Design, Development & Testing for System Battery Management System for Data Center

Background

Data centres are the backbone of the digital economy, and power is their biggest vulnerability. With AI driving demand, global data-centre electricity use is set to more than double to ~945 TWh by 2030, pushing Battery Energy Storage Systems from passive backup to the active backbone of uninterrupted power. The market is forecast to grow from USD 19.4 billion in 2026 to USD 34.8 billion by 2031. To compete, the customer, a European multinational specialising in energy management, automation and digitalization, needed a System Battery Management System(BMS) built entirely from scratch to intelligently parallel and scale racks to monitor various parameters.

Tata Elxsi delivered the complete System BMS platform, collecting data from the Rack BMS to control load and charging. The scope spanned from hardware, firmware, Model Based Design for rack paralleling and measurements, mechanical enclosure, GUI, PCB and Gerber integration, EMI/EMC and live testing in China, and manufacturing handover, forming the backbone of uninterrupted power.

Challenges

The customer required a System BMS engineered entirely from scratch, with no reliance on off-the-shelf platforms. The solution had to sit at the intersection of digital-economy enablement and the clean-energy transition, forming the backbone of uninterrupted power supply for data-centre battery energy storage.

• Intelligent Rack Paralleling: Multiple battery racks had to be intelligently paralleled to deliver the highest possible runtime and backup to serve the load.
• Real-time Control Algorithms: The system demanded precise, real-time control algorithms to manage load and charging across paralleled battery racks.
• Custom Hardware Integration: Firmware had to be ported and validated on a custom board, with integration and EMI/EMC testing before manufacturing handover.
• Reliability & Pre-Compliance: Stringent reliability, pre-compliance and worst-case-analysis (WCA) requirements had to be met ahead of live deployment.
• Integrated Testing: Validating the complete system required demonstration of the solution using rack simulators ahead of live deployment.

Solutions

Tata Elxsi engineered a comprehensive System BMS with a fully integrated solution combining hardware, firmware, and software to deliver intelligent, scalable, and reliable control of load and charging for data-centre battery energy storage.

• Electronics Design: The solution is spanning component selection, power budgeting, schematic design, BOM, PCB design and Gerber data generation.
• Model-Based Rack Paralleling: Model-Based Design drove control-algorithm development and rack paralleling, ensuring the system delivers the highest runtime and backup to serve the load, with early simulation and validation.
• Robust Mechanical Enclosure: A sheet-metal enclosure with clamp mounting and tamper protection was engineered to improve safety and durability in the deployed environment.
• Intuitive GUI Application: A dedicated GUI application enabled easy, intuitive configuration of system parameters for operators.
• OTA Upgrades: Over-the-Air upgrade capability for remote configuration of system parameters and continuous firmware upgradability.
• Industrial Communication Protocols: Integration of industrial protocols such CAN, Modbus and Ethernet for robust connectivity and control.
• Lifecycle Firmware & Integration: Firmware was developed across the entire SDLC, then ported and integrated on the custom board, followed by integration and EMI/EMC testing.

Impact Delivered

Tata Elxsi validated the developed SBMS through pre-compliance testing, demonstration using rack simulators and live-environment testing in China.

• Monitoring & Control Accuracy: Real-time tracking and control of core thermal and electrical parameters, with high-accuracy monitoring and control algorithms across the system.
• Enhanced Safety & Risk Mitigation: Fail-safe mechanisms and continuous monitoring of critical performance and safety indicators provide early warnings reducing the risk of downtime and improving availability.
• Multi-Platform Deployment Readiness: A scalable architecture ready for deployment across UPS, ESS and data-centre applications ranging from 8 to 64 racks (~300 KW to 2.4 MW).
• Towards Sustainability: Positions the SBMS at the intersection of digital-economy enablement and the clean-energy transition enabling higher renewable utilisation, grid stability and uninterrupted power supply.

Services Rendered

• Hardware & Firmware Design
• Component Selection & Power Budgeting
• PCB Design & Prototyping
• Reliability Analysis
• Pre-compliance Testing
• Model-Based Design
• Mechanical Enclosure Design
• EMI/EMC Testing