The Exide Technologies Industrial Energy division, with headquarters in both Büdingen, Germany, and Aurora, Illinois, manufactures, markets, distributes, and recycles industrial batteries for both motive and network power applications. Industrial batteries fall into two categories, those that supply motive power for vehicles such as fork lift trucks, and those that stand by to provide emergency or backup power to critical, uninterruptible operations when the AC or DC power is out.
Standby power batteries play an important role in 21st century life. Around the world, Exide Technologies’ network power batteries provide energy solutions for critical systems that require uninterrupted supply – such as data networks, railroad crossing signals, industrial controls and e-commerce infrastructure – up and running smoothly and safely. Not only do these batteries back up traditional wire-line voice networks, but they also provide the backup power supporting reliable high-speed data transmission, Internet service providers, personal and network computer systems, wireless communications and cable TV.
When utility power is interrupted, Exide batteries are designed to take over the load, providing electricity until utility power is restored or until generators powered by diesel, solar or, wind—can take over the load. When the power is on, they help electric utilities shift power from grid to grid. And during spot outages, they help public utilities shift electric power around substations.
The growth of alternative energy applications including solar and wind, the demand for increasing bandwidth, and escalating demand for high-speed communications and data protection are creating unprecedented, fundamental demand for electric power. Utility power generation is not keeping pace, which means that applications of uninterruptible power will likely be increasingly dependent on the stored electrical energy in network power batteries.
