How to size mobile power for a full shift

Start with the shift, not the battery

Before comparing capacities, write down three numbers: how many hours the cart has to work away from a socket, how many devices hang on it, and how much time there is between shifts to charge. The lean LFP power supply carries 720 Wh and powers a typical cart for more than twelve hours. That figure is a starting point, not a promise, because runtime depends on the connected devices. A cart with an energy-saving 24″ monitor and a thin client draws far less than one with a 32″ display, a fat client and a label printer. If two teams share a cart across a double shift, the decisive question is not peak runtime but whether the cart can be charged in the gap between them.

Why LiFePO4

Lithium iron phosphate was already the choice in 2008, when lean developed the first mobile power supply for IT carts, and the reasons still hold. LiFePO4 cells withstand up to 5,000 charging cycles, so over a service life of five years the battery is usually not the part that decides when a cart is retired. Deep-discharge protection keeps the pack out of the state that ages cells fastest. An LED charge indicator and a USB interface with history logging make the condition of each unit traceable instead of a matter of guesswork. The housing is sealed, passively cooled and fanless, rated dust- and splash-proof: no filter to change, no fan pulling dust into the electronics, and nothing audible in a quiet room.

What actually draws the power

Three items dominate the budget. The monitor is usually the largest single consumer, and the step from 24″ to 27″ or 32″ is a noticeable one; an energy-saving True Flat panel keeps it lower than a standard display. Second comes the client: a thin client running IGEL OS needs a fraction of what a fat client with local applications needs, and IGEL OS turns any 64-bit x86 device with 2 GB of RAM into a thin client, so a modest machine is often enough. Third are the peripherals — 2D/3D hand scanners, a USB hub, on cabinet carts a printer as well. The output side matters too: the LFP supply delivers 5–48 V DC at 200 W, which covers most cart hardware directly. Devices that insist on mains voltage need the optional 230 V, 400 W pure sine output, and that conversion costs additional energy.

Fitting charging into the working day

The integrated fanless fast charger brings the supply back to a full charge in under three hours — again depending on what is connected. For fleet planning that changes things: a cart does not need its own overnight parking bay if it can be topped up during a break. Decide early where charging happens and whether the cart should charge while in use; the LFP supply provides uninterrupted power, so a cart plugged in at a bedside or at a workstation keeps working. The LED indicator shows the charge level at a glance, and the USB interface with history logging shows IT how a unit has actually been used before anyone decides on extra capacity. The V3 generation adds the lean CMD display, which brings control and information together on the unit itself.

When an all-in-one with hot-swap batteries fits better

An external power supply is not the only route. Fanless all-in-one panel PCs power the entire workstation from their own batteries: the lean POCm runs Intel Core i5/i7 processors of the 13th generation with three hot-swap batteries and 10 to 16 hours of runtime, while the lean POCi combines a 23.8″ Full HD screen with an IP66 aluminium front and Wi-Fi 6E. Hot-swap means a depleted battery is exchanged without shutting the machine down, which suits round-the-clock use where a cart never gets a quiet hour to charge. The trade-off is flexibility: the LFP supply powers whatever sits on the cart, including monitors, clients and peripherals chosen independently, whereas an all-in-one ties screen and computer together. For medical use, models certified to IEC 60601-1 are available.

What to check before you buy

Five checks cover most of it. Measure the real consumption of the hardware you intend to mount instead of adding up nameplate ratings. Confirm whether any device strictly needs 230 V or can be fed from the DC output. Agree where and when charging happens — and who notices when it does not. Check that the housing suits the room: sealed and fanless matters in a dusty production area as much as in a clinical one. And test before you commit. A trial unit from our demo pool, run through a real shift, answers the runtime question more reliably than any data sheet, and the same run shows whether the cart itself fits the work.

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