More than a century ago, proponents of adopting alternating current to electrify America—and eventually the world—won out against advocates of direct current. Today, however, leading technology developers are realizing the advantages of direct current (DC) and are investigating its benefits in powering data centers.
IT and energy storage systems in data centers run on DC, and alternative energy sources produce DC, so why not reduce investment expenses and costs of installation and operation by running data centers from the start on DC, without multiple power conversions from and to alternating current (AC)? André Schärer describes how ABB created a 1 MW DC-powered data center power supply near Zurich for a major ISP and colocation provider that demonstrates numerous advantages.