Most tower operators run their vendor evaluation the same way: request three spec sheets, compare runtime numbers and price per kW, and pick whichever quote looks best on paper. Evoltix sees this process from the other side, as the vendor being evaluated, and the questions that come up in a thirty-minute spec sheet comparison rarely surface what actually separates vendors once a system is bolted into a rack.
The Evoltix Zero-Glitch Power Module (ZPM) is a power intelligence system, not a UPS. It’s what tower operators and network engineers install when a spec sheet comparison of legacy UPS options stops answering the question that matters: will this system hold when an outage runs six hours instead of six minutes, and will anyone know what’s happening at the site while it does?
This isn’t another feature list. It’s a short field guide to five things a spec sheet cannot tell you, drawn from what actually changes once a system is deployed.
Runtime Numbers Only Mean Something at Your Load
Every backup power spec sheet publishes a runtime number. Almost none of them tell you the load it was measured at. A UPS rated for “up to two hours” might hit that figure at 500 watts and drop to twelve minutes at the load your site actually draws. The number on the cover page is true. It’s also close to useless without the load curve behind it.
UL 1778, the standard most backup power spec sheets reference, tests the electrical safety of the equipment. It says nothing about runtime at your specific load, monitoring capability, or what happens after you sign a purchase order.
Source: UL 1778, Standard for Uninterruptible Power Systems
The vendor worth choosing is the one that will show you the runtime table at your load, not just the number on the cover page.
ZPM Rated Runtime by Critical Load
| Critical Load | Amps @ 48VDC | ZPM 1 (≤4.5 kW) | ZPM 2 (4.5–9 kW) | ZPM 3* (9–13.5 kW) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.5 kW | 10.42A | 15.36 hrs | 30.72 hrs | 43.08 hrs |
| 1 kW | 20.83A | 7.68 hrs | 15.36 hrs | 23.04 hrs |
| 1.5 kW | 31.25A | 5.12 hrs | 10.24 hrs | 15.36 hrs |
| 2 kW | 41.67A | 3.84 hrs | 7.68 hrs | 11.52 hrs |
| 3 kW | 62.50A | 2.56 hrs | 5.12 hrs | 7.68 hrs |
| 4 kW | 83.33A | 1.92 hrs | 3.84 hrs | 5.76 hrs |
| 4.5 kW | 93.75A | 1.71 hrs | 3.41 hrs | 5.12 hrs |
*ZPM 3 in development. Highlighted rows reflect typical public safety tower site load ranges (1–4.5 kW). All figures are rated values at 100% depth of discharge; actual runtime varies by load profile and operating conditions.
At 2 kW, a typical public safety tower load, the ZPM 1 delivers 3.84 hours of rated runtime. At 1 kW, 7.68 hours. Those are the same rated values Evoltix publishes across every load point for all three ZPM models, not just the load that produces the best headline number.
Physical fit matters as much as runtime. A ZPM is a 19 by 24 by 84 inch rack-mounted unit weighing 850 pounds fully configured. That’s a real number to check against your rack, your floor loading, and your doorway before a quote becomes an install date.
What “Remote Monitoring” Actually Delivers, Day to Day
“Remote monitoring” appears on almost every backup power spec sheet. It means very different things in practice. The useful question to ask any vendor isn’t whether the system has monitoring. It’s what the dashboard actually shows the day the system goes live, and what’s still on the roadmap.
IntelliCore, the platform behind every ZPM, gives network teams real-time visibility into battery state of charge and grid status from a single dashboard. That’s a confirmed, in-production capability today. Evoltix continues to build deeper trend analysis and anomaly surfacing on top of that foundation.
There’s a second question worth asking that rarely comes up in a sales conversation: does the system need an outbound internet connection to function, or can it run isolated behind your own OT network and still deliver local alarms? The ZPM includes up to 26 mappable dry contact alarms for SCADA integration, which is the mechanism that makes local, network-independent alerting possible even at a site with no internet connection at all.
The Commercial Terms Spec Sheets Never Mention
A spec sheet describes the hardware. It says nothing about what happens after the purchase order is signed. Three questions worth asking before you commit:
- What’s the return or trial policy if the system doesn’t perform once it’s installed?
- Can you purchase this through a standard purchase order, or does it require a different procurement path than your organization normally uses?
- If you’re deploying across more than one site, will every site end up running the same configuration, or will you end up managing a patchwork of one-off setups?
Uniformity matters more than it sounds like it should. A field technician who knows what to expect at every site, because every site runs the same system, spends less time troubleshooting and more time fixing the actual problem. One state DOT network that standardized on the ZPM scaled from a single unit to more than 20 once that uniformity proved out across its own sites.
None of these questions has a wrong answer that disqualifies a vendor by itself. But a vendor who can’t answer them clearly, in writing, before you sign, is telling you something about what the relationship looks like after you sign.
A Five-Question Framework for Evaluating Backup Power Vendors
Use these five questions on any backup power vendor’s spec sheet, including ours:
- Runtime: Can you show me the full runtime table at my actual load, not just your best-case number?
- Monitoring: What does the dashboard show the day the system goes live, and what’s still on the roadmap?
- Independence: Can the system run isolated from our network and still alarm locally if it needs to?
- Commercial terms: What’s the return policy, and can we buy this through a standard purchase order?
- Total cost: What does this cost over ten years, not just at purchase, once battery replacement and truck rolls are counted?
A vendor that answers all five without hedging has earned a real evaluation. A vendor that answers with a repeat of the spec sheet has told you the evaluation isn’t over yet.
Spec Sheet vs. Real World
| What the Spec Sheet Shows | What It Doesn’t Show | What to Ask Instead |
|---|---|---|
| Rated runtime at one load point | Runtime at your actual load, and whether the figure is best-case | “Show me the full runtime table at my load.” |
| “Remote monitoring” as a checked box | What the dashboard shows today vs. what’s on the roadmap | “Show me the live dashboard, not a screenshot.” |
| Battery chemistry and cycle life | Whether failure is silent or visible as the battery ages | “How will I know this is degrading before it fails under load?” |
| Price per unit | Return policy, PO acceptance, and total 10-year cost | “What’s the real cost, including maintenance and replacement?” |
Get a Second Read on Your Quote
If you’re holding a backup power quote right now, an Evoltix application specialist will walk through your load profile against the ZPM’s published runtime data and TCO Studio numbers, side by side with what you already have in hand.
Request a TCO Studio session: evoltixenergy.com/contact/
Call: +1 (855) 964-9274
Related Reading
ZPM vs. UPS Battery Backup vs. DC Power System
UPS Battery End-of-Life: Warning Signs and What to Do Next
What Does a Backup Power Failure Cost a Public Safety Network?