Why do you need a battery cabinet?

Ease of use is one of the principle selling points for battery cabinets. It is convenient to service the equipment when the UPS and the battery (ies) are right next to each other. Conversely, it is inconvenient to have to go to a separate room when open-rack batteries are installed.

Should UPS batteries be installed on racks or in cabinets?

Early on in a UPS design a decision must be made on whether batteries should be installed on racks or in cabinets. Both have pros and cons. The following are typical design considerations.

Do battery cabinets need to be locked?

Battery cabinets must enclose the batteries behind locked doors accessible only to authorized personnel. As long as the cabinets are kept locked, they can be located in a computer room or other rooms accessible by non-battery technicians.

Are open rack batteries dangerous?

There are two primary hazards of concern: electrical and fire. Open rack batteries expose potentially lethal voltage to any person coming in contact with them. Therefore they must be installed in battery rooms in which room access is restricted to authorized personnel only. Authorized personnel must be trained in battery safety.

Can you put a battery in an electrical room?

Local or regional codes may dictate whether batteries are permitted in an electrical room. Smaller UPS systems (e.g, up to 250 kVA) are commonly installed directly in the computer room along with their respective battery cabinets. The UPS and/or battery cabinets might be configured to look like standard computer equipment racks.

Do battery cabinets have top clearance?

Battery cabinets are frequently criticized for their lack of top clearance. For example, in a cabinet containing multiple strings of low ampere-hour batteries, there might be several shelves, each with one string of cells. The cell units on each shelf might be arranged two, three, or more cells deep.