Schneider Electric releases pioneering study assessing arc flash risk in 800 VDC data centers aligning with world's leading hyperscalers

  • Study provides some of the industry's first data on managing 800 VDC safety risks and safely adopting new power architectures for AI data centers 
  • Simulations and arc flash risk analyses assessed two representative 800 VDC architectures reflecting common designs informed by industry leaders  
  • Evaluating risks with ETAP's advanced software and digital twins accurately model fault scenarios, supporting effective protection strategies at rack and facility levels

Image - Schneider Electric releases pioneering study assessing arc flash risk in 800 VDC data centers aligning with world's leading hyperscalers

RUEIL-MALMAISON, France, Aug. 03, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Schneider Electric, a global energy technology leader, today announced a first-of-its-kind analysis that provides practical guidance on how to assess and manage arc flash risk in 800 VDC power architectures. Based on deployment scenarios informed by hyperscaler design patterns, the analysis compares two emerging 800 VDC architectures with varying configurations. Findings demonstrate that arc flash outcomes depend strongly on architecture, capacitor placement, and fault-clearing behavior.

A key result of the research is that even under the most demanding capacitor-dominated assumptions, arc flash risk in 800 VDC systems can be managed, and in many cases, is comparable to typical AC systems. Additionally, better modeling using advanced software and digital twins can help accurately portray arc flash risk.

The findings come at a critical time when 800 VDC architectures are being adopted to support denser racks in AI data centers. Led by NVIDIA, together with energy technology partners such as Schneider Electric, the transition to 800 VDC data center power infrastructure will enable large-scale data centers and AI Factories to support 400 kW IT racks and beyond.

As the industry accelerates toward these higher power densities, 800 VDC distribution has emerged as the practical path to power megawatt-scale racks efficiently. At the same time, higher operating voltages require a deeper understanding of fault behavior, protection coordination, and safe work practices.

"800 VDC power distribution represents a significant shift in data center design, but it also introduces safety considerations that need to be studied extensively," said Manish Kumar, EVP Secure Power & Data Centers, Schneider Electric. "Our work with some of the world's leading hyperscalers provides engineers and safety professionals with one of the first practical frameworks for evaluating arc flash risks, providing a structured approach to understanding fault behavior, establishing safe work practices, and designing effective protection schemes. Our goal is to help the industry move toward higher-voltage architectures with confidence and safety."

Arc flash analysis is already a standard practice in AC data centers, but no industry-wide standard or guidance currently exists to manage electrical hazards that personnel may encounter in converter-fed 800 VDC systems, making this latest research important to evaluating and managing arc flash hazards, but also ensuring 800 VDC systems achieve comparable safety levels to existing power systems. Current standards are shown to overestimate arc flash risk, whereas Schneider Electric's simulation analysis demonstrates that advanced software and digital twins more accurately model risk.

Assessment Performed for Two Distinct 800 VDC Architectures

Schneider Electric's work establishes the first practical arc flash analysis of rack-level and facility-level 800 VDC architectures, reflecting the major implementation paths emerging across the industry. The analysis evaluates standards-based methods, transient simulation, and system-level modeling. The findings demonstrate that existing arc flash frameworks can be applied to 800 VDC systems when used in an architecture-aware, time-dependent way, and that design choices impact outcomes: 

  • Rack-level 800 VDC architectures: In a sidecar (also called power rack) case study using conservative methods and assumptions, results showed incident energy well below the referenced 1.2 cal/cm² PPE threshold, even without protection devices.  
  • Centralized 800 VDC architectures: The facility-level case study shows potential for slightly higher incident energy than rack-level designs when, again, considering a conservative, less realistic architecture with no overcurrent protection. The analysis also assesses the effect of system topology and demonstrates how fault locations both upstream and downstream of reverse-blocking diodes influence back-feed, peak current, and arc flash outcomes. When fault contribution is time-limited with standard protection devices, arc flash energy is reduced to appropriate levels for the work environments and generally aligned with common AC architectures.  
     

Design and protection strategies are important factors for reducing arc flash risks in 800 VDC architectures. The study shows that overall risks remain low, and in many cases are comparable to typical AC distribution. Even with time standard protection devices, incident energy can remain below key thresholds.  The research also established that:  

  • Transient behavior matters: In 800 VDC systems, arc flash is driven by time-dependent fault currents, with capacitor discharge dominating the first milliseconds of an event. 
  • Simulation improves accuracy: Software (such as transient simulation and power system analysis tools) shows that simplified arc flash analysis methods for DC systems often overestimate arc flash risk in capacitor-dominated systems. Operators can significantly reduce arc flash risk by informing their protection strategy with advanced software and digital twins like ETAP. 
  • Design choices reduce risk: Arc flash outcomes depend on architecture and system configuration, not on DC distribution alone, where capacitor placement, reverse-blocking devices, and millisecond-scale protection are key levers for safe 800 VDC deployments.  
     

“Industry standards remain essential for arc flash and electrical safety, but traditional methods can be overly conservative because they do not fully reflect how complex DC systems operate,” said Tanuj Khandelwal, CEO of ETAP. “To understand real risk, engineers must evaluate system topology, fault behavior, protection coordination, converter response, switching logic, and active protection schemes. ETAP enables teams to model and validate 800V DC systems as they perform, helping move from conservative assumptions to more accurate, AI augmented, physics-based safety and operational decisions.”  

This work builds on Schneider Electric's decades-long history of arc flash safety testing and bolsters its commitment to supporting the industry's transition to 800 VDC power architectures, which are a critical requirement for emerging high-density rack systems being adopted for AI data centers. Schneider Electric has also performed extensive testing on live swap power capabilities in 800 VDC systems to enable safe maintenance. 

The findings are now available in a white paper titled, “DC Arc Flash Analysis: A Practical Study on 800 VDC in Data Centers.” 

Press contact: mediarelations@se.com

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About Schneider Electric
Schneider Electric is a global energy technology leader, driving efficiency and sustainability by electrifying, automating, and digitalizing industries, businesses, and homes. Its technologies enable buildings, data centers, factories, infrastructure, and grids to operate as open, interconnected ecosystems, enhancing performance, resilience, and sustainability. The portfolio includes intelligent devices, software-defined architectures, AI-powered systems, digital services, and expert advisory. With 160,000 employees and 1 million partners in over 100 countries, Schneider Electric is consistently ranked among the world's most sustainable companies.

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