Power Protection FEATURED ARTICLE

Everybody is looking for the next best thing to safeguard their critical infrastructure from power outages and brownouts, and for Follett Higher Education Group, VYCON’s flywheel system was just the ticket. VYCON, a designer and manufacturer of environmentally friendly, high-speed energy storage flywheel systems, has seen its power protection units find a home in various vertical markets.

"Because electrical power is vital to our operation, we needed a solution that would protect us against power outages," said Darlene Edwards, facilities management at Follett Higher Education Group. "We were interested in battery-free backup options because it would reduce our cooling costs and help us earn LEED credits."

Since Follett's distribution center boasts industry-leading technology from Kiva Systems, Inc. – which are expected to deliver about 11 million textbooks and classroom materials – power must always be available and computer systems must be operational 24/7.

Follett, a provider of bookstore services and the foremost supplier of used books in North America, services five million students and over 400,000 faculty members through more than 900 stores. The company offers books to more than 1,600 independent campus stores.

"We're pleased that our VDC-XE flywheel system meets Follett's reliability and sustainability requirements for their state-of-the-art fulfillment center," said Dann McKeraghan, vice president sales and marketing for VYCON. "The elimination of battery maintenance and replacements as well as decreased energy costs will give Follett an attractive total cost of ownership while significantly increasing its power protection reliability and lowering its carbon footprint."

VYCON's VDC-XE (Xtended Energy), which works seamlessly with three-phase UPS systems, supplies up to 300kW of DC power within a single cabinet. For those companies that need to enjoy even longer run times and higher power capacities, the UL listed VDC models can be paralleled without special communications links or control systems for supporting megawatt load applications, according to company officials. In the event that the distribution center experiences an extended power outage, the VDC-XE provides continuous uninterrupted power while transferring to a standby engine generator.

One company that certainly understands just how important it is for educational institutions and services to stay up and running is Minuteman UPS/Para Systems (News - Alert), a provider of power protection units. Minuteman, a Texas-based company whose power protection products are sold in more than 100 countries, offers a full power protection product line that can enable the educational institution to protect its entire campus. Such products include surge suppressors for non-critical components, standby EnSpire series and line interactive Entrust (News - Alert), PRO-E, PRO-RT and EnterprisePlus series UPSs for small- to medium-sized network and security devices. Minuteman also offers full on-line Endeavor UPSs for enterprise wide power protection systems that require multiple hours of runtime.

For more on Minuteman’s educational offerings, click here.