TÜV Rheinland certifies simple and safe maintenance of uninterruptible power supply for data centers

An uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system is elementary for data centers: it is the only way to ensure the center's supply in the event of a power failure. Among other things, data center operators rely on modular energy storage systems for a reliable UPS. As part of its newly developed “Live Swap” certification, TÜV Rheinland now tests whether such modular energy storage systems can easily and safely be maintained during ongoing operation.

Comprehensive fault analyses based on internationally valid standards

The test catalog for the “Live Swap” certification, which was developed on the basis of globally valid standards, defines minimum safety requirements that an energy storage system for use in data centers must meet. Among other things, this involves determining whether individual components can limit the risk of personal injury in cases of voltage flashovers or so-called “electric arcs”. For live-swap certification, TÜV Rheinland experts perform fault analyses and integrity tests on the product design, structure, hardware and software of energy storage systems. Background: Potential hardware faults in the energy storage devices or the system must not cause harm to operators. In addition, the safe and reliable operation of modular UPS products needs to be guaranteed.

With its new “Live Swap” certification, TÜV Rheinland goes beyond the basic IEC 62040-1 safety standard that applies to UPS systems. The first products successfully tested along the new certification standard are the “Easy UPS 3-Phase Modular Series” from the French electrical engineering group Schneider Electric.