Data centers are battling to keep up with new waves of growth and complexity. They’re becoming more crowded, processing more data-intensive workloads, and requiring more power than ever as they evolve to meet new demands.
AC power setups can’t always keep up with this pace. Due to constant voltage and frequency conversions, they also waste energy through losses that must occur throughout the power chain, making it even harder to maintain performance. Plus, their heavy cables and busways take up valuable real estate.
This is a big reason why many new construction and retrofit projects, including data centers, are considering high-voltage DC (HVDC) power for the first time. And Digital Electricity® is making it possible.
HVDC: Big Potential for Scalable, Flexible Data Centers
HVDC is a natural fit for the way modern data centers operate. It delivers energy more efficiently and supports scalability. Because DC can deliver power straight to servers and IT gear, it reduces AC-DC-AC conversion steps, which minimizes energy loss, saves energy, and provides more direct power to network components.
As rack densities rise under the pressure of AI-hungry GPUs, usable data center space shrinks with AC architecture. But DC distribution can reduce cabling footprints with its flexible design approach, which lets operators deploy more compute power in less real estate.
The shift to DC power also supports the adaptability and efficient use of power and infrastructure that new types of data centers require. For example:
- Containerized data centers must be ready to plug-and-play anywhere
- Prefabricated data center modules need to be added or moved on the fly
- Edge data centers must bring processing closer to users and devices
But First, We Must Solve the HVDC Safety Challenge
Historically, however, adopting DC power in data centers has been risky. It wasn’t safe, practical, or easy to manage at high voltages. Faults or accidental contact could result in persistent, dangerous arcs that were hard to stop. It also required bulky, expensive protective hardware.
Until recently, DC power has been sidelined in favor of AC power, which was considered safer and more familiar, even if it meant dealing with higher energy losses and poor flexibility.
But Digital Electricity is changing the game. By combining real-time fault management with flexible, digitally controlled distribution, it overcomes the traditional barriers of conventional HVDC and makes it safer and more efficient for data centers to deploy DC power.
Digital Electricity’s Packetized Power Transforms Safety
Instead of sending a continuous and potentially hazardous electrical current through traditional wiring, which is what legacy HVDC does, Digital Electricity is distributed differently—as a form of fault-managed power.
This means it distributes power as a series of intelligently controlled energy “packets.” Each packet is checked for safe delivery before it reaches its destination. If a fault, arc, or accidental contact is detected, then the system reacts within milliseconds to stop transmission, effectively eliminating the risk of dangerous, uncontrolled arcs or shocks. As a result, Digital Electricity can safely operate at high voltages and across long distances.
This built-in intelligence also enables constant real-time monitoring for performance and safety. Every circuit is digitally managed, and every anomaly is spotted and resolved before it escalates.
Because operators can monitor, audit, and change power assignments from a dashboard, they can access data about real-time performance and faults for specific loads. This reduces possible downtime risk, streamlines troubleshooting, and prevents failure.
Optimizing Data Center Efficiency and Space
By minimizing AC-DC-AC conversions and bringing HVDC distribution to server racks, Digital Electricity can minimize the energy losses that plague traditional AC systems.
Because it operates over lightweight communication cabling and can be installed in the same cable trays and pathways, it reduces the amount of data center space that must be dedicated to cabling. This also makes power much easier to deploy, scale, and reconfigure quickly and safely. Adding new racks and supporting denser deployments is simple and straightforward, with no need for major construction or overbuilding.
Meeting New Demands with Intelligent Power
Digital Electricity gives data centers a way to unlock new levels of safety, adaptability, and efficiency as they demand more power delivery.
Digital Electricity can turn high-voltage DC power from something traditionally off-limits into a safe, smart, and monitored system that’s suitable for high-performance data centers, helping them meet power demands without sacrificing safety or operational flexibility. As digital workloads and infrastructure complexity rise, it will enable scalable, resilient next-generation data centers.
