To address the increasing power requirements of mission-critical facilities, GE recently introduced its new TLE Series uninterruptible power supply (UPS) global platform. The TLE Series transformer-less, three-phase UPS applies GE’s technology to provide facilities with operating efficiencies.
The TLE UPS is the highest efficiency UPS on the market, Harry Handlin, director of Critical Power Applications for GE, tells 5 Minute Briefing. “It has an overall efficiency of 96.5% in double conversion mode, which is the most stringent protection. And then it will also - in multi-node or what we call eBoost, which is a high-efficiency mode - give you 99% efficiency. What that means for the data center is that it reduces their power bill - makes their electrical distribution chain to power their IT - much more efficient, and will lower their PUE [power usage effectiveness - the total facility power divided by the IT power]. You want to get the PUE as close to one as you can. Most data centers today are at about a 1.8 PUE.
In addition, according to GE, the TLE Series delivers clean power quality, including low-input harmonics, high-input power factor and low-output voltage distortion, to the critical loads.
The TLE Series is offered in both UL and CE versions. The CE version spans up to 1.2 MW, while the UL version ranges up to 1.5 MW. The TLE 160-kilowatt (kW) to 400-kW, CE-rated products are available now; and the UL-rated products will be available throughout 2013 with the higher power ranges available in 2014.
Moreover, GE says the platform offers a high level of power density, a measure of the amount of power output compared to the product’s size or footprint, which reduces the overall capital expense of installation. The small footprint makes the TLE well-suited for both new construction and retrofit applications where space optimization is a priority. GE’s proven Redundant Parallel Architecture (RPA) provides the TLE Series with the ability to connect up to six TLE modules together for high-capacity system redundancy and higher reliability. The RPA system eliminates single points of failure, ensuring the load is protected in the event a single UPS module is out of service.
The cost of power is a very big concern for data centers, notes Handlin. “What it costs to operate the UPS over the life of the equipment - which is typically 10 to 15 years - is actually more than the initial price of the UPS module. Power consumption is very important.”
The TLE Series will be shipped in a phased release starting with smaller units in the third quarter of this year and going through the second quarter of 2014, based on units that go from 250kW up to 1.5MW in increments of 250 kW.
To learn more about GE’s Critical Power business, visit www.gecriticalpower.com.