Where is the rotary UPS market going?

After covering the UPS market for over 7 years now, IMS Research (recently acquired by IHS Inc.) has watched the market for large UPS over 800 kVA grow nearly 150% since 2006. Just five years ago, this market was owned by rotary UPS suppliers, but manufacturers are now introducing single unit static UPS up to 1,100 kVA into their product lines. At the current rate of penetration in which static systems are reaching higher power levels, just what will be the impact on the Rotary UPS market? Will the Rotary UPS market become obsolete or just a market for just Tier 4 data centers? While we know that this will not be the case, it is evident that as technologies improve, static UPS will continue moving into the area once occupied by just rotary suppliers.

As I begin to embark upon my next report covering the Rotary UPS market, I’m interested in understanding the following questions about this specialized market.

First, who are the top vendors of rotary systems and what share do they hold? While we know the top three suppliers in the market (Piller, Hitec, and Euro-Diesel), who else is selling into this market and where? Are there suppliers in Asia? Why are the markets in North America and Asia so much smaller than in Europe?

Second, where do manufacturers draw the line as far as what capacity they will stop at for a single unit UPS? With technology continuing to improve, will the desire to go bigger ever stop? Is there a point where the price of components in a static UPS makes it less lucrative of a market to look into?

Third, what are the true benefits to using modular UPS over Rotary in a situation where the end-user must decide between a 3,000 kVA UPS or 3 to 1,000 kVA UPS? Is there really a difference in terms of availability and reliability? What about efficiency? What other features swing the decision for those debating which type of UPS to use?

What other applications, besides data centers, are rotary UPS being used for? Will this change over the next few years? Are rotary suppliers looking at other markets to sell to? What changes would be involved in order to appeal to other applications?

At the conclusion of this study, I plan to know the answers to these questions. Besides market sizes, what are you interested in understanding about the Rotary UPS market?

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