Uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems, which use a built-in energy storage source such as a battery, flywheel, or other device to supply clean and sufficient power during grid power outages, have demonstrated their value in preventing undesirable downtime, data loss, or even catastrophic failures. Traditionally, however, most of these systems were point solutions designed to protect an individual PC, server, medical device, airport, or factory. Today, new technologies and architectures are emerging that can more effectively integrate UPS systems into the larger power infrastructure and take advantage of the large amount of energy storage already installed worldwide.
In particular, as green IT becomes an important goal for many IT vendors and users, UPS systems that can fit into and augment existing IT infrastructures to support the vendors’ overall green IT objectives will be in increasing demand. According to a recent report from Pike Research, these trends, along with significant growth in emerging economies, will lead to strong growth for the UPS sector in the next few years. The global market for UPS systems will expand from $8.2 billion in 2011 to $9.4 billion in 2012, a year-on-year growth rate of 14%, the cleantech market intelligence firm forecasts.