The DC building power market is projected to grow significantly over the next several years, and among the driving forces is the need to improve efficiency and reduce electricity costs in several areas. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in 2006, data centers and servers in the United States accounted for approximately 1.5% of the nation’s total electricity consumption. To put this in perspective, the EPA stated that this total exceeded the electricity consumed by the entire nation’s color televisions, and is similar to the amount of electricity consumed by approximately 5.8 million average TV households. In addition, energy consumption in data centers in the US is projected to continue to grow, and double every five years.
Traditionally, large data centers and telecommunications facilities have consumed large amounts of electricity without much regard for energy efficiency. Due to the continuous need for energy production, it has been an acceptable practice to trade off energy efficiency and operating costs for the sake of system reliability. However, in recent years a number of factors have emerged that may change that practice. Now, a debate is taking place on how to cope with the growing need for electricity to power these facilities. Data center managers and other data center professionals are looking to dc power as an alternative solution to traditional ac power. Proponents of dc power claim that it has the potential to eliminate the biggest sources of energy loss and waste in traditional ac systems: the multiple back and forth transformations and conditioning needed to step voltage down for use by IT equipment.
One of the pressing needs for the further expansion of dc power was the establishment of dc voltage standards. In light of this need, two new dc power distribution standards for facilities were developed over the past year, one for high-voltage (380Vdc) applications and another for low-voltage (24Vdc) applications. The development of theses standards is significant and is expected to contribute to the further expansion of dc power. The 380Vdc standard was developed by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) along with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories and is designed for data centers and other critical facilities. EPRI has developed the first dc voltage tolerance envelope plotting voltage variations versus time for 380-Vdc powered equipment. The new dc voltage tolerance envelope provides the technical details of the electrical operating environment, including allowable voltage surges and sags that could enable engineers to design power converters for use with 380-Vdc distribution systems for next-generation data center equipment.
The 24Vdc standard was developed by EMerge and is expected to play an important role in the expansion of dc power in commercial, industrial and residential buildings. The new EMerge Alliance standard is described as the first roadmap for the utilization of safe, low-voltage direct current power in commercial interiors. The EMerge Alliance Standard 1.0 establishes a more efficient means of powering the rapidly increasing number of digital, dc-powered devices, such as sensors, lighting and IT equipment found in today’s workplaces. It creates an integrated, open platform for power, interior infrastructures, controls and a wide variety of peripheral devices to facilitate the hybrid use of ac and dc power within buildings.
As the emergence of the EMerge Alliance standard suggests, dc power can be used to improve efficiency at the lower-voltage levels. The addition of dc power delivery systems to homes, office building and commercial facilities offers the potential for significant improvements in energy delivery efficiency, reliability, power quality and cost of operation. Most of these facilities are currently dominated by fixed overhead lighting, and a variety of electrical devices that are typically wired for the building’s lifetime rather than the occupant or residents evolving needs. In fact, although opportunities exist in both new installations and retrofits, according to the EMerge Alliance, 80% of the market opportunities are in the updating and retrofitting of commercial buildings. Actually, the ability to distribute low-voltage dc power within common infrastructures is already present in most commercial interiors
Lighting presents one of the major opportunities for the further development of dc power. According to a recent study funded by the U.S. Department of Energys Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Office (DOE EERE), lighting accounts for 22% of all electricity consumed in the United States. Commercial businesses consume 20% to 30% of their total energy just for lighting. And, 50% or more of that lighting-related energy may be wasted by obsolete equipment, inadequate maintenance or inefficient use. Upgrading lighting systems is one of the best energy efficiency investments available to a commercial facility. Since linear fluorescent light accounts for the majority of a commercial building’s lighting energy use, improving the efficiency of these systems can save significant amounts of energy and money.
In addition to advances in dc power for data centers, new advances in solid-state lighting (SSL) are among the market forces expected to drive the dc power market over the next several years. The era SSL will be arriving soon, primarily powered by ultra-high-efficiency light emitting diodes (LEDs) and to a lesser extent by organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). Used in large high-definition signs, architectural lighting, stadiums, billboards and other applications, modern LEDs represent the latest lighting devices based on dc power. In fact, current economic conditions are just right for the emerging LED replacement market. Several factors cited for this include “dramatic” improvements in commercially available LED performance, significant cost reduction, government regulations, and energy savings.
Other applications contributing to the advancement of dc power include common consumer electronics devices, which operate on dc power and require conversion from dc sources. These devices are common in every household and include televisions, computers, set top boxes and many others. (All microprocessors require direct current and many devices operate on direct power because it can be precisely regulated for sensitive components.) In fact, many of the smaller electronic devices such as mobile phones, notebook computers and personal digital assistants (PDAs) use ac-dc adapters, which also result in power loss during conversion. In aggregate, the millions of ac-dc conversions performed for the operation of these electronic devices extract a huge loss in energy during conversion.
In addition to the applications and trends driving the industry, the market for dc power is strongly influenced by a number of technological and regulatory factors. These factors vary from application to application and represent both opportunities and threats. They include the growth of dc power used in alternative energy systems, the availability of UL rated equipment and experienced personnel, the further development of both UPS technology, the expansion and development of a number of organizations and alliances the already-mentioned importance of increased efficiency and the further development of regulatory standards and policies.
Among the areas examined in this report are the technology and architecture trends affecting the industry, as well as a thorough discussion of new and emerging products and materials, potential threats and the latest regulatory developments and standards. Over 35 tables are presented depicting a variety of power system schematics and comparisons, architectural standards, product introductions, packaging solutions, efficiency standards and other relevant information. The focus of this comprehensive analysis provides decision makers with an insightful look into the current and future opportunities and threats available in the dc building power supply market.
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Topics Covered :
Current Areas of Development
Additional Applications and Drivers of DC Power
Organizations and Alliances Involved in DC Power
DC Power and Alternative Energy Systems
Barriers, Challenges and Threats to the Adoption of DC Power
Architectural and Technology Trends and Developments
Cost Dynamics of DC Power
Policy and Regulatory Framework for Development
Recent Developments and Products
Table Of Contents :
Introduction 4
Current Areas of Development 6
Data Centers 6
AC Powered Data Centers 9
DC Powered Data Center Demonstrations 12
Current DC Data Center Facilities 15
Commercial, Industrial and Residential….. 16
Telecommunications 19
Additional Applications and Drivers of DC Power 20
Consumer Devices 20
Lighting 22
Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) 26
Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS) 28
Variable Speed Motors 30
Intelligent Universal Transformers 31
Electric Vehicles 33
Energy Storage 34
Organizations and Alliances Involved in DC Power 34
Emerge Alliance 34
Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) 35
European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) 36
International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 37
The Green Grid 37
DC Power Partners 38
International Telecommunications Union 39
Underwriters Laboratory (UL) 39
DC Power and Alternative Energy Systems 40
Alternative Sources of Energy 40
Photovoltaics 41
Wind Power 43
Fuel Cells 44
Distributed Generation 45
Green Power Activity 46
Barriers, Challenges and Threats to the Adoption of DC Power 47
Grounding 47
Availability of UL-Related Equipment 49
Arc Flash 49
Circuit Protection Concerns 50
Experienced DC Electrical Personnel 50
Increased Awareness of DC Power Distribution 51
High Voltage AC Power 52
Architectural and Technology Trends and Developments 55
Selection of DC Voltage Levels 55
Electrical Connections and Safety Perceptions 56
DC Microgrids 59
Hybrid AC-DC Systems 62
Cost Dynamics of DC Power 64
Reduced Part Count and Footprint 64
Cost Savings 66
Policy and Regulatory Framework for Development 68
Standards and Regulations 68
Adoption of Feed-in Tariffs 74
Direct Subsidies and Tax Incentives 76
Legislative Policies and initiatives 76
Recent Developments and New Products 79
Figure 1 – Data Centers Consume More than 1.5% of Total US Energy .. 7
Figure 2 – Typical US AC Data Center Today… 8
Figure 3 – Typical Power Distribution for Data Center Equipment… 9
Figure 4 – Typical Data Center Expenses by Percentage 10
Figure 5 – A Comparison of AC vs. DC Power in Data Centers … 11
Figure 6 – Facility Level DC Configuration 12
Figure 7 – Rack Level DC Configuration 13
Figure 8 – 380 VDC Data Center Demonstration Center in Newark, CA 14
Figure 9 – DC Power Demonstrations by NTT Facilities… 16
Figure 10–.Example of DC Distribution in the Home 17
Figure 11 – Examples of DC Power Distribution in Commercial Facilities… 18
Figure 12 – DC Powered Consumer Electronics… 20
Figure 13 – Lighting Technology Opportunities for DC Power. 23
Figure 14 – Connectivity in Low Voltage DC Ceiling Grid Systems 24
Figure 15 – Distributed AC Lighting Architecture… 25
Figure 16 –.Distributed DC Lighting Architecture 26
Figure 17 – Structure of a DC UPS and Load… 29
Figure 18 – Structure of an AC UPS and Load… 30
Figure 19 – Variable Frequency Drive using DC Power… 31
Figure 20 – Sources of Alternative Energy. 40
Figure 21 – DC Power using PV as a Source… 41
Figure 22 – Generating DC Power using Fuel Cells… 44
Figure 23 – Alternative Power Distribution Methods using both AC and DC. 53
Figure 24 – Various DC Voltage Configurations 380Vdc “Sweet Spot”. 55
Figure 25 – Overview of 380 VDC Power Distribution… 56
Figure 26 – Fujitsu Component and NTT Facilities Rack Power Strip 58
Figure 27 – DC Microgrid Configuration… 60
Figure 28 – DC Microgrid Aichi Institute of Technology. 61
Figure 29 – Hybrid AC DC Coupled Power System… 63
Figure 30 – Reduced Part Count and Footprint for DC Powered Data Center. 65
Figure 31 – Example of a Cost Comparison between DC and AC Data Center 67
Figure 32 – A Cost Comparison of DC vs. AC in a Typical 2.5 MW System… 68
Figure 33 – Voltage Tolerance Envelope for AC Powered Computers… 69
Figure 34 – New DC Voltage Tolerance Envelope with Curve. 70
Figure 35 – EMerge Alliance Standard 1.0… 71
Figure 36 – Tyco EMerge-Compliant LVDC Grid Interconnect Device.………….79
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