Eaton Corp. has announced its Energy Management System (EMS) Upgrade Kit for data center and facilities managers to extend sophisticated branch circuit monitoring capabilities to legacy and third-party power distribution equipment.
The EMS Upgrade Kit allows for power conditions to be monitored on individual breakers, breaker panels or at the equipment level, providing three tiers of visibility within a single unit.
“Many data centers and other mission-critical facilities have a mix of older equipment and infrastructure from different vendors,” said Ed Komoski, vice president and general manager, Eaton’s Power Quality Division. “The EMS Upgrade Kit makes it possible to unify the management of a diverse, multi-vendor power distribution system by adding an extra layer of visibility and control to distribution equipment that was never designed to include these capabilities.”
With the additional insight provided by the EMS Upgrade Kit through measurements, analysis and notifications, data center and facilities managers can proactively manage energy consumption to prevent overload conditions, optimize power distribution and, when applicable, allocate energy costs among internal departments.
The EMS Upgrade Kit is a pre-tested, stand-alone solution that includes a wall-mounted enclosure with supporting hardware for one or two panels. A single-panel unit monitors up to 42 circuits and a two-panel unit monitors up to 84 circuits in a standard, three-phase panelboard. Split-core Current Transformers (CTs) monitor electrical input mains and branch circuits in connected panelboards to measure and store energy parameters for each individual circuit, making it possible to manage power with greater precision.
Additional features of the EMS Upgrade Kit include:
- Remote monitoring via the Power Xpert Gateway Card, which links Eaton and third-party equipment to the local area network or Internet using Modbus TCP or SNMP.
- Tracking and recording additional energy parameters and providing more standard features than competing branch circuit monitoring systems
- Access to real-time and historical information for analysis, troubleshooting, power management, billing and energy planning
