Emphasising its commitment to the lithium-ion battery trend within the data centre, Vertiv has introduced the Vertiv HPL lithium-ion battery cabinet, for use with larger capacity Vertiv uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems.

While Vertiv was an early adopter of lithium-ion batteries for the data centre, this marks the first offering with Vertiv’s own battery management system.

The cabinet is ready to use with most current and legacy Vertiv three-phase UPS systems and is available in North America and Asia today.

The Vertiv HPL is configured in a cabinet the size of a standard data centre rack and ships preassembled with six lithium-ion battery modules.

The modular configuration allows for connection of up to eight cabinets to a single UPS in order to customise runtime capacity and redundancy to the application.

Vertiv batteries are nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC), a proven chemistry commonly used for the rigorous standards required for the automobile industry.

“Lithium-ion batteries are increasingly common in the data centre, now representing about 30% of our deployments worldwide,” said Jeff Kessen, vice president of energy storage at Vertiv.

“The Vertiv HPL builds on the inherent benefits of lithium-ion technologies, but goes beyond with features that benefit modern data centres, such as improved user interfaces, integrated controls, and serviceability features that help businesses be more available and competitive.”

Built-in sensors in each battery module and seamless integration with the battery monitoring system allow for real-time monitoring and information at the cell, module, system and facility level.

Vertiv HPL allows direct communication between the battery monitoring system within the unit and the external UPS, ensuring early notification of potential issues and maximising battery life.

Redundancy built into the battery management system eliminates single points of failure and ensures high availability of the battery across a range of operating conditions.

The Vertiv HPL is warranted to operate up to 86 degrees Fahrenheit (30°C), allowing data centre operators to reduce battery cooling costs compared to most alternative solutions.

Lithium-ion batteries are smaller, lighter and last longer than the valve-regulated lead acid (VRLA) batteries traditionally deployed with data centre UPS systems.

The batteries in the Vertiv HPL have a 10-year battery life guarantee under normal operating conditions. Originally designed and qualified for automobile applications, the batteries meet all existing safety standards and are engineered to comply with evolving fire codes from NFPA.

The Vertiv HPL is compatible with all large Vertiv UPS systems, including the Liebert EXL, Liebert EXL S1, the Liebert NX and the Liebert NXL.