For the last 50 years, we have relied on UPS systems and batteries for reliable backup or reserve power. Not only do our data centers and mission critical facilities rely on this reserve power, but with an ever-growing cloud infrastructure, a burgeoning IoT market and increasing global smartphone demand, we’ve never been more dependent on the reliability and availability of battery power, to say nothing of the growing reliability and redundancy needs of the Telecoms and Utilities. And for years, having a Battery Monitoring System (BMS) in place to monitor the condition of these batteries was (and remains) a best practice.
And despite what battery manufacturers might say in terms of the estimated lifespan of a battery, be it 3, 5 or even 20 years, we know, thanks to countless years of real and anecdotal data that it can be a challenge for a battery to meet its estimated life expectancy. How can it, when there are so many contributing factors working together for its premature failure.
In addition to battery monitoring, an actual physical check of a battery system is important, and so another best practice is a quarterly or semi-annual inspection which includes: visual inspection, voltage recording, recording electrolyte levels (for VLAs), checking for unintentional battery grounds, etc. A lot of effort in the form of battery monitoring systems and manpower is deployed to ensure that the #1 cause of UPS failures: the battery is there when it is needed most. And yet batteries still fail, which means downtime incidents and severe service degradation are far too common. The questionable and uncertain performance of the battery and the battery systems of which it is a part is begging to be answered in a way that meets the demands of the 21st Century. With this in mind, BTECH has engineered a thoughtful and holistic solution called RPM.
RPM or Reserve Power Management is a program we’ve developed that combines our proprietary technology (hardware and software) with predictive analytics and intelligence-driven services to deliver a comprehensive solution focused on managing battery systems in the digital age. RPM manages the performance and life cycle of analog battery assets remotely to maximize your investment, to bring efficiency and focus to battery system maintenance schedules, and to ensure uptime. This “as a service” approach to managing reserve power delivers a a comprehensive view of your entire battery system, which enables operational consistency, cost containment and maintenance expense management, but most importantly, it makes sure that your batteries work as intended, when they are needed most.
