest cause of these outages, and their prevention continues to be a priority for the industry.
According to Uptime Institute, 80% of surveyed data center managers and operators said their organizations have experienced outages in the past three years. Power disruptions account for 43% of data center outages, with onsite system failures — specifically uninterruptible power supply (UPS) failures — being the most common cause of incident. In response to these and other sources of outages, 40% of survey respondents have increased redundancy levels in their data centers in the past three to five years. The batteries that are at the core of these backup power systems play a vital role in supporting data center uptime, meaning the right choice in chemistry type is crucial to ensuring the effectiveness of these redundancy investments. The right battery can be the reason expensive disruptions and repairs are avoided.
How the right UPS batteries can prevent power failures
Most UPS systems contain backup batteries that are expected to perform reliably under any circumstances. UPS batteries are typically arranged in paralleled strings to provide adequate power and run time to the UPS in the event of an outage. If any single cell in one of these batteries fails, the battery string may not operate, putting it at risk of being unable to supply enough power and/or run time when an outage occurs.
This kind of internal failure produces an open circuit in lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries, which can halt string operation. The resulting emergency situation requires an immediate service visit to replace the faulty battery components and can be exceptionally costly. The worst-case scenario is if the battery string fails while discharging during a critical outage event.
Luckily for data centers, more resilient battery options — particularly nickel-zinc (NiZn) chemistries — are now broadly available. Contrary to incumbent UPS battery types, when a NiZn cell becomes weak or depleted, it remains conductive, allowing the rest of the battery string to continue operating. This drastically reduces the risk of battery downtime, protecting data centers from costly outages and emergency equipment replacements.
NiZn batteries also tolerate string failure to a much greater degree, meaning that if one battery cabinet in a system goes offline — for whatever reason — the remaining strings can continue to operate at elevated currents. Lithium-ion batteries, in contrast, have hard current limits that would prevent this flexibility in a typical installation.
Other Reliability Benefits of Nickel-Zinc Battery Technology
NiZn and lithium-ion batteries boast impressive 10-15 year lifespans, well above (2-3x) that of lead-acid technology. Additionally, unlike lead acid, NiZn has an inherently low internal resistance and very low impedance rise over time. Because of these valuable attributes, NiZn batteries can sustain higher current discharges and support these higher currents for the entirety of their operational lives.
For more prolonged power outages — from hours to days or even weeks — diesel generators remain the go-to solution for temporary power production. These generators, however, require batteries to crank and start. For this purpose, starter batteries with high current discharge capability like NiZn allows for better generator reliability. The battery voltage drop stays constant despite the state of health, ensuring constant delivery of powerful starting performance.
NiZn batteries are stable, safe, and feature long lifespans with little-to-no maintenance necessary. By supporting the backup generators that are required beyond the UPS system, NiZn technology for generator starting offers another level of data center operational resiliency.
NiZn Batteries Keep Data Centers Up and Running
The unique properties of NiZn technology prevent string and generator starter battery failures, helping data centers avoid costly outages while maintaining service reliability. In addition to its reliability, nickel-zinc batteries boast a smaller footprint, improved sustainability, and increased safety, making them the ideal choice for data center operators that want to put an end to expensive, disruptive outages.
Previously published by Data Center Frontier
4 ways nickel-zinc batteries can save data centers money
December 1, 2022
Data center operators face continual pressure to deliver more with less: to improve data centers’ reliability, safety, and sustainability, all while working under economic constraints.
In this attempt, many have overlooked the uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system – but now that thoroughly tested nickel-zinc (NiZn) batteries have proven themselves on the market, they offer an opportunity to deliver all three benefits in one cost-effective package.
These batteries improve data centers’ reliability, sustainability, and safety, all while simultaneously delivering cost savings. Here’s how:
1. Smaller battery footprint = Reduced infrastructure costs
Space is at a premium in data centers, as precious square footage is prioritized for profit-making equipment such as data storage and servers. For infrastructure such as UPS systems, the less space they take up, the better.
This is where nickel-zinc batteries shine. They’re the highest power density batteries available for data centers, with about twice the power density of lead-acid batteries (the most common form of backup battery). This gives them the ability to support a large power demand for a short period of time, with a small footprint.
During a typical data center outage, the generator comes online in under a minute and supports the data center for the length of the outage, so the UPS battery is only required to transition the data center from utility to generator-supported operation.
A NiZn battery system nearly halves the space needed for batteries compared to traditional lead-acid and newer lithium ion solutions.
Nickel-zinc batteries’ smaller size and weight delivers multiple financial benefits because they not only open up more floor space for revenue-generating equipment, but also lower the capital cost of building data centers by reducing the space needed for battery storage.
2. Greater reliability = Fewer maintenance costs
Nickel-zinc batteries’ financial advantages go beyond a smaller space footprint: their greater reliability can save data centers hundreds of thousands of dollars.
This is because UPS failures are tied to expensive outages. Research from The Uptime Institute has found that outages are becoming longer and more costly, with one in five organizations reportedly experiencing a significant outage in the past three years.
However, 43 percent of outages in a data center are caused by the failure of the UPS system itself. Lead-acid batteries are often the culprits: they fail open or with a high impedance path, which prevents the battery from supporting the critical UPS load.
Nickel-zinc batteries’ greater reliability makes them ideal replacements for lead-acid batteries. First, they’re better suited to endure stress, especially varying temperatures. Second, their alkaline chemistry means that unlike lead-acid batteries, they do not sulfate over time. This extends their operating life to fifteen years – three times as long as lead-acid batteries’ lifespan.
Third, nickel-zinc batteries improve battery string reliability. When a cell in lead-acid or lithium batteries fails, it creates an open circuit that halts string operation. This results in two unwelcome scenarios: power backup failure for the entire battery string, and the operator having to pay for an expensive emergency maintenance event.
In contrast, a weak or depleted cell in a nickel-zinc battery remains conductive, which means the battery continues to discharge and carry the load. This means all that’s needed in the case of a weak or depleted NiZn cell is a simple battery replacement at the next planned maintenance cycle: little cost, and no operational impact.
Due to their greater resilience against environmental stressors, extended lifespan, and battery string reliability, nickel-zinc batteries help data centers protect themselves against the high costs of power backup failures.
3. Safer battery chemistry = Lower infrastructure, shipping and installation costs
Compared to lead-acid and lithium chemistries, nickel-zinc batteries’ greater safety lowers energy storage infrastructure as well as costs for battery shipping and installation. This safety stems from their non-toxic materials, lower shipping weight, lack of thermal runaway, no transportation restrictions, and ability to ship in energy storage systems completely assembled.
These characteristics make them easily shippable, with no special safety provisions needed – unlike shipping for lithium batteries, which have the potential for thermal runaway and require additional precautions and related expenses.
Once shipped, nickel-zinc batteries are also easily installed in both traditional and modular data centers. Due to their inflammable nature, they need no protective equipment, which reduces safety-related construction costs compared to the other battery types. Some battery cabinets also allow NiZn batteries to act as a drop-in replacement for lead-acid batteries, which lowers the barriers to replacing lead-acid with NiZn batteries.
4. Attract more customers with greater sustainability
Boundless Impact Research and Analytics carried out a Climate Impact Profile comparing the environmental impact of different backup battery chemistries, providing excellent information for data centers and their customers as they report Scope 3 emissions.
This profile revealed nickel-zinc batteries’ significantly lower impact on the environment across all six metrics of a battery life cycle analysis: carbon return on purchase (CROP), greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, carbon payback time (CPT), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), water footprint, and energy footprint.
Put together, these environmentally friendly characteristics give nickel-zinc batteries the highest score for sustainability: 9.4 out of a possible 10.
Data center users are under pressure – and are increasing pressure on their data center operators – to report and reduce their impact on the environment. By offering an avenue to contribute towards sustainability goals, data centers can attract more customers and investors through their advantages in terms of environmental impact.
The (financial) power of good chemistry
Nickel-zinc UPS battery chemistries outperform lead-acid and lithium-ion solutions in performance, space footprint, reliability, safety, sustainability, and – as a result of these – cost effectiveness.
Their characteristics free up data center space and budgets for developing new capacity and services. These advantages change UPS and battery backup from a mere necessary overhead, into an opportunity to improve financial performance.
This post originally appeared in Data Center Dynamics
Batteries and Cooling Combine for Data Center Sustainability
November 21, 2022
For data center operators, the challenge of mitigating high temperatures is all too familiar. Critical electronic and electrical components, such as servers and uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems, generate high amounts of heat, raising the temperature of the rooms they’re housed in. Unfortunately, these high temperatures can result in shortened equipment lifespan, safety issues, and voided product warranties.
Recommended operating temperatures for data center server rooms range from 60 and 82°F (16 to 28°C), with the optimal temperatures for newer servers near the high end of this range. In contrast, lead-acid batteries require a battery temperature of approximately 77°F (25°C), with no potential for reduced cooling levels through higher operating temperatures.
This limitation has become particularly challenging, as the frequency and severity of high temperature weather events has been increasing due to climate change. High temperatures can even result in outages, which can directly cripple various critical operations that rely on the data these facilities manage. As a result, data centers dedicate large amounts of their operating budgets towards facility cooling, and on average, 40% of a data center’s energy consumption goes into powering its cooling and ventilation systems.
Strategies taken by data centers to keep temperatures down include the optimization of cool airflow and the use of liquid cooling. Some data centers operate in low temperature, mountainous regions — such as the Wyoming Hyperscale White Box Aspen Mountain project. The geography of such a data center lends itself to cost effective cooling techniques but is not a universally available solution.
Battery chemistries that allow for higher operating temperatures offer reduced cooling needs, resulting in energy savings. In many cases, the UPS is rated to operate at up to 113°F (45°C), but the battery operating temperature limits the ability to increase temperature and reduce cooling costs in that space. Fortunately, some alternative battery chemistries for UPS systems can tolerate higher temperatures, thus providing an opportunity to reduce cooling costs and improve Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) and sustainability.
While traditional lead-acid battery solutions often limit temperatures to 77°F (25°C), alternative battery chemistries such as lithium-based and nickel-zinc have a higher ambient operating temperature range – and longer lifespans as well. Modern lithium-based batteries can operate up to 82-86°F (28-30°C). Nickel-zinc batteries offer the highest operating temperatures of popular battery chemistries in the data center market today, with a maximum limit of 95°F (35°C) for regular operation. Some nickel-zinc batteries’ warranty terms even allow for temperature excursions up to 122°F (50°C) for up to 5% of their operating life. This allowance for excursions to high temperatures assures owners that the battery warranty remains valid in the case of a cooling system breakdown and a temporary increase in ambient temperature.
These alternative batteries provide data center operators with the opportunity for increased operating temperature and cooling cost reductions without impacting the UPS. In particular, the higher operating temperature batteries such as nickel-zinc are often the safest, with no risk of thermal runaway. They also can offer additional benefits in terms of reliability and total cost of ownership.
The strategy of operating at higher temperatures with alternative battery powered UPS systems is most effective in prefabricated modular data center systems (PMDCs). In this design approach, prefabricated units are assembled together and outfitted with preselected, preconfigured equipment. A recent survey of 228 data center executives found that over half had already deployed PMDCs, while 99% shared that they have plans to use modular data center designs in the coming years.
As part of the increased use of PMDCs, UPS and battery systems are being positioned in containerized systems outside of the main data center facility. These modular designs pose an opportunity to create climate specific rooms for the UPS and battery systems themselves. By utilizing alternative batteries, these rooms can operate at higher temperatures and offer the combined benefits of lower CapEx for lower capacity cooling systems, and reduced OpEx over the life of the system. As high temperature events increase in frequency due to climate change, investing in battery systems that can withstand harsher environments in 10-15 years is a distinct advantage for facilities being built today.
Temperature flexibility in the battery and UPS space of data centers is an emerging strategy that has become possible thanks to the availability of alternative battery technologies. As these strategies are adopted, data centers can reduce cooling system investments, save on cooling costs over the system’s lifetime, and improve the PUE, sustainability, reliability and safety of their operations.
This post originally appeared in Data Center Frontier
The Powerful Benefits of Nickel-Zinc Batteries for Data Centers
October 31, 2022
Data centers contain all the information on which internet activities rely, forming the bedrock supporting our increasingly connected world. As a result, any data center power outage – no matter how short – can have a catastrophic impact on operations around the globe. That’s why reliable backup power matters so much.
But while data center operators need to meet this challenge of reliability, it’s far from the only factor they must consider. Data centers are also under pressure to manage costs, meet sustainability goals, and reduce space – especially as facilities increasingly move to urban environments.
Fortunately, there’s a way to address all these challenges at once. Switching out lead-acid and lithium-ion backup batteries for nickel-zinc batteries increases reliability, safety, and sustainability while simultaneously lowering costs and space requirements.
Nickel-zinc batteries’ crucial role in data center reliability
Since even a few seconds of data center downtime can disrupt operations around the world, uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems are essential to maintain uptime during a power outage.
Unfortunately, the very system meant to prevent an outage too often causes one; accounting for 37 percent of data center outages, on-site power failure is still the most common cause of significant data center outages. The majority of these on-site outages (53 percent) are caused by UPS failure, and often cost over $100,000 to repair.
Thus, UPS systems must contain backup batteries that perform reliably under any circumstances. UPS batteries must perform in paralleled strings to provide adequate power and run time to the UPS in the event of an outage. If any single cell in one of these batteries fails, the battery string does not operate, making the data center’s UPS unable to supply enough power and/or run time when an outage occurs.
However, cells in nickel-zinc batteries remain conductive even if weakened or depleted. This allows the battery string to continue operating and makes what would otherwise be an emergency into a simple note for replacement at the next planned maintenance cycle – no added maintenance costs or operational impact.
In the meantime, the data center’s UPS can still provide adequate power and run time to the data center if an outage occurs. This characteristic makes nickel-zinc batteries a strong option on the market for maintaining uptime and preventing costly outages.
Also, battery reliability can only last as long as the battery itself. With a 10-15 year operating life, nickel-zinc batteries have at least twice the lifespan of lead-acid batteries and one similar to lithium batteries. For example, ZincFive’s nickel-zinc batteries are designed to have a lifespan of 15 years and come with a ten-year warranty.
Nickel-zinc: More space, more profits
In addition to being more reliable, nickel-zinc batteries are also more power-dense than either lithium or lead batteries. Over a short time frame, they can discharge over twice the power that leading lithium-ion batteries would provide.
This makes them the ideal option for a data center UPS, whose goal is to keep the entire data center running temporarily until utility power returns or backup generators take on the power load.
Because of the power density of nickel-zinc batteries, fewer battery cabinets are required to support large UPS solutions. A mere four ZincFive battery cabinets provide an equivalent runtime at a megawatt of UPS as five lithium-ion cabinets or six lead-acid cabinets.
This frees up room in the data center for more revenue-generating hardware such as servers and storage, increasing the center’s profits as well as its reliability. In addition, the spacing requirements required by the NFPA for other chemistries is not required for chemistries that are inherently non-flammable like nickel-zinc.
Nickel-zinc helps sustainability & ESG goals
Organizations are under pressure – and are increasing pressure on their data centers – to report and reduce their impact on the environment. Boundless Impact Research and Analytics carried out a Climate Impact Profile comparing the environmental impact of different backup battery chemistries, providing excellent information for data centers and their customers as they report Scope 3 emissions.
This profile revealed nickel-zinc batteries’ significantly lower impact on the environment across all six metrics of a battery life cycle analysis: carbon return on purchase (CROP), greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, carbon payback time (CPT), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), water footprint, and energy footprint.
From the beginning of their lifecycle, nickel and zinc production are less harmful than lithium and lead production. They are respectively four and five times more abundant in the earth’s crust, and don’t require as environmentally harmful a mining process.
Nickel-zinc batteries’ life cycle GHG emissions are four times lower than lead-acid batteries’, and six times lower than lithium-ion batteries’. Their carbon payback time – the time required for emissions savings from the product’s use to offset the GHG from its production – is a mere 25 percent of lithium-ion and lead-acid batteries’ payback time.
In addition, both lead and lithium batteries use VOC’s (volatile organic compounds) in their production. These cause both short and long-term health problems, in addition to those caused by accidental lead exposure. In contrast, nickel-zinc batteries contain no VOC’s or other toxic elements. They can be used and recycled without dangerous exposure.
The Climate Impact Profile also reveals that over their lifetime, nickel-zinc batteries use 96 percent less water than lithium batteries and about 22-33 percent less energy than lithium and lead-acid batteries.
Put together, these environmentally friendly characteristics give nickel-zinc batteries the highest score for sustainability: 9.4 out of 10. That’s why sustainable data center Wyoming Hyperscale White Box chose ZincFive’s nickel-zinc batteries for its UPS needs. In addition, it’s worth noting that modular data centers are also good for the environment.
Safer data centers with nickel-zinc
In terms of safety, nickel-zinc technology has clear advantages over lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries. Unlike nickel-zinc, both of the latter include harmful VOC’s in their production and contain toxic chemicals that make handling and recycling them difficult.
Nickel-zinc batteries are non-toxic, nonflammable, and fail-safe. They do not exhibit thermal runaway, as proven through testing ZincFive’s batteries using the Underwriters Laboratories UL 9540A test method, and can withstand higher temperatures than lithium-ion. This makes them easier and safer to handle and ship, as well as guaranteeing more reliable performance.
ZincFive battery cabinets: An easy drop-in replacement
While nickel-zinc batteries’ characteristics give data centers more than enough reason to make the switch from lead-acid, one challenge often stands in the way – but with ZincFive’s BC Series UPS Battery Cabinets, it doesn’t have to.
The challenge comes from the large installed base of UPS systems designed to charge only lead-acid batteries. Since every battery chemistry has a different charge profile, getting most alternative battery types to charge in those UPS systems requires a costly and time-consuming reengineering process.
However, ZincFive’s battery cabinets negate this obstacle; it is the first BESS that allows nickel-zinc batteries to perform in an existing UPS system without the time and expense of additional modifications.
The battery cabinet’s intelligent charging system utilizes the existing lead-acid charging profile to fully charge the nickel-zinc battery, giving them backwards/forwards compatibility with systems originally designed for lead-acid solutions. This drop-in replacement allows data centers to easily harness the benefits of ZincFive’s nickel-zinc batteries.
‘The Power of Good Chemistry’: A reliable, sustainable, safe UPS energy storage system
When lithium-ion entered the data center market, its performance triggered a migration away from its lead-acid counterparts.
But as lithium-ion’s safety, reliability, and sustainability issues surface, nickel-zinc chemistry has proven ideal to solve those concerns while delivering an even smaller footprint. Nickel-zinc battery-powered technology offers high performance, market success, and many proven improvements on previous backup technologies.
When it comes to your relationship with the batteries in your facility, never underestimate ‘The Power of Good Chemistry.’
This post originally appeared in Data Center Dynamics.
Why Modular Data Centers are Good for the Environment
October 24, 2022
When it comes to data, what was once novel is now typical – the internet-of-things, artificial intelligence, and cloud computing, just to name a few. A similar pattern shows up in data centers, where concepts once seen as novel and emerging are now becoming more commonplace. One such example is the rapid growth in adoption of prefabricated modular data center systems (PMDCs).
A recent survey of 228 data center executives found that over half had already deployed PMDCs, while 99% shared that they have plans to use modular data center designs in the coming years. PMDCs clearly have momentum, bringing with them multiple benefits including the opportunity to enhance operational sustainability.
What is a Modular Data Center?
Modular data centers refer to a design approach where prefabricated units are assembled together and outfitted with preselected, preconfigured equipment. This approach allows more flexibility in location and timing, and easier as-needed scaling and replacement of the center’s equipment and systems over time. For power infrastructure this includes components and systems like rack systems, cables, cooling systems and uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs).
Conventional vs. Modular
Conventional data center deployments are limited by a fixed design and construction approach, leading to long development timelines and low resource density. Any expansion, equipment change, or upgrade triggers multiplying challenges and complications—even a small change can cause systemic, center-wide adjustments and risk disruption. This approach is defined by its rigidity.
In contrast, modular data centers offer flexibility and customization, boasting:
- Location flexibility: Modular data centers can deploy in nearly any geographical location and avoid some of the more complicated aspects of traditional construction such as labor, transportation, and material constraints.
- Scalability: Modular designs allow for elements to be added over time and as needed, aligning realistically and in real-time with capital and operational resources, and decreasing the potential for a site to have underutilized or completely unused equipment that still must be operated and maintained.
- Faster and more cost-effective construction; better quality: Conventional data centers rely on sequential coordination of permitting, engineering, site prep, and construction tasks. Any hiccup can bring the project to a halt. Modular is a specific design and a known quality level. Things are built and tested in the factory vs. being built in the field by a different individual or electrical contractor at potentially each building or location. This allows for more consistent quality and lower cost.
- Greater customization: By nature, modular data centers are thoroughly customizable. In the way that car buyers can select upgrades to their sound system or comfort features, data center owners can mix and match components to meet their needs and adapt to cost, space, and other considerations.
A Catalyst for Sustainability
In addition to the benefits listed above, PMDCs also provide sustainability benefits. A modular design supports sustainable construction and operation of a data center, since components are only added when needed.
Increased demands for scope 3 emissions transparency are gaining momentum, driven by pressure from investors, regulators and the general public. Data centers who stay ahead of the competition in reporting and addressing scope 3 emissions will attract customers and investors who are seeking comprehensive disclosure and commitments to sustainability. This not only applies to the sustainability of the data center companies themselves, but to the climate impact of the customers who utilize these data centers as part of their operations, such as with colocation facilities.
An example of an opportunity for data centers to reduce their climate impact is through their UPS batteries. Alternative battery chemistries such as nickel-zinc have shown advantages across a myriad of sustainability metrics, and offer users a method of minimizing their supply chain impacts and overall container material due to a battery system footprint reduction compared to other chemistries. PMDCs offer a greater opportunity to implement and enjoy such sustainability benefits.
As modular data centers emerge as a common design practice, this approach offers opportunities for the whole industry to benefit. Organizations are already taking advantage of cost savings, locational flexibility, and quicker construction periods; by also capitalizing on the opportunities to improve operational sustainability, the data center industry can ensure that PMDCs bring with them a positive impact for all.
This post originally appeared in Data Center Frontier
Images Credit: Integra Mission Critical
5 Benefits of ZincFive Nickel-Zinc Batteries
September 7, 2022
Our electrified world demands safe, sustainable battery storage to maintain mission-critical applications like data centers and aviation. Zinc battery chemistry is a game changer for the energy space. Nickel-zinc (NiZn) batteries are the powerful, reliable, and safe choice for the future. In addition, as sustainability becomes a top priority across major markets and corporations, zinc battery technology emerges as the new “power player”, challenging its predecessors lead-acid and lithium-ion.
Here are five main reasons why we can safely make this strong statement:
- Higher power and smaller footprint: Nickel-zinc batteries have twice the power density of lead-acid batteries. For the same level of backup power, nickel-zinc is about half the size and half the weight. This shrinks your energy storage footprint so your can plate more batteries wherever they are needed. High power density means rapid charge and discharge rates so you can power the data center, capture renewable energy, control peak loads, and rapidly charge EVs.
- Reliability: Nickel-zinc batteries are reliable, they can take the heat, with their wide operating temperature range. Plus, an operating life up to three times longer than a lead-acid battery. Even a bad cell won’t stop a nickel-zinc battery from discharging, unlike lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries where a single cell failure, for example, can disable a storage system.
- Safety: While lead exposure is a global health concern and lithium’s reactivity to air and water makes it a fire hazard, nickel-zinc batteries are safe, non-toxic and non-flammable (they don’t exhibit thermal runaway). They can reliably deliver more power faster, at high temperatures, and do it safely, year after year. This means less protection, lower costs, and, most importantly, peace of mind.
- Sustainability: Nickel-zinc batteries are sustainable. They use common, highly available, conflict-free materials which are also highly recyclable. Nickel and zinc are four and five times more abundant in the earth’s crust, respectively, than lithium and lead. A third party expert analysis supports the sustainability claims. One of the leaders in innovation and delivery of nickel-zinc batteries, ZincFive, has partnered with an independent firm to conduct this analysis to demonstrate that nickel-zinc batteries have a significantly lower end-to-end climate impact than lead-acid and lithium batteries. As evident by the data in the report, nickel-zinc batteries ranked higher than lead-acid and lithium-ion chemistries in several criteria including avoided greenhouse gases (GHGs), carbon return on purchase and carbon payback time.
- Scalable: Using a sustainable supply chain also makes a technology more scalable. More common elements = more scalability. This means the ability to scale up deployment of production factories in less time. The technology can be produced using manufacturing lines already producing similar chemistries.
To sum it up, with long life, reliable operation and low maintenance, nickel-zinc batteries can lower the total cost of ownership, safely reduce energy storage footprint, all while maintaining complete safety and helping the environment.
Learn more about how nickel-zinc batteries and power solution redefine immediate power for data centers, intelligent transportation systems, industrial engine starting, information technology, microgrid and EV charging, and more.
Why Microgrids Increasingly Require Multiple Battery Chemistries
August 24, 2022
Alternatives to lead-acid and lithium batteries are gaining market share because they provide the growing number of energy storage reliant systems with new opportunities to reduce costs, increase performance, and improve environmental sustainability. These emerging battery chemistries offer advantages like high power and energy density, improved safety and reliability, better recyclability, smaller carbon and water use footprint, and lower toxicity. However, many operators may not understand which collection of alternative benefits to select for their systems.
Diverse and expanding choices of battery chemistries also enable commercial markets to avoid the limitations of a traditional or single new battery chemistry. Instead, users can incorporate multiple battery types into their applications to support the requirements that each chemistry is best suited to address. Control algorithms can switch between battery types, based on dynamic and evolving requirements, to simultaneously improve both system performance and operating costs without the need to sacrifice one benefit for another.
Complimentary batteries within a microgrid
Microgrids provide a key platform to showcase complementary capabilities of alternative battery chemistries. For example, the integration of both power-dense batteries and energy-dense batteries into the same microgrid improves deployment flexibility, safety, and operational performance.
Each battery brings complementary strengths to the microgrid system. For instance, high-power density batteries can quickly release vast amounts of energy. This makes high-power batteries ideal for architectural optimization of starting, bridging, peak shaving, and rapid de-energization applications. Nickel zinc (NiZn) is an example of a high power-density battery that offers high discharge rates to achieve microgrid operational goals while also lowering system cost per kW, eliminating the risks of thermal runaway, and improving overall environmental sustainability.
In contrast, high energy-density batteries typically have limited energy release rates; however, they can store more energy to support extended runtime applications. Lithium batteries are a great example of a high-energy-density battery that supports multiple-hour base load charge and discharge applications.
Microgrid systems increasingly use both battery types: high power density batteries for starting, bridging, and peak-shaving, and high-energy density batteries for base load support with prolonged charge and discharge applications. This combination of both battery types within a typically AC-coupled microgrid architecture optimizes many aspects of microgrid-supported applications.
Hybrid approach use cases
Since a “one-size-fits-all” battery solution does not exist yet, a variety of battery characteristics are required to support microgrids’ functional optimization. Two situations that benefit from this combined battery chemistry use are peak power-shaving and electric vehicle (EV) charging.
Peak power shaving is the use of battery storage to supply power to a microgrid when power demand and its ensuing costs are highest. This strategy helps operations save money while maintaining disruption-free microgrid functionality. As the transportation economy electrifies, it increases power supply stress on the grid, which in turn increases the grid’s reliance on battery energy storage. While high energy-density batteries (such as lithium-ion) are well adapted to support long-duration power demand, they often are not powerful enough to meet short-term peak power demand. At these times, high-power density batteries like NiZn can respond on demand to support those types of short-term microgrid power requirements.
Another example is the power battery use case for EV charging in environments with fluctuating demand. As the number of EVs on the road increases, so will the demand placed on charging stations. Most battery-powered EV charging stations can support simultaneous demand for only a few level 2 charge sessions. The increase in demand for high power level 3 charging, and simultaneous level 3 charging of multiple EVs, is driving the need for high power batteries. By incorporating multiple battery chemistry options into a single charging station, the system can adjust between providing longer duration, lower power charging or faster, higher power charging based on the needs of the situation.
Different battery types for optimized performance
The days of “one battery chemistry for all application requirements” are ending. As a wider variety of high power and high energy density battery chemistries become available, hybrid battery approaches have clear performance benefits while offering opportunities for significant cost and environmental advantages. Today and in the future, using multiple battery chemistry options to optimize overall microgrid application performance just makes sense.
This post originally appeared in Renewable Energy World.