This presentation will focus on the various options for DC powering of Data Center equipment that have been deployed around the world.  It will explore the pros and cons of each of these options, and compare them to traditional Data Center AC UPS backup powering.  Energy efficiencies will be discussed as well as costs and availability of DC power supplies for data center end-use equipment.  Electrical safety will also be discussed as it relates to the various DC architectures, as well as the traditional AC architecture.  The session will be open to Q&A.

Curtis Ashton is a degreed electrical engineer and a Master Electrician (state of CO) employed as the Training Director by American Power Systems LLC, which is a DC services (battery and DC plant installation and maintenance) company owned by a very large battery manufacturer (lead-acid and Li-ion).  In his career, he was previously employed for 27 years by a large telecom company and data center operator (as a power and grounding expert), and was initially employed by an electric utility (as an electrician’s helper and engineering technician) at a coal-fired generating station.  Curtis has authored numerous published papers, magazine articles, and is the lead author of several IEEE and ANSI/ATIS standards.  He is the immediate past chair of the IEEE PES ESSB (Energy Storage and Stationary Battery) Committee (which is responsible for 38 IEEE standards among other activities it does), and is working group chair, vice-chair or secretary for almost a dozen working groups within IEEE PES ESSB and IEEE-SA SCC 21.  Mr. Ashton also serves as a member of the NFPA 855 committee (energy storage system installation).  He has presented at conferences around the world, and is the technical committee chair for the annual Battcon conference.  In his spare time, he enjoys keeping up his Spanish language fluency, and refereeing high school basketball and soccer.

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