Ice, the frozen property of water, is a kind of natural storage system for energy. You can use energy to take temperature out of water to get ice, which can then be used later to take temperature out of other things, like a glass of soda, or the hot air coming out of servers inside a data center.

While there aren’t any efficiency gains by using this method, since the net amount of energy used to make ice won’t exactly yield more cooling later on – theoretically it should be slightly less efficient – what it does let you do is shift the time you consume energy. When this is combined with smart grids, it allows energy consumers to plan their consumption according to the price, or quality, of available energy.

That is the concept behind Ice Energy, a developer of a distributed energy storage system that works in conjunction with smart grids. Now the company has teamed up with Data Aire, a computer room air conditioning systems maker, to offer data center and telecoms operators the ability to effectively load-balance their energy consumption against peak times.

According to the companies, the Ice Bear system uses patented technology to store cooling energy at night by freezing water in an insulated storage tank. It then cools efficiently during the day by circulating chilled refrigerant from the tank to the Data Aire equipment, eliminating the need to run the energy-intensive compressor and condenser during peak daytime hours. During off-peak hours, the Data Aire cooling system operates as usual. Together, this unique hybrid system surpasses the overall efficiency and performance of conventional equipment alone, the companies said.

“Data centers consume nearly 3% of all the electricity used in this country today, and a significant percentage of that demand is directly attributable to keeping these critical components of the modern digital life cool and running reliably,” said Randy Zwetzig, Vice President of Ice Energy. “By providing data centers with a powerful, smart grid ready, cost-effective solution that revolutionizes peak cooling management, Ice Energy and Data Aire have the potential to fundamentally transform data and telecom center efficiency and reliability at a time when it is critically important. We now have a proven system that is not only cost effective and reliable, but also supports environmental initiatives with reduced carbon emissions.”

“Managing energy usage and reducing electricity costs has made building cleaner, greener and more sustainable data centers a critical initiative in our industry,” said Jeff Trower, General Sales Manager for Data Aire. “Ice Energy offers the first commercially scaled, smart grid ready, distributed energy storage technology to break the link between the need for cooling and the spiraling growth in critical peak demand for electricity in data centers. We were impressed with the Ice Bear’s ability to integrate seamlessly with many of Data Aire’s cooling systems to dramatically improve peak energy performance.”

The system is also beneficial for power utilities, since it eases demand during peak usage and consumes from the grid when there is excess capacity. Already, utilities in the US state of California is offering subsidies that underwrites the cost and installation of Ice Energy’s Ice Bear energy storage systems in data and telecoms centers throughout their service areas.