Uninterruptible Power Supply Product Regulations and
Standardization in the European Union
By Matteo Tricarico
Patents and Regulatory Engineer
Abstract
The Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) design falls under the category of Low Voltage (LV), Electromagnetic
Compatibility (EMC) Directives, and that of other regulations. Compliance to these regulations is typically verified
through the UPS Product Standard 62040. By definition, a standard creates a set of rules to be followed, but as
technology and the world evolve, these rules are refined according to this evolution. In this white paper, we provide
an overview of the current situation and the upcoming changes in terms of UPS product standards and regulations.
Uninterruptible Power Supply Product
Regulations and Standardization in the
European Union
In the last few years, new requirements have been
introduced, supported by the standardization
process, which covers not only the main safety
and electromagnetic compatibility aspects but
environmental and performance requirements as well.
This white paper is not intended to be an exhaustive
guide to the European Union (EU) regulation and
product standardization, but will provide an overview
of the current status as well as further improvements
and developments to be taken into consideration by
Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) manufacturers to
produce “CE” compliant UPS units.
The UPS CE mark is granted by a Declaration of
Conformity that the manufacturer issues under their
responsibility, confirming that a product meets all
the legal requirements for CE marking. This allows the
product to be sold throughout the European Economic
Area (EEA) as well as in countries that are part of the
European Free Trade Association (EFTA).
One of the most consolidated approaches used
when granting the CE mark consists in meeting the
requirements set by the European legislation through
the use of harmonized standards. The list of harmonized
standards and the co-existence period between new
and existing standards are published on the EU Official
Journal. Using EU harmonized standards is a sound
method of evaluating CE compliance, since these include
specific test methods and design requirements to verify
and fulfill the different characteristics relevant for safety
and emissions.
Following is further information on these standards.
Safety
The international standard IEC 62040-1:2008 (EN
62040-1:2008-11) was published in 2008 with the name
Uninterruptible Power Systems (UPS) - Part 1: General and
Safety Requirements for UPS. As of September 2011,
it replaced the first edition of IEC 62040-1-1 and IEC
62040-1-2, published in 2004.
This standard applies to UPS units which are “movable,
stationary, fixed or for building-in, for use in low-voltage
distribution systems and intended to be installed in any
operator accessible area or in restricted access locations
as applicable”.
Future Improvements
1.Amendment IEC 62040-1:2008/A1:2013 (Date of
publication, DOP) must be taken into consideration
mandatorily by law, in addition to the original standard
as of 14/02/2016 (Date of withdrawal, DOW1) in order
to assess UPS safety conformity through harmonized
standards. This amendment will introduce short
circuit withstand current requirements applied
to the UPS output. The test shall be performed
considering the input dependent operating mode
which enables output power to be delivered through
a low impendence path (typically a bypass mode when
available or maintenance bypass mode for those units
built in with this internal feature).
For example, two well-known harmonized standards are:
2.An IEC group is currently working towards the
development of the second edition of IEC 62040-1
(already available as a committee draft). The purpose
of this is to change the reference standard from IEC
60950-1 to IEC 62477-1 Safety Requirements for Power
Electronic Converter Systems and Equipment.
EN 62040-1:2008 for low voltage Directive 2006/95/
EC
EN 62040-2:2006 for electromagnetic compatibility
Directive 2004/108/EC.
1) DOW: date of withdrawal, i.e. a date after which the presumption of
conformity to the standard ceases without considering the new standards or
amendments. The DOW is by definition the latest date by which any national
standard conflicting with a European standard has to be withdrawn.
2
Electromagnetic Compatibility
Environment
IEC 62040-2:2005 was published in 2005 with the
title Uninterruptible Power Systems (UPS) - Part 2:
Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) Requirements.
This standard covers the electromagnetic emission,
immunity limits, and testing methods which guarantee
that a UPS has an adequate level of electromagnetic
compatibility with its installation environment (i.e. first
or second type2) and relevant categories (C1, C2, C3).
The IEC 62040-4:2013-04 (EN 62040-4:2013-09)
international standard, was published in April 2013 with
the name Uninterruptible Power Systems (UPS) - Part 4:
Environmental Aspects - Requirements and Reporting. This
article specifies the process and requirements needed
to declare the environmental aspects surrounding UPS
units.
Future Improvements
A committee draft of a new edition for 62040-2 has been
released to:
Align with current revisions of emission standards
CISPR 11 and CISPR 22
Align with the immunity standard IEC 61000 series
Consider previously ignored bandwidths below 150
kHz frequency
Now that we have dealt with IEC 62040-1 and IEC 62040-2
UPS standards, it is important to expound topics related
to UPS performances and the environmental impact of
UPS products and related regulations.
Performances
IEC 62040-3 ed. 2.0 (EN 62040-3:2011-06) was published
in June 2011 with the title Uninterruptible Power Systems
(UPS) - Part 3: Method of Specifying the Performance and
Test Requirements. Among the changes to the previous
version of this standard, the introduction of efficiency
requirements and test methods has been added. UPS
products are now divided into nine power classes for
each of which the three different operating modes (VFD,
VI, and VFI) are considered to define four efficiency levels
that correspond to four different load steps.
The EN 62040-3 minimum efficiency requirements take
into consideration that energy efficiency is influenced by
the quality of the power that is feeding the load as well
as by the UPS operating modes. This is why efficiency
levels are different for products belonging to different
VA ranges and for products belonging to the same VA
range making use of different technologies (VFD, VI,
and VFI). Aligned with this philosophy is the European
Code of Conduct on Energy Efficiency and Quality of AC
Power UPS, which proposes the same classification.
The European Code of Conduct is a voluntary regulation
governing the conduct of manufacturers regarding
high efficiency; promoting the reduction of energy
consumption and improved efficiency.
Future Improvements
Future IEC 62040-4-1 (Environmental Aspects Product Category Rules (PCR) for Life Cycle Assessment
and Environmental Declarations) is currently under
development and is focused on studying Life Cycle
Assessment (LCA).
Other Standards - 62040-5
Part five of the product standard is currently under
development. The IEC working group is analyzing
requirements for movable, stationary and fixed
electronic UPS units that incorporate an energy
storage system and deliver fixed DC output voltage
not exceeding 1,500 V DC. This standard is intended
to specify performance and test requirements of a
complete UPS unit (as opposed to UPS sub-assemblies).
Other Regulations – Ecodesign and PEF
The European Commission launched two projects
involving UPS design: one related to the definition
of UPS requirements for Ecodesign, and the other
involving the Environmental Directorate named Product
Environmental Footprint (PEF).
Ecodesign for UPS (Directive: 2009/125/EC): UPS
products fall within the scope of the Ecodesign Directive
and the LOT27 is the preparatory study used to define
policy instruments3.
If a product falls within the realm of the Ecodesign
Directive, and does not comply with the specific product
requirements defined, it will not qualify for CE marking
and cannot be sold in the European market.
The Ecodesign Directive is meant to be used in
conjunction with other tools such as Energy Labeling.
2) For more information on environment destination types please refer to
clause 4 of the EN 62040-2
3) “Policy instruments” refers to all relevant existing regulations and
applicable rules that define the Ecodesign for a product (e.g. efficiency limits
in 62040-3, Code of Conduct, Energy Star rules, etc.)
3
The following graphic4 illustrates the environmental
performance of a typical product which falls under the
scope of Energy Labeling and the Ecodesign Directive:
Figure 1. The graphic shows the integration of several policy
instruments to generate a “push and pull” effect on the market.
Source: Ecodesign Your Future – European Union, 2012
Emerson Network Power is a member of the technical
secretariat who, with other EU manufacturers, promoted
the UPS to be part of the first 15 pilot projects related to
PEF. The project began at the beginning of November
2013 (start date: 4th November 2013; end date: 4th
November 2016).
This methodology has been elaborated by the European
Commission’s General Environment Directorate (DG
ENV) in order to assess the impact of the products
released within the European market.
The process of developing the PEF Category Rules
(PEFCR) is fully transparent to UPS companies and
stakeholders; where five manufacturers are currently
contributing toward its development. After an
assessment period, the PEFCR originating from the pilot
phase will become the ”set of product rules” to be used
by all stakeholders in the industry – both within the EU
as well as internationally - who decide to measure the
environmental performance of UPS products.
The PEFCR will become the product rules used to
measure the environmental performances of Emerson
Network Power UPS products.
The first stakeholders’ meeting, held in Brussels
on February 26th 2014, was characterized by the
outstanding participation of testing laboratories and
companies operating in different sectors of the industry.
The draft of the new regulation is expected in 2018 and
implementation measures will most likely be effective
from 2020 onwards.
4
Conclusions
Ecodesign and PEF rules can help the environment
as they guide manufacturers in designing smarter
products that use resources in a more efficient and
environmentally friendly manner (e.g. reducing power
consumption, re-using and recycling substances and
materials whenever possible).
The Ecodesign Directive and the future PEF, together
with other EU policies such as Energy Labeling, show
how design plays a decisive role in the environmental
impact of a product. Nowadays, this is the new trend in
product design and compliance. European compliance
is generally associated with the CE mark, which typically
comprises Safety and EMC compliance. In reality,
the role of environmental rules is already active in CE
compliance even today, since the Restriction of the Use
of Certain Hazardous Substances (RoHS) is also needed
to state UPS CE compliance. This is why the future of UPS
product regulations and standardization includes both
updates related to Safety, EMC, Ecodesign, and PEF.
Although Ecodesign regulations for UPS and PEF are at
initial stages of the European legislation, the direction
is now clear: in the future the environmental impact will
play a significant role in product design and compliance.
4) Source: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sustainable-business/
ecodesign/index_en.htm
Appendix
A) For further information about the application of directive 2006/95/EC (LVD):
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/electrical/files/lvdgen_en.pdf
B) For further information about the application of directive 2004/108/EC (EMC):
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/electrical/files/emc_guide__updated_20100208_v3_en.pdf
C) For further information on DOP and DOW:
http://www.cenelec.eu/membersandexperts/referencematerial/abbreviationsacronyms.html
D) For further information on the European Code of Conduct:
http://re.jrc.ec.europa.eu/energyefficiency/Code%20of%20conduct/UPS/Code_of_conduct_UPS_16032011.pdf
E) For further information about Ecodesign for UPS products:
http://www.ecoups.org/
F) For further information about the PEF pilot projects:
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/eussd/smgp/product_footprint.htm
Glossary
CISPR: Comité International Spécial des Perturbations Radioélectriques
CoC: Code of Conduct
DG ENV: Directorate-General for the Environment
DOP: Date of Publication
DOW: Date of Withdrawal
EEA: European Economic Area
EFTA: European Free Trade Association
EMC: Electromagnetic Compatibility
EN: European Standard
IEC: International Electrotechnical Committee
LCA: Life Cycle Assessment
LVD: Low Voltage Directive
OJ: Official Journal of the European Union
PCR: Product Category Rules
PEF: Product Environmental Footprint
PEFCR: Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules
VFD: Voltage and Frequency Dependent mode
VFI: Voltage and Frequency Independent mode
VI: Voltage Independent mode
5
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