DC Power Hour

Special tribute episode, featuring longtime friends, respected colleagues and Hall of Fame contributors reflecting on the profound impact of J. Allen Byrne—a pioneering expert, educator, Battcon founder, IEEE Senior Member, and International Battery Hall of Fame inductee—whose decades of leadership in stationary battery systems, DC power solutions, and industry education shaped modern practices an...

Join Allen for an engaging episode of DC Power Hour, where he moderates a dynamic panel discussion featuring Battcon Hall of Fame members Tom Carpenter and Pete DeMar, alongside industry experts Ryan Wallace and Lucas Berndt. Together, they dive into the highlights of Battcon 2025, sharing key takeaways, memorable moments, and insights from the premier battery technology conference. Episode Highli...

Listen, in this episode of DC Power Hour, Allen is joined by Nick Fortune and Mike Vest of HOPPECKE Batteries Inc. as they discuss power outages, threats to the grid, and more with Ryan Wallace and Lucas Berndt from Eagle Eye Power Solutions. Episode Highlights 5:09 –  My feeling is that the grid is overextended. It's under-built at the moment, and there's more and more power being placed on the g...

In this episode of DC Power Hour, host Allen Byrne is joined by DC power experts Lucas Berndt, and Ryan Wallace, discusses aging DC power infrastructure, focusing on under-funding, skill shortages, and maintenance challenges. They explore real-world outages and the urgent need for infrastructure upgrades and skilled tradespeople. Episode Highlights 5:33 – They couldn’t get their SCADA system onlin...

In this episode Allen hosts Pete DeMar, who has over 40 years of experience in the stationary battery industry, and Ryan Wallace, Market Development Manager for Eagle Eye Power Solutions. They explore the critical topic of battery room safety, covering key precautions and best practices to prevent hazards. The expert panel discusses essential safety measures, including proper signage, ventilation,...

In this episode Allen hosts Pete DeMar, who has over 50 years of experience in the stationary battery industry, shared his background and expertise in battery failure analysis. Al Warner, with a history of involvement in batteries since his time on the farm, shared his experiences in the military and the UPS industry, highlighting his learning journey and continued interest in battery maintenance....

In this episode of DC Power Hour, Allen along with special guests Al Warner and Fran Losey discuss how AI growth , along with data center growth and the required electrification , affect the powering infrastructure. Episode Highlights 6:03 – Do you agree with me when I say that the politicians are those that try to enforce these laws or make the suggestions? 3:57 – It's critical that people who ha...

In this episode of DC Power Hour, Allen along with special guests Al Warner and Fran Losey discuss how AI growth , along with data center growth and the required electrification , affect the powering infrastructure. Episode Highlights 6:03 – Do you agree with me when I say that the politicians are those that try to enforce these laws or make the suggestions? 10:42 – What do you see happening in so...

In the latest episode of DC Power Hour, Dave Neubert recaps the BATTCON conference in Miami with the Battery Blarney duo, George and Allen. Allen, a founder and Hall of Fame member, discusses the history of BATTCON, which began to address negative press around VRLA batteries by fostering dialogue among industry stakeholders. Despite Allen's absence this year, George highlights key presentations an...

In this episode of DC Power Hour, the Battery Blarney duo of George and Allen, along with our resident load bank technician and engineer Josh Fox, delve into the intricacies of load testing and load banks. They emphasize the critical importance of load testing in assessing battery capacity and highlight challenges faced by utilities in allocating manpower for comprehensive testing. The conversatio...

For this episode of DC Power Hour, we brought in another expert who’s powerful in his field, Marketing Guru Jay Schwedelson. Jay joins one of the Battery Blarney brothers, Allen Byrne, for a conversation across industries on generating demand by offering authentic and FREE thought leadership. Comparing the value of being a source of authoritative content in Marketing vs. the DC Power industry, we...

In this episode of DC Power Hour, the Battery Blarney Duo delve into the topic of ground fault testing, welcoming special guest Ron who shares his experiences with ground faults on his installations. They discuss the nuances of ground faults, distinguishing them from short circuits, and explore techniques to mitigate issues such as corrosion in the telecom industry. Episode Highlights: 8:03 – One...

In this episode, the Battery Blarney Duo chats with charger specialist Lucas Berndt on the history and advantages of switch mode, convection-cooled rectifier technology. They discuss its benefits across applications and the importance of chargers regarding overall battery and DC system performance. Finally, they discuss the redundancy and continuity testing required for NERC TPL-001-5 compliance a...

Listen in this episode of DC Power Hour as our battery Blarney duo of George and Allen welcome George Turner, another industry veteran who recently joined Eagle Eye as an advisor/EEU instructor. They discuss and recollect the evolution of batteries over the span of their careers. Episode Highlights: 0:59 – I (George Turner) started in the battery industry in 1985 with Johnson controls and at that...

Listen in this episode of DC Power Hour as our battery Blarney duo of George and Allen field questions from Doug on our sales team. They discuss topics ranging from seismic racking to spill containment and neutralization to chargers. Episode Highlights: 1:57 – What are the seismic and UBC zones and how have they changed over time? 7:40 – If you put the spacers in, you've just got rid of half the a...

Listen in this episode of DC Power Hour as our battery Blarney duo of George and Allen field questions from a few members of our sales team. We've got Patrick, Andrew, and Doug taking part in our round table discussion looking for feedback and answers to client questions and demands that they are asked to overcome. Episode Highlights: 1:34 – Is there a time when either a SAN or fire retardant (FR)...

So, welcome back to another episode of DC Power Hour with one of our internal subject matter experts, Patrick McElwee from our Portable Testing inside sales division. Pat talks about some of the handheld battery testing products that he works with on a daily basis and sells to customers and what customers are looking for. From digital hydrometers and the IBEX-Series of portable battery resistance...

The Battery Blarney duo is back together again after a few months with a very special guest, Jeff Donato from H2Scan , author of the article, "A Primer on the Codes and Standards Governing Battery Safety and Compliance" . One of the subjects of this podcast is one that's often overlooked, and that's hydrogen detection and ventilation in the battery room. We will also talk about some other things i...

Meet Chad, the load bank killer Teichmiller, our inside sales load bank guru. He's been on board here at Eagle Eye Power Solutions for a couple of years now. He's up to speed with all the technical aspects of load bank testing. There's a lot to these load banks and a lot of technical information but he's absorbing it and he's on the front lines every day working with customers to provide solutions...

In this episode of the DC Power Hour David and Allen introduce Ed Rafter, a special guest on DC Power Hour, who is an expert in UPS batteries. They discuss the differences between ups and downs, voltage, discharge times, and other aspects of battery powering. Ed has a 40-year career in mission-critical applications, focusing on batteries. He first learned about batteries in the 1980s when he worke...

In this episode of the DC Power Hour David and Allen introduce the power solutions sales team, including Brian, Luke, and Andrew. They discuss the evolution of the utility market and customer issues. Luke emphasizes the growing adoption of permanent 24/7 monitoring and the importance of better understanding and interpreting data. Brian mentions that utilities are looking for more efficient solutio...

In this episode the Battery Blarney Duo talk about a great topic once again, the Battcon 2023 recap. We've been waiting a few weeks to discuss this as George has been traveling, doing some training around North America. He's back and in studio with us along with Allen and Chris joining in so sit back and enjoy the conversation. 1:53 – How Battcon began 9:08 – Oh, they'll be back next year. Th...

In this episode, the Battery Blarney Duo of Alan and George and are joined by their longtime friend and colleague at times, Dan Lambert. These gentlemen definitely have their finger on the pulse of the industry and can shed some light on the really interesting topic of codes and standards.   Episode Highlights 04:40 – Not only with the national Electrical code NFPA 70, but also with the fire...

In this episode, the Battery Blarney Duo is back in action to discuss the important topic of battery monitoring for different types of stationary battery applications. What all does a BMS monitor and what doesn't it? They'll discuss IEEE 1491, which they've have both chaired committees on, and review all that's included in this vital standard while dispelling any myths in the process. For anyone w...

In this episode, George is joined by Lucas Berndt, modular switch-mode charger product expert, to talk about industrial battery chargers and redundancy. They discuss the benefits of having a modular charger – with hot-swappable power modules – for redundant functionality in case of an outage. They address how this satisfies NERC and TPL standards that aim to eliminate single points of failure – an...