Maxwell Technologies Introduces Ultracapacitor-Based Backup Power Modules

POWERCACHE products provide maintenance-free, space-saving alternative to batteries for short-term 'bridge' power in wireless telecommunications base stations, data centers, automated factories, and hospitals

San Diego -- Maxwell Technologies announced that it has introduced two POWERCACHE ultracapacitor-based backup power modules that provide a maintenance-free, space-saving alternative to batteries for short-term "bridge" power in uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems for telecommunications, industrial, and medical applications.

Robert Tressler, Maxwell's VP of sales and marketing, said that the new 48-volt rack-mount modules, rated at 1.6 and 2.3 kW, are designed and constructed to comply with Network Equipment Building System (NEBS) standards required for telecommunications installations.

"Mission-critical facilities, such as wireless telecommunications base stations, data centers, automated factories, and hospitals rely on UPS systems to avoid downtime in the event of power interruptions," Tressler said. "The batteries that currently are used in most of these systems are large and heavy, require regular maintenance and replacement, and are difficult to monitor in terms of state-of-charge. For those reasons, many end-users are looking for more reliable, more compact, lower maintenance alternatives, which is where Maxwell's POWERCACHE products come in."

Tressler said that Maxwell has been collaborating for some time with UPS system integrators and fuel cell and other backup power generator manufacturers to integrate its ultracapacitor-based bridge power systems with long-term backup power sources.

"Fuel cells, diesel generators and micro-turbines all take from a few seconds to a minute to start up and reach their full output, so UPS systems in which they are the primary backup power source all require a complementary short-term source that is instantly available," Tressler explained. "Our POWERCACHE modules stay fully charged and recharge in seconds in case there are multiple grid power interruptions. They also operate reliably for the life of the system with zero maintenance."

Tressler said that telecommunications industry data indicates that the global opportunity for these modules, each of which supports one rack of equipment, totals more than 2.5 million units.

Source: Maxwell Technologies