New IATA Restrictions Make Ultracapacitors Superior Choice

San Diego, CA, August 1, 2016…Effective April 1, 2016, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced that lithium batteries, UN 3480, Packing Instruction 965 only, will be restricted from passenger aircraft. Additionally, lithium ion cells and batteries in this category must be limited to a 30% maximum state of charge (SOC) when being transported and are subject to expanded requirements for labeling and packaging when included in cargo shipments. While lithium-ion batteries are commonly used in battery backup units (BBUs) for a range of applications, including as a method to protect cache data during power outages, these new restrictions add to the deficiencies that already exist when using such batteries in short-term power backup applications.

The ideal method to overcome these shortcomings is the use of a flash-based, ultracapacitor-powered solution. Tecate Group has the largest lineup of ultracapacitor cells and modules in the world, perfect for providing short-term backup power in such flash devices. In this case, the ultracapacitors act as power buffers to permit data to move from the cache to the non-volatile flash in the event of a power failure, requiring no additional power to preserve the data. Once power is restored, the data is transferred back to the main memory system, and the ultracapacitors become fully recharged in mere minutes.

There are many advantages ultracapacitors hold over traditional BBUs, including their lack of shipping restrictions, their low operating cost, their promise of ensuring no data loss from power failures, their environmental friendliness, their maintenance-free data protection, their fast recharge time, and their wider operating temperature range. With a flash-based ultracapacitor solution, data is retained for weeks or months with no data loss from power failures. Also, since ultracapacitors are a long-life reliable source for energy storage, they eliminate the cost of yearly battery replacement and disposal, as well as downtime costs. 

Tecate Group offers a complete lineup of standard and custom ultracapacitor cells and modules. For more information and to take advantage of Tecate's world-leading ultracapacitor selection, visit www.tecategroup.com. For more information about IATA's new lithium battery regulations, check out their press release.