Emerson Network Power introduced a new technology at the AFCOM Data Center World conference in Las Vegas that allows customers to buy UPS systems that can scale up as needed down the road, much like companies buy servers with dormant processors that get keyed on when demand is there.

The SoftScale UPS will be available starting this summer, said Peter Panfil, VP of power engineering for Liebert Solutions, which is part of Emerson. Customers will be able to buy a 40 kVA system and then upgrade it to 60 kVA and 80 kVA as needed; or they can buy an 80 kVA unit and upgrade it to 100 kVA and then 120 kVA.

If I can give you 40kVA and expand to 80 kVA in the same module, that means you don’t have to go out and buy new parts,” Panfil said. “We think it’s a way to cheaply expand power capacity.”

Panfil said that there will be a premium on the 40 kVA SoftScale UPS over a regular static 40 kVA UPS, but that pricing hasn’t been finalized.