In this issue, we are going to discuss the challenges of Lithium Polymer batteries especially since they suffer from a shorter life if not cared for properly. Luckily, it’s easy to make sure your Lithium Polymers last as long as they should, allowing you to save on money and the hassle. When should you charge? […]
Batteries can release high energies and the safety requirements for nickel- and lithium-based batteries and cells for portable applications are harmonized under IEC 62133. The standard came into effect in 2012 to reduce the global risk in transporting, storing and operating batteries. The most basic safety device in a battery is a fuse that […]
Battery users often ask: “Why does an old Li-ion lake so long to charge?” Indeed, when Li-ion gets older, the battery takes its time to charge even if there is little to fill. We call this the “old-man syndrome.” Figure 1 illustrates the charge time of a new Li-ion with a capacity of 100 percent […]
Analyze the pros and cons of other battery systems and learn what the potentials are. The media promotes wonderful new batteries that promise long runtimes, charge in minutes, are paper-thin and will one day power the electric car. While these experimental batteries produce a voltage, the downsides are seldom mentioned. The typical shortcomings are low […]
Become familiar with the many different types of lithium-ion batteries. Lithium-ion is named for its active materials; the words are either written in full or shortened by their chemical symbols. A series of letters and numbers strung together can be hard to remember and even harder to pronounce, and battery chemistries are also identified in […]
Observe how the charge and discharge rates are scaled and why it matters. Charge and discharge rates of a battery are governed by C-rates. The capacity of a battery is commonly rated at 1C, meaning that a fully charged battery rated at 1Ah should provide 1A for one hour. The same battery discharging at 0.5C […]
Learn the key feature of each Li-ion in a summary table. The term lithium-ion points to a family of batteries that shares similarities, but the chemistries can vary greatly. Li-cobalt, Li-manganese, NMC and Li-aluminum are similar in that they deliver high capacity and are used in portable applications. Li-phosphate and Li-titanate have lower voltages and have less […]
Learn how to arrange batteries to increase voltage or gain higher capacity. Batteries achieve the desired operating voltage by connecting several cells in series; each cell adds its voltage potential to derive at the total terminal voltage. Parallel connection attains higher capacity by adding up the total ampere-hour (Ah). Some packs may consist of […]
