In today’s world, where digital services and artificial intelligence are penetrating new areas of our lives every day, data centers are becoming the true hearts of modern infrastructure. They power social networksThey process banking transactions, manage cloud services, and process artificial intelligence. But behind all this digital progress is another truth — the enormous power consumption. That’s why a new efficiency standard for server power supplies — 80 Plus Ruby has been set.
A few months ago, CLEAResult quietly launched the new — 80 Plus Ruby certification. It is focused on server power supplies and raises the bar for energy efficiency to a new level. If 94-95% efficiency was considered a good result before, now we are talking about at least 96.5% efficiency at a typical load of 50%.
Ruby takes into account energy losses in different operating modes — both at peak load and at minimum load. To receive the certificate, the power supply must:
- achieve 96.5% efficiency at 50% load;
- not fall below 90% efficiency even at 5% or 100% load;
- maintain this at different voltages — 230 VAC, 277 VAC, 480 VAC, and 380 VDC.
Unlike previous certifications, Ruby also defines minimum power factor values: at 5% load, the power supply must provide 90% efficiency with a power factor of at least 0.90, and at 20% and 50% load, it must achieve 95% and 96.5% efficiency, respectively, each with a power factor of at least 0.96. This is important because the power factor indicates how efficiently the device uses electricity without converting it into useless heat.
Delta Electronics, one of the leading manufacturers of power supplies, was the first to support the new certification. The company’s new 5500W models, designed for AI servers, not only met Ruby requirements, but also achieved 97.5% efficiency while maintaining a power factor above 0.96. This is no longer just «green» marketing, but a specific technical response to the demands of the times.
Why is it important today? Although data centers currently consume «only» 0.4% of all U.S. electricity, this figure is projected to rise to 12% by 2028 due to the explosive growth of cloud services and AI. And that’s why initiatives like 80 Plus Ruby are needed now. After all, the higher the efficiency, the less heat and losses, the lower the cooling costs, and thus the lower the costs and the smaller the carbon footprint.
Source: techpowerup
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