CLEAResult pushes efficient computing with its 80 PLUS Ruby standard
Better than 80 PLUS TITANIUM! – The new RUBY standard pushes power efficiency to 96.5%
CLEAResult, the company behind the 80 PLUS power supply certification, has unveiled its new “RUBY” standard for server power supplies. With this standard, CLEAResult is encouraging PSU manufacturers to develop more efficient power supplies for future servers.
With this new standard, 80 PLUS has set a higher bar for manufacturers to aim towards, setting a 90% minimum efficiency for all load levels. Furthermore, the standard aims for 96.5% peak efficiency levels at 50% loads.
This new PSU standard is available for 230V, 277V, 480V and 380V DC power redundant power supplies. This standard aims to reduce the energy use of servers. This is a big deal, as datacenter electricity demand is set to explode over the coming years.
Today CLEAResult, North America’s largest energy efficiency, energy transition and energy sustainability services provider, announced 80 PLUS Ruby, the highest level of energy efficiency certification ever established for data center server power supply units (PSUs) worldwide.
The rapidly growing demand for data storage and AI-driven applications is driving an urgent need for greater energy efficiency in data center operations. Currently, data centers account for approximately 0.4% of total U.S. electricity consumption, but this figure is projected to rise dramatically to between 6.7% and 12% by 2028 as storage, data processing and AI workloads expand.
“Achieving the highest standard of operations for data centers is critical as energy demand quickly grows and we are proud that the 80 PLUS Ruby certification is setting the example of what optimal data center energy efficiency can look like worldwide,” said Divakar Jandhyala, CLEAResult’s Chief Product & Technology Officer.
To address this challenge, the 80 PLUS Ruby certification introduces the most rigorous PSU efficiency standard in 14 years, requiring 90%+ efficiency across the entire power delivery system. This new standard provides the industry with a pathway toward higher energy efficiency, ensuring data centers can meet the evolving demands of cloud storage, commercial institutions and the growing strain on the grid caused by AI-driven computing.
Atthapon Sermkarndee, Senior Qualification Engineering Manager with Delta Electronics Thailand added, “We achieved three certifications and see the value in 80 PLUS Ruby certifications. It adds a level of trust in efficacy that the whole industry can rely on.”
As part of CLEAResult’s Testing and Certification program, 80 PLUS badges certify products that have undergone rigorous testing and meet or surpass the program’s established energy efficiency criteria. The 80 PLUS Ruby certification recognizes global data center standards for PSUs that achieve 96.5% efficiency at 230V, 277V, 480V AC-DC and 380V DC at 50% load, and 90% or greater at 5%, 10%, 20%, 50% and 100% of rated wattage. 80 PLUS also addresses light loading – when servers operate at low power levels relative to their maximum capacity – by introducing a 5% load efficiency requirement of 90% in data centers for standards and regulations adoption. This ensures power supply units maintain high efficiency, even when servers operate in redundant configurations or are unintentionally over-sized for their applications, reducing unnecessary energy waste and improving overall operational efficiency.
Jason Boehlke, Senior Energy Sustainability Practice Manager at CLEAResult, said, “It represents a next-level benchmark, providing the industry with a standard for both performance and energy usage.”
As data center operators face growing energy demands, regulatory requirements from Energy Star, the European Union’s (EU) Energy-related Products (ErP) directive and United for Efficiency (U4E) are also expanding. The 80 PLUS Ruby certification represents a future efficiency roadmap for standard and regulatory adoption.
There is no 80 PLUS RUBY standard for consumer-oriented power supplies
Sadly, no 80 PLUS Ruby standard has been released for non-redundant power supplies. That means that there is no consumer-grade version of this new efficiency standard. That means that this new standard will not promote the creation of more efficient consumer-grade power supplies.
This is hugely disappointing, as recent history has shown that certification bodies have the potential to change the PSU market.
If you have been looking into the latest PSU releases, you will know that most newer power supplies are quieter than their last-generation counterparts. Why? The simple answer is Cybenetics. In 2020, Cybenetics created its Lambda noise rating system. Now, every major consumer PSU manufacturer is using this rating to market their latest PSUs. If you want to thank anyone for the recent influx of quiet PC power supplies, thank Cybenetics.
With this in mind, it is disappointing that CLEAResult has not created a RUBY rating for consumer power supplies. We want to see better products, and giving companies a fancy new badge to market is often all that’s needed to help push technology forward. If they can do it for server PSUs, they can do it for consumer PSUs.
You can join the discussion on the new 80 PLUS Ruby power efficiency standard on the OC3D Forums.
