Getting the Most Out of Your Batteries

At some point during a utility power interruption, batteries have a crucial role to play. For sites with generators, the batteries must maintain power to the load until the generators have started up, in which case they may only have to provide standby power for a few minutes. However, many outside plant systems don’t have generators, in which case the batteries must be capable of maintaining backup power for several hours. As expectations on network runtimes grow, and while utility outages become more frequent1, multiple-system operators (MSOs) should review their deployed battery backup solutions. The challenge facing network operations is how to safely and cost-effectively increase energy densities across the hybrid fiber-coax (HFC) network.

In this article EnerSys® energy storage experts share their knowledge on battery technologies and discuss the factors that need to be considered when designing a solution which maximizes both network runtime and total cost of ownership (TCO).