,

Warming To Lithium-ion, Toyota Charges Up Its Battery Options

Hybrid-Car-battery

3 min read . Updated: 31 Oct 2016, 01:56 PM IST

Naomi Tajitsu, Norihiko Shirouzu

Toyota is all set to enter the growing all-electric car market having technology edge of lithium-ion battery that could equip it with more power without significant extra cost.

 

Toyota City, Japan: Engineers at Toyota Motor Corp say they have tamed volatile lithium-ion battery technology, and can now safely pack more power at no significant extra cost, giving the Japanese automaker the option to enter the growing all-electric car market.

While rivals including Tesla Motors and Nissan Motor Co began adopting lithium-ion battery technology nearly a decade ago, Toyota has largely held back due to concerns over cost, size and safety.

Lithium-ion batteries can be unstable and have been blamed for incendiary Samsung smartphones and smoking Dreamliner airplanes.

Having Toyota endorse lithium-ion will be a fillip for the developing technology, and gives the automaker the option to produce for an all-electric passenger car market which it has avoided, preferring to put its heft behind hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles (FCVs).

Toyota says its Prius Prime, a soon-to-be-launched plug-in electric version of the world’s top-selling gasoline hybrid, will use lithium-ion batteries, with enough energy to make the car go around 60 kms (37.3 miles) when fully charged before the gasoline engine kicks in. Because of different methodology in measuring a car’s electric mode range, the Prime’s 60 km range will be listed in the United States as around 25 miles (40.2 kms).

Hybrid-Car-battery

‘Safety, safety, safety’

Many lithium-ion car batteries use a chemical combination of nickel, cobalt and manganese. These store more energy, take a shorter time to charge, and are considered safer than other Li-ion technologies. But they can still overheat and catch fire if not properly designed, manufactured and controlled.

“It’s a tall order to develop a lithium-ion car battery which can perform reliably and safely for 10 years, or over hundreds of thousands of kilometers,” said Koji Toyoshima, the chief engineer for the Prius.

“We have double braced and triple braced our battery pack to make sure they’re fail-safe … It’s all about safety, safety, safety,” he told Reuters.

Toyota has mainly used the more mature nickel-metal hydride batteries to power the motor in the conventional Prius, widely regarded as the forefather of the ‘green’ car, though it did use some lithium-ion batteries from 2009 in its first plug-in hybrid Prius, around the time the first all-electric cars powered by lithium-ion batteries – such as the Tesla Roadster and Nissan Leaf – came on to the mass market.

Toyota’s confidence in its battery’s safety and stability comes from improved control technology that precisely monitors the temperature and condition of each of the 95 cells in its new battery pack.

“Our control system can identify even slight signs of a potential short-circuit in individual cells, and will either prevent it from spreading or shut down the entire battery,” said Hiroaki Takeuchi, a senior Toyota engineer involved in the development.

Working with battery supplier Panasonic Corp – which also produces Li-ion batteries for Tesla – Toyota has also improved the precision in battery cell assembly, ensuring battery chemistry is free of impurities.

The introduction of even microscopic metal particles or other impurities can trigger a short-circuit, overheating and potential explosion.

“The environment where our lithium-ion batteries are produced is not quite like the clean rooms where semiconductors are made, but very close,” Takeuchi said.

Battery experts say increasingly sophisticated systems that can track individual cell conditions are becoming closely-held trade secrets.

“State of charge management, safety management and algorithm development is becoming one of the higher tiers of proprietary internal development,” said Eric Rask, principal research engineer at Argonne National Laboratory, a US department of energy facility outside Chicago.

“It’s very internal, very strategic, and companies are seeing management algorithms as a competitive advantage.”

Prius-battery

Falling prices

Toyota has also been able to shrink the size of each cell, for example, closing the distance between the anode and cathode, where active ions travel when charging and discharging.

This has doubled battery capacity to around 8.8 kilowatt hours, while only increasing the battery pack size by around two-thirds and its weight by a half.

Battery experts say lithium-ion battery cell prices have fallen by about 60% in five years to around $145 per kilowatt hour as larger-scale production has made them cheaper to make.

Falling battery prices have enabled Toyota to develop its more compact, efficient battery, while also adding more sophisticated controls into its battery pack, Toyoshima said. Toyota declined to say more on its costs.

While Toyota sees FCVs as the ultimate ‘green’ car, the United States and China are encouraging automakers to make more all-electric battery cars as they push alternative energy strategies.

“Developing lithium-ion batteries for both hybrids and plug-ins will enable us to also produce all-electric cars in the future,” said Toyoshima said. “It makes sense to have a range of batteries to suit different powertrains.” Reuters.

Several NiMH replacement hybrid car batteries we recommend.

Click the link to view

Ni-MH Battery

 

 

, ,

What Is The Benefits Of Solar Street Lights With Lithium Battery?

It has a lot of benefits to solar street lights with lithium batteries. So more and more countries and areas are planning to use solar street lights with a lithium battery.

A small solar panel, after absorbing one-day solar energy, produces enough electricity for a 30 Watt LED solar street light to last 2–3 days. Compared with traditional street lamps, solar street lights with lithium batteries can save a lot of electric energy and can reduce the consumption of electric energy when no one passes, without human control. Some years ago, solar street lights use lead-acid battery or gel battery, these batteries are heavy, the DOD is 70%, low efficiency, and easy to steal by theft. Solar street lights with lithium battery, the lithium battery is light and DOD is 100%, more efficient, and can install on the top of the pole or fix inside the lamp, it has an anti-theft function.

street-light-battery

The reduction of advanced control technology and energy consumption, coupled with the development of solar street lights technology and lithium battery technology, has gradually replaced solar street lights with lithium batteries with traditional street lights.

A 250W traditional street lamp lights up for 10 hours a day, and need consumes about 100 KWh a year. Installing 30 Watt LED solar street light can achieve the same light efficiency, so installing solar street lights with lithium battery can save at least 80% of the electricity bill. Solar street light Philippines are widely used. The lighting conditions in this area are good, there are many islands, many places are too far away to be connected to the mains, and most of them are tourist areas. The installation of solar street lights will also help the tourism activities of these places. So the benefits of solar street lights with a lithium battery will include high efficiency, long use life, save a lot of power and anti-theft.

, ,

India’s Electric Vehicle Ambitions Could Stumble On Lack Of Lithium

EV-Car-Battery

2 min read . Updated: 21 Jan 2020, 09:32 AM IST

Swansy Afonso , Bloomberg

 

▪ Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration unveiled a slew of measures in 2019 to promote the clean-energy vehicles

▪ Several plans are under way to build lithium-ion battery factories in India

 

EV-Car-Battery

 

Topics

  • Electric vehicles

MUMBAI : India’s ambition of becoming a global hub for making electric vehicles faces one major hurdle: its lack of access to lithium.

 

Home to some of the most polluted cities on the planet, the South Asian nation is pivoting toward new-energy vehicles to clean up its toxic air. But with meager resources of lithium, the mineral essential to make batteries for electric vehicles, it is having to scour for resources overseas.

 

India’s EV production will rely on imports from China of lithium chemicals used to make cathodes and battery cells, according to Jasmeet Singh Kalsi, director at Manikaran Power Ltd., which is exploring setting up India’s first lithium refinery. “China has a thriving lithium chemical, battery cathode, battery cell and EV supply chain. India has none.”

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration unveiled a slew of measures in 2019 to promote the clean-energy vehicles, including a $1.4 billion plan to make India a manufacturing hub for EVs and cutting taxes to spur purchases. While electric cars in India remain a small segment, with an estimated 3,000 sold in 2018 compared with the 3.4 million fossil fuel-powered cars in the same year, the nation is forecast become the fourth-largest market for EVs by 2040, when the segment will comprise nearly a third of all vehicles sales, according to BloombergNEF.

 

  • Import Reliance

Several plans are under way to build lithium-ion battery factories in India. Meanwhile, China — the largest electric vehicle market in the world — is dominant in the battery supply chain. Around three-quarters of battery cell manufacturing capacity is in China, and Chinese companies have unparalleled control of required domestic and foreign battery raw materials and processing facilities, according to BNEF.

 

“Indian companies have been involved in trying to prospect for stakes in overseas resources, and possibly on-shoring more raw materials production capacity in India,” said Sophie Lu, head of metals and mining for BloombergNEF. “But there are very little synergies right now because further up the value chain, battery components manufacturing capacity does not seem to be planned extensively for India.”

 

A joint venture called Khanij Bidesh India Ltd. has been formed between three state-run companies — National Aluminium Co., Hindustan Copper Ltd. and Mineral Exploration Corp. — to acquire lithium and cobalt mines overseas. Amara Raja Batteries Ltd., the country’s second-biggest traditional battery maker by value, will build a lithium-ion assembly plant, while Suzuki Motor Corp. along with Toshiba Corp. and Denso Corp. is setting up a lithium-ion battery manufacturing plant.

 

Manikaran signed an agreement with Australia’s Neometals in June to jointly fund the evaluation of developing a lithium refinery in India with a capacity of 10,000 tons to 15,000 tons of the finished product. That capacity falls short of India’s projected requirement of 200,000 tons of lithium hydroxide by 2030, Kalsi said.

 

Electric vehicles are “slowly going to take off, not with the speed the government perceives it to be, but going ahead the market is going to get pretty huge,” he said.

 

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.

, ,

How To Choose The Best Battery For A Solar Energy System

Himax Solar Battery

There are certain specifications you should use when evaluating your solar battery options, such as how long the solar battery will last or how much power it can provide. Below, learn about all of the criteria that you should use to compare your home energy storage options, as well as the different types of solar batteries.

How to compare your solar storage options

As you consider your solar-plus-storage options, you’ll come across a lot of complicated product specifications. The most important ones to use during your evaluation are the battery’s capacity & power ratings, depth of discharge (DoD), round-trip efficiency, warranty, and manufacturer.

Capacity & power

Capacity is the total amount of electricity that a solar battery can store, measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh). Most home solar batteries are designed to be “stackable,” which means that you can include multiple batteries with your solar-plus-storage system to get extra capacity.

While capacity tells you how big your battery is, it doesn’t tell you how much electricity a battery can provide at a given moment. To get the full picture, you also need to consider the battery’s power rating. In the context of solar batteries, a power rating is the amount of electricity that a battery can deliver at one time. It is measured in kilowatts (kW).

A battery with a high capacity and a low power rating would deliver a low amount of electricity (enough to run a few crucial appliances) for a long time. A battery with low capacity and a high power rating could run your entire home, but only for a few hours.

Depth of discharge (DoD)

Most solar batteries need to retain some charge at all times due to their chemical composition. If you use 100 percent of a battery’s charge, its useful life will be significantly shortened.

The depth of discharge (DoD) of a battery refers to the amount of a battery’s capacity that has been used. Most manufacturers will specify a maximum DoD for optimal performance. For example, if a 10 kWh battery has a DoD of 90 percent, you shouldn’t use more than 9 kWh of the battery before recharging it. Generally speaking, a higher DoD means you will be able to utilize more of your battery’s capacity.

Himax Solar Battery

Round-trip efficiency

A battery’s round-trip efficiency represents the amount of energy that can be used as a percentage of the amount of energy that it took to store it. For example, if you feed five kWh of electricity into your battery and can only get four kWh of useful electricity back, the battery has 80 percent round-trip efficiency (4 kWh / 5 kWh = 80%). Generally speaking, a higher round-trip efficiency means you will get more economic value out of your battery.

Battery life & warranty

For most uses of home energy storage, your battery will “cycle” (charge and drain) daily. The battery’s ability to hold a charge will gradually decrease the more you use it. In this way, solar batteries are like the battery in your cell phone – you charge your phone each night to use it during the day, and as your phone gets older you’ll start to notice that the battery isn’t holding as much of a charge as it did when it was new. For example, a battery might be warrantied for 5,000 cycles or 10 years at 70 percent of its original capacity. This means that at the end of the warranty, the battery will have lost no more than 30 percent of its original ability to store energy.

Your solar battery will have a warranty that guarantees a certain number of cycles and/or years of useful life. Because battery performance naturally degrades over time, most manufacturers will also guarantee that the battery keeps a certain amount of its capacity over the course of the warranty. Therefore, the simple answer to the question “how long will my solar battery last?” is that it depends on the brand of battery you buy and and how much capacity it will lose over time.

Manufacturer

Many different types of organizations are developing and manufacturing solar battery products, from automotive companies to tech startups. While a major automotive company entering the energy storage market likely has a longer history of product manufacturing, they may not offer the most revolutionary technology. By contrast, a tech startup might have a brand-new high-performing technology, but less of a track record to prove the battery’s long-term functionality.

Whether you choose a battery manufactured by a cutting-edge startup or a manufacturer with a long history depends on your priorities. Evaluating the warranties associated with each product can give you additional guidance as you make your decision.

 

How long do solar batteries last?

There are two ways to answer this question and the first is to determine how long a solar battery can power your home. In many cases, a fully charged battery can run your home overnight when your solar panels are not producing energy. To make a more exact calculation, you’ll need to know a few variables, including how much energy your household consumes in a given day, what the capacity and power rating is for your solar battery and whether or not you are connected to the electric grid.

For the sake of a simple example, we’ll determine the size of a battery needed to provide an adequate solar plus storage solution with national average data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The average U.S. household will use roughly 30 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy per day and a typical solar battery can deliver some 10 kWh of capacity. Thus a very simple answer would be, if you purchased three solar batteries, you could run your home for an entire day with nothing but battery support.

12V 100AH

In reality, the answer is more complicated than that. You will also be generating power with your solar panel system during the day which will offer strong power for some 6-7 hours of the day during peak sunlight hours. On the other end, most batteries cannot run at maximum capacity and generally peak at a 90% DoD (as explained above). As a result, your 10 kWh battery likely has a useful capacity of 9 kWh.

Ultimately, if you are pairing your battery with a solar PV array, one or two batteries can provide sufficient power during nighttime when your panels are not producing. However, without a renewable energy solution, you may need 3 batteries or more to power your entire home for 24 hours. Additionally, if you are installing home energy storage in order to disconnect from the electric grid, you should install a few days’ worth of backup power to account for days where you might have cloudy weather.

 

Solar battery lifespan

The general range for a solar battery’s useful lifespan is between 5 and 15 years. If you install a solar battery today, you will likely need to replace it at least once to match the 25 to 30 year lifespan of your PV system. However, just as the lifespan of solar panels has increased significantly in the past decade, it is expected that solar batteries will follow suit as the market for energy storage solutions grows.

Proper maintenance can also have a significant effect on your solar battery’s lifespan. Solar batteries are significantly impacted by temperature, so protecting your battery from freezing or sweltering temperatures can increase its useful life. When a PV battery drops below 30° F, it will require more voltage to reach maximum charge; when that same battery rises above the 90° F threshold, it will become overheated and require a reduction in charge. To solve this problem, many leading battery manufacturers, like Tesla, provide temperature moderation as a feature. However, if the battery that you buy does not, you will need to consider other solutions like earth-sheltered enclosures. Quality maintenance efforts can definitely impact how long your solar battery will last.

 

What are the best batteries for solar?

Batteries used in home energy storage typically are made with one of three chemical compositions: lead acid, lithium ion, and saltwater. In most cases, lithium ion batteries are the best option for a solar panel system, though other battery types can be more affordable.

1. Lead acid

Lead acid batteries are a tested technology that has been used in off-grid energy systems for decades. While they have a relatively short life and lower DoD than other battery types, they are also one of the least expensive options currently on the market in the home energy storage sector. For homeowners who want to go off the grid and need to install lots of energy storage, lead acid can be a good option.

 

2. Lithium ion

The majority of new home energy storage technologies, such as the , use some form of lithium ion chemical composition. Lithium ion batteries are lighter and more compact than lead acid batteries. They also have a higher DoD and longer lifespan when compared to lead acid batteries.  However, lithium ion batteries are more expensive than their lead acid counterparts.

 

3. Saltwater

A newcomer in the home energy storage industry is the saltwater battery. Unlike other home energy storage options, saltwater batteries don’t contain heavy metals, relying instead on saltwater electrolytes. While batteries that use heavy metals, including lead acid and lithium ion batteries, need to be disposed of with special processes, a saltwater battery can be easily recycled. However, as a new technology, saltwater batteries are relatively untested, and the one company that makes solar batteries for home use (Aquion) filed for bankruptcy in 2017.

 

  • Find the best solar battery for your home

51.2V 100Ah LiFePO4 Battery

12V 150Ah LiFePO4 Battery

12V 120Ah LiFePO4 Battery

 

,

Lead-Acid Batteries Are On A Path To Extinction

lead-acid battery can be replaced by a lithium-ion battery

Batteries became an indispensable part of our daily lives during the 20th Century. But the pace of change has dramatically increased in the 21st Century with the development of new battery types. The resulting battery revolution that is underway is enabling the beginning of a seismic shift in the way we power our transportation systems and heavy equipment, as well as how we power our cities.

The key to this revolution has been the development of affordable batteries with much greater energy density. This new generation of batteries threatens to end the lengthy reign of the lead-acid battery.

But consumers could be forgiven for being confused about the many different battery types vying for market share in this exciting new future. So let’s break down the basics of battery types and their applications.

Battery Categories

Batteries are broadly categorized as either primary or secondary. A primary battery is a disposable battery. We are all familiar with those types of batteries. The most common type of primary battery is the alkaline battery, so named because its electrolyte is alkaline (potassium hydroxide).

The 20-pack of Duracell batteries you buy at the hardware store for $15 are alkaline batteries. These batteries come in different sizes and with different voltage levels, the most common of which are designated AA, AAA, C, D, and 9-volt.

Primary batteries are cheap, and are used in flashlights, TV remotes, toys, and consumer electronics.

Secondary batteries are rechargeable. The initial cost of these batteries is usually higher than with primary batteries, but they begin to have a significant economic advantage in power-hungry applications that would rapidly consume alkaline batteries.

Secondary Battery Types

The most common type of secondary battery is the lead-acid battery. The lead-acid battery is the oldest type of rechargeable battery, found in most of the world’s automobiles. It is relatively low-cost and reliable, but it has the lowest energy to volume and energy to weight ratio of the major types of secondary batteries. This makes it popular for energy storage applications in which weight and space aren’t a major concern — like backup power for solar photovoltaic systems. But for mobile applications that rely heavily on battery power, the lead-acid battery is being rapidly superseded by newer battery types.

The lithium-ion battery has emerged as the most serious contender for dethroning the lead-acid battery. Lithium-ion batteries are on the other end of the energy density scale from lead-acid batteries. They have the highest energy to volume and energy to weight ratio of the major types of secondary battery. That means you can pack more energy into a smaller space, and the weight will also be lower.

Lithium-ion batteries are still new compared to lead-acid batteries. The knock on them had been cost, but those costs have plummeted over the past decade, and are projected to continue declining.

The other two major types of secondary batteries are nickel-based, and both fall between lead-acid and lithium-ion in terms of energy density. The nickel–cadmium battery (Ni-Cd battery) uses nickel oxide hydroxide and metallic cadmium as electrodes. Ni-Cd batteries are great at maintaining voltage and holding charge when not in use. But these batteries are well-known for “memory” effects that take place when a partially charged battery is recharged. This degrades the capacity of the battery over time.

Ni-Cd batteries were once popular in portable power tools and portable electronic devices. But nickel-metal hydride (Ni-MH) batteries have largely supplanted them in these applications due to lower costs and higher energy density. In addition to having up to three times the capacity of a Ni-Cd battery of the same size, Ni-MH batteries don’t have the “memory” effect of Ni-Cd batteries.

Selecting the Right Battery

It can be difficult, given the increasing number of battery options, to determine the best type of battery for your application. Some important considerations are energy density, power density, cost, cycle life durability, voltage, and safety.

These considerations generally involve trade-offs. Ideally a battery would possess high energy and power density, and good durability — at a low price. In reality, consumers have had to pay a premium for batteries with greater energy density. But that is changing.

Research organization Bloomberg NEF reported that the volume-weighted average lithium-ion battery pack price (which includes the cell and the pack) fell 85% from 2010-18, reaching an average of $176/kWh. BloombergNEF further projects that prices will fall to $94/kWh by 2024 and $62/kWh by 2030. That would reflect a 95% price decline over the course of 20 years. In comparison, lead-acid battery packs are still around $150/kWh, and that’s 160 years after the lead-acid battery was invented.

Thus, it may not be long before the most energy dense battery is also the cheapest battery. That has enormous implications for the future of lead-acid batteries.

Another important consideration is a battery’s capacity. The capacity defines the run-time of the battery, which reflects the discharge current the battery can provide until it needs recharging.

The energy content of a battery is obtained by multiplying the battery capacity in ampere hours (Ah) by the voltage to obtain watt-hours (Wh). Two batteries can have the same Ah capacity, but if one has a higher voltage it will have more energy.

These are important concepts to understand if you are trying to decide on a battery to power a flashlight versus one to power a forklift.

The power density defines the maximum rate of discharge of the battery. Some batteries require a low rate of discharge, but those used to provide bursts of power will need greater power density.

As the battery is discharged, it will have to be recharged. The cycle life durability of a battery defines the stability of the battery through repeated cycles.

Finally, the operating environment of the battery needs to be considered. High or low temperatures, for example, can impact a battery’s performance and safety.

Case Study

Over the next few years, many companies are going to grapple with the decision of whether to transition their applications from lead-acid to more modern battery types. There are several economic considerations, which can be demonstrated with a case study.

Tim Karimov, who is the President at California-based lithium-ion battery supplier OneCharge, has said their customers show “the total cost of ownership for Li-ion averages 20% to 40% lower in just 2 to 4 years.”

Here is how they arrive at that number. While they don’t cite base capacity costs for lithium-ion batteries versus lead-acid batteries, they do note in a presentation that a lead-acid battery can be replaced by a lithium-ion battery with as little as 60% of the same capacity:

lead-acid battery can be replaced by a lithium-ion battery

Lead-acid to lithium-ion comparison ONECHARGE PRESENTATION

The reason for this is that the maximum discharge of the lead-acid batteries is 80%, whereas lithium-ion batteries can be discharged to zero. In addition to that, lithium-ion batteries can be charged at various points during the day (breaks, etc.), a practice that would quickly reduce the lifespan of the lead-acid battery.

For example, the company cites a recent case study in which a customer was able to reduce the number of lift trucks they had on hand from 17 to 12 by switching from lead-acid batteries to lithium-ion batteries — primarily because of opportunity charging.

Thus, even though the price for capacity is higher for lithium-ion batteries, the fact that you need less capacity lowers the lithium-ion premium (which, according to BloombergNEF, likely won’t be a premium for much longer).

Karimov cites additional savings from a case study from a fruit-growing, packaging and shipping operation with 2 shifts and 30 trucks:

  • Downtime from battery changes — $56,000 per year
  • Watering the lead acid batteries — $8,000 per year
  • The need for a new battery room — $440,000
  • Higher preventative maintenance costs and insurance rates related to health risks with lead acid

In addition, lithium-ion batteries have a longer life cycle with 3,000 cycles compared to less than 1,500 with lead acid. Historically, consumers considered such savings in deciding whether to switch to lithium-ion batteries. But with declining lithium-ion prices, that decision may soon be much easier.

Conclusions

The world is in the midst of a battery revolution, but declining costs and a rising installed base signal that lithium-ion batteries are set to displace lead-acid batteries. As long as lithium-ion batteries are more expensive than lead-acid batteries, the economics will depend on just how much the batteries are used (which impacts downtime, maintenance, etc.).

But as the price of lithium-ion continues to fall, the economic case will be compelling just on the price of the batteries. When that happens, the age of lead-acid batteries will come to an end.

 

,

Household Energy Storage System’s Power Solutions

The intelligent information age greatly increases electricity demand, which, in return, pressures people into seeking for green power generation due to the severe environmental pollution and energy consumption. Solar PV power generation is expected to alleviate the pressure. With government’s policy support and less cost of power generation, energy storage systems are brought in tens of thousands of households. For the entire household energy storage system, MORNSUN provides a complete power solution to simplify customer’s design and increase system’s reliability.

Structure and components of a household energy storage system

A household energy storage system is currently divided into two kinds, grid-connected and off-grid. A grid-connected household energy storage system is mixed-powered by solar and the energy storage system, including five parts:

  • 1.Solar array
  • 2.Grid-connected inverter
  • 3.BMS (battery management system)
  • 4.Battery pack
  • 5.AC load

 

Grid-connected solution

When the utility works normally, the solar grid-connected system and the utility together power the load. When the utility powers off, the energy storage system and the solar grid-connected system together power the load. The grid-connected household energy storage system is divided into three working modes.

  • 1.solar provides energy storage and powers the utility.
  • 2.solar provides energy storage and powers part of residential electricity.
  • 3.solar only provides energy storage.

 

Grid-connected solution

Off-grid solution

An off-grid household energy storage system is independent, without any electrical connection to the grid. Therefore the whole system does not need grid-connected inverter except PV inverter. The off-grid household energy storage system is also divided into three working modes.

  • 1.solar provides energy storage and powers residential electricity on sunny days
  • 2.solar and energy storage battery power residential electricity in cloudy days
  • 3.energy storage battery powers residential electricity at dusk and on rainy days

 

 

Off-grid solution

 

In summary, current demands for energy storage equipment mainly are BMS management system, PV grid-connected inverter and energy storage inverter. Combined the demands with the safety isolation requirement of the PV system’s unit circuits, MORNSUN puts forward a complete power solution of a control unit.

 

Power Solution for BMS management system

The battery is the core energy storage device of the system and needs to be monitored online status in real time, so the importance of BMS is self-evident. In the BMS management system, BCU real-time communicates with

  • 1.CAN bus and BMU to get monomer voltages, cabinet temperature, insulation resistance and others
  • 2.current sensor to collect charge and discharge current and dynamic calculation SOC
  • 3.touch screen to display relevant data

The BCU calculates and analyzes all the information of the battery pack and then intelligently manages the system, communicating with the independent CAN bus and achieving the secondary protection of charge and discharge through a relay. The latter ensures an effective isolation for strong electricity and weak electricity, meets customer’s demand for diverse security control and guarantees a stable and efficient operation of the system.

Power Solution for BMS management system

Practical example diagram 3:

Isolation voltage conversion is the main core of a power solution for BMS management system in the energy storage system. The main control unit is mainly based on a 24VDC system, and the power of the whole main control unit is less than 5W. Therefore, URB2405YMD-10WR3 offering 5VDC output voltage is recommended to power F0505XT-1WR2 and LDO. The LDO converts 5VDC into a 3.3V output voltage to power MCU. 6 pieces F0505XT-1WR2 in the system is used to power four CAN modules, voltage detection circuit, insulation detection circuit and a current detection circuit, and isolate power circuit, signal circuit and communication module at the same time to reduce interference and improve the stability and reliability. In addition, MORNSUN automotive-grade power supply CF0505XT-1WR2 is widely used in automotive BMS system.

 

Power Solution for solar PV inverter monitoring unit

Solar PV components converge energy and inverter converts DC into AC. The process of the inverter needs to be monitored, controlled and communicated so as to ensure its voltage to meet the requirement. This monitoring unit can directly get power from the utility.

As shown in Diagram 4, LH series directly gets power from the utility and converts it into 24V output voltage, which is converted into a 5VDC output voltage by non-isolated switching regulator K7805-500R3. B0503XT-2WR2 outputs 3.3V to power the MCU with isolation function. Isolated high-speed TD501D485H can inhibit electromagnetic interference and rise the ground loop’s resistance to protect the system circuit from an external network. In addition, MORNSUN developed an isolated driver QP12W08S-37 integrating DC/DC power supply, specialized for full-bridge IGBT, to simplify the design of the customer’s driven-control circuit and improve the reliability.

Solar PV components converge energy

Power Solution for solar PV grid-connected inverter monitoring unit

Een aan het net geconnecteerde zonnepaneel omvormer (ook Bi-directionele omvormer genoemd) bestaat uit een AC/DC unit, DC/DC unit, controle unit en transfer relais unit. Deze energieopslag omvormer wordt vanuit twee soorten voedingsapparatuur gevoed. De ene is het elektriciteitsnet en de andere de zonnepanelen.

Power Solution for solar PV

Practical example diagram 5:

As shown in Diagram 5, the power selection of AC/DC Converter should mainly take the power of the main control board and fan into account. The equipment power in the above system is 15KW. AC/DC Converter LH40-10B24 offering 24V output voltage is recommended to power the fan and the main control board. For the main control board, it’s recommended to use R3 DC/DC Converters URB2415YMD-10WR3 to power IGBT driver and URB2405YMD-6WR3 to power MCU and communication module. URB_YMD-6/10WR3 series apply fully automated production process, greatly reducing the labour costs. With superior performance ahead of the peer level and highly cost-effective, they fully meet the overall cost demand of solar PV industry.

Energy storage battery

Would you like to speak to one of our engineers concerning this subject :

CONTACT US

 

,

6 Important Parameters for the Design-In of Lithium Polymer Batteries

LiPO-Battery

A standardized battery fits into any compatible compartment – after all, that’s why standards are defined. Depending on the application, however, button cells and cylindrical batteries reach their limits.

LiPo-battery-3.6V

A Smartwatch, for example, has a significantly higher energy consumption than an ordinary wristwatch. A simple button cell is therefore far from sufficient to cover the device’s power requirements. However, the case of the watch is far too small for a powerful lithium-ion battery. Only a lithium polymer battery is capable of meeting the specific requirements of a Smartwatch.

 

Flexible product design

Lithium polymer technology is a match to lithium ion batteries in terms of performance, but is much more flexible in terms of design and size. The reason for this is the absence of a solid metal housing, as is common with lithium-ion batteries. Instead, the cells are merely enclosed by a thin layer of plastic-laminated aluminum foil. Thanks to the sandwich-like structure of the battery cells, even curved or ultra-flat designs with a thickness of less than one millimeter are conceivable.

 

For product developers and designers, the great flexibility of Lithium-Polymer batteries is a blessing. Conversely, the new design freedom can also lead to uncertainty. It is therefore advisable to take battery developers such as Jauch Quartz GmbH on board at an early stage for new developments.

 

The following six parameters must be defined at an early stage if design-in is to be successful.

 

1) Voltage

The average single cell voltage for lithium polymer cells is 3.6 volts as standard. The switch-off voltage is 3.0 volts and the maximum charging voltage is 4.2 volts. If a higher voltage is required, several cells can be connected in series. A parallel connection of several cells also makes it possible to increase the capacity.

 

2) Currents

In addition to the voltage, the current requirement of the application must also be defined. The average continuous currents must be specified as well as the maximum pulse currents and pulse lengths. The inrush currents and their lengths must also be taken into account.

 

3) Temperature

In connection with the current power load profiles of the application, the temperatures at which they are used must also be taken into consideration. By default, lithium polymer cells are designed for a temperature range between -20 and 60 degrees Celsius. Temperatures between 0 and 45 degrees Celsius should prevail when charging the cells.

 

Special cells are available for use under extreme temperature conditions above or below this range.

 

4) Dimensions of the Battery Compartment

Of course, the dimensions of the battery compartment must also be defined in advance. It is important to remember that lithium polymer cells expand over time. This “swelling” phenomenon is responsible for the cells to become up to 10% thicker over time. Accordingly, the battery compartment should be generously dimensioned. In addition, sharp edges or the like in the immediate vicinity of the battery compartment must be avoided at all costs so that the battery is not damaged.

 

5) Capacity

The capacity of a battery indicates the amount of electrical charge that a battery can store or release. Capacity is determined by voltage, current consumption, temperature and the available space in the battery compartment.

 

6) Safety

To protect lithium polymer batteries from overcharging, deep discharge or short circuits, they are equipped with individually programmable protection electronics. In order to optimally adapt this so-called “battery management system” to the respective application, individual switch-off values for the system are defined.

 

In addition, batteries must meet certain norms and safety standards to ensure that the applications are approved. Strict regulations apply here – understandably – especially in the field of medical technology.

 

Based on these six parameters, Jauch’s battery experts will find the right lithium polymer battery solution for every application. In order to guarantee optimum results, however, contact should be made as early as possible in the design-in phase. Otherwise, the desired battery solution may not be available or feasible.

,

BYD’s New Blade Battery Set to Redefine EV Safety Standards 

SHENZHEN, China, March 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Today, BYD officially announced the launch of the Blade Battery, a development set to mitigate concerns about battery safety in electric vehicles.

 

At an online launch event themed “The Blade Battery – Unsheathed to Safeguard the World”, Wang Chuanfu, BYD Chairman and President, said that the Blade Battery reflects BYD’s determination to resolve issues in battery safety while also redefining safety standards for the entire industry.

New-Blade-Battery

BYD highlighted a video of the Blade Battery successfully passing a nail penetration test, which is seen as the most rigorous way to test the thermal runaway of batteries due to its sheer difficulty. “In terms of battery safety and energy density, BYD’s Blade Battery has obvious advantages,” said Professor Ouyang Minggao, Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Professor at Tsinghua University.

 

The Blade Battery has been developed by BYD over the past several years. The singular cells are arranged together in an array and then inserted into a battery pack. Due to its optimized battery pack structure, the space utilization of the battery pack is increased by over 50% compared to conventional lithium iron phosphate block batteries.

 

While undergoing nail penetration tests, the Blade Battery emitted neither smoke nor fire after being penetrated, and its surface temperature only reached 30 to 60°C. Under the same conditions, a ternary lithium battery exceeded 500°C and violently burned, and while a conventional lithium iron phosphate block battery did not openly emit flames or smoke, its surface temperature reached dangerous temperatures of 200 to 400°C. This implies that EVs equipped with the Blade Battery would be far less susceptible to catching fire – even when they are severely damaged.

 

The Blade Battery also passed other extreme test conditions, such as being crushed, bent, being heated in a furnace to 300°C and overcharged by 260%. None of these resulted in a fire or explosion.

 

He Long, Vice President of BYD and Chairman of FinDreams Battery Co., Ltd., covered four distinct advantages of the Blade Battery including a high starting temperature for exothermic reactions, slow heat release and low heat generation, as well as its ability to not release oxygen during breakdowns or easily catch fire.

 

In the past few years, many EV manufacturers have fallen into a competition for ever-greater cruising range. When the range becomes the prime factor to consider, this focus is then transferred to power battery makers, leading to unreasonable pursuits of “energy density” in the battery industry. It is due to this unpractical focus on “energy density” that safety has been sidelined from power battery development. BYD’s Blade Battery aims to bring battery safety back to the forefront, a redirection from the industry’s tenuous focus on this crucial aspect.

 

“Today, many vehicle brands are in discussion with us about partnerships based on the technology of the Blade Battery,” said He Long. He added that BYD will gladly share and work with global partners to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes for all industry players.

 

The Han EV, BYD’s flagship sedan model slated for launch this June, will come equipped with the Blade Battery. The new model will lead the brand’s Dynasty Family, boasting a cruising range of 605 kilometers and an acceleration of 0 to 100km/h in just 3.9 seconds.

,

Marine Batteries Types, Charging, Wiring & Set Up

Boat-Battery

Marine batteries are designed specifically for use on a boat, with heavier plates and robust construction designed to withstand the vibration and pounding that can occur onboard any powerboat. For this reason, marine batteries are usually more expensive than automobile batteries, which can tempt some boat owners to purchase an auto battery instead of a marine battery. Don’t make that poor decision. A marine battery will last longer and be more reliable than an auto battery in a boat.

There are three basic types of marine batteries:

  • Marine Starting Batteries provide quick but powerful spurts of energy over short periods of time and are designed to start the engine and be rapidly recharged by the engine alternator. A starting battery should not be used for trolling motors or powering appliances.
  • Marine Deep Cycle Batteries are designed to discharge slowly over a long period of time and to withstand several hundred charging and discharging cycles. A deep cycle battery is a right choice for powering an electric trolling motor and other battery-powered accessories such as audio systems, a windlass, depth finders, fish locators, and appliances. Deep cycle batteries should not be substituted for starting batteries.
  • Marine Dual-Purpose Batteriescombine the performance of starting and deep cycle battery, and are a good choice on smaller when there’s no room for two batteries. While they’re able to perform the tasks of a starting battery and deep cycle battery, they’re not as efficient as separate batteries.

Boat Battery

Deep Cycle vs. Cranking

If you have an electric trolling motor, thruster, windlass, or other battery-powered accessories that draw larger amounts of current, you’ll want a separate deep cycle “house” battery for that purpose. A deep cycle battery is only meant to be used where high rates of discharging and re-charging occur often. A deep cycle battery is constructed differently than a cranking battery, with thicker, heavier plates. The longer, higher amperage requirements of trolling motors and windlasses, for example, would heat and distort the thinner plates of a normal cranking battery.

The cranking battery has more yet thinner plates to give a fast voltage spike to crank an engine but is not intended to maintain high power output for long periods. Yes, a deep cycle battery can be used to start your motor in a pinch, but a two- or three-battery system is highly recommended to separate the engine battery from the accessory (house) batteries.

The best way to be sure your battery is still good is to have it “load tested.” Most auto parts or battery specialty stores will load test your battery for free and tell you if it’s still serviceable. Just because it’s gone dead once or twice doesn’t necessarily mean it’s no good. The rest of your electrical and charging systems may need some attention as well, as something other than the battery itself may be the cause of the problem.

Replacing Your Boat’s Battery

Consult your boat owner’s manual or a marine dealer when replacing a marine battery, and be sure to buy a new battery that is a good match for your boat. Marine batteries are rated by their ampere hour rating, reverse capacity, and marine cranking amps. When shopping for a deep cycle battery, you’ll want to pay the most attention to the ampere hour rating and reserve capacity. For starting batteries, focus primarily on the marine cranking amps. Consult all three rankings when searching for a dual-purpose battery.

If you add electrical accessories to your boat, you may need to upgrade to a battery with a higher amp-hour rating, especially if you spend a lot of time trolling with the engine at a very low speed (which results in less charging power from the alternator) or you spend a lot of time beached or at anchor while using accessories like the audio system.

Charging a Marine Battery

Most of us understand that when we are buying a new or used boat, the batteries supplied may not necessarily be top-of-the-line. If they seem to do the job, we don’t think much about them. But in the warmer climates everyday heat is a major enemy of batteries and can shorten their life considerably. In areas of the country that force us to put boats in storage for the winter, how the battery is cared for during this period is also critical to increasing life expectancy.

It’s best to keep batteries on a regulated “trickle” charger to maintain charge while not in use. A battery that is not charged (and kept charged) can freeze in cold temperatures and a cracked case is the likely result.  A battery is like a lot of things in life—use it or lose it! A car battery will typically last longer than a boat battery because the car is used regularly and the battery stays charged. When it comes to boats, the old adage of a battery’s life being two years is pretty well on the mark. You’ll usually get a heads-up when it’s about to give up on you, with the warning being a “dead” battery one morning or a bit slower cranking speed than you’re used to. You plug in the charger, the battery miraculously comes to life, and you’re off on your trip. You may think the light was left on, or that the radio memory pulled the voltage down. The reality may be that the battery is sulfating, plates are warped, and it no longer takes or holds a charge like it once did.

Tips for Avoiding Battery Problems

  • Secure the marine battery with a good battery tray, which should have a base that is screwed or bolted to the boat and either a rigid bracket or a locking strap to hold it to the base. You don’t want the battery banging around in rough water.
  • Frequently check the battery terminal connections to make sure they are snug and free of corrosion. Replace the wing nuts often found on marine batteries with nylon locking nuts, which are much less likely to come loose.
  • If you use the boat infrequently, use a maintenance-type battery charger to keep the battery fully charged between outings.
  • Before off-season storage completely charge the batteries then disconnect the terminals so nothing can draw the battery down. If there’s power available at your storage site, keep the batteries on a battery maintainer/charger through the off-season to continually maintain your batteries. Otherwise, remove the batteries from the boat and store them where they can be connected to a maintenance charger.
  • Install a cover or “boot” over the top of the positive battery terminal, if one was not installed by the boat builder, even if the battery is in a covered box. The boot prevents sparks and arcing and possible explosion if, for instance, a tool is dropped on the terminal.

Bottom line? Keep your batteries charged, keep the terminals clean, and by all means get out in the boat and “exercise” your electrical system as often as you can!

 

, , ,

Battery pole piece spot welding

12v 100ah lifepo4

Battery pole piece spot welding machine work principle:

12v 100ah lifepo4

Battery pole piece spot welder use of ultrasonic metal welding principle, ultrasonic metal welding should be classified as don’t need preheating welding. Oxidation surface is the great friction welding which division, and at the same time two parts are pressed together. This program let two materials to produce the atom so close to the action. Far below melting point relatively slight increase of temperature in the welding process is not important factors. At the same time, because the basic material not liquefied, so there is no microstructure changes, also will not damage to internal structure. Ultrasonic cell metal special welding machine is suitable for: aluminum + nickel, nickel and copper foil, aluminum + aluminum foil, multilayer copper foil, multi-layer aluminum foil, multilayer copper nets, multilayer aluminum mesh, aluminum plate + aluminum strip, aluminum nickel composite belt + aluminium plate, aluminum shell bottom + ni-clad-al strip double point welding; And with nickel and copper foil, nickel band and aluminum belt, aluminium strip and aluminum foil, aluminum band and aluminum cover, aluminum shell and ni-clad-al strip of the material such as the single point, multipoint, single, multi-layer, square, form and process of welding. Features suitable for battery, hardware, electrical appliances and motor industry.

Battery pole piece spot welder features:

  1.  due to the bench ultrasonic cell metal welding machine machine 80% use import parts and components, to ensure low failure rate and machine section structure design is reasonable;
  2.  ultrasonic lithium ion battery metal welding machine of welding mould can according to different application fast and convenient to change;
  3.  ultrasonic cell copper foil nickel sheet welding machine with German import piezoelectric ceramic transducer, stable and durable;
  4.  miniature ultrasonic power battery cover sheet welding machine operation easy, built-in electronic protection circuit, the use of safe,
  5. independent research and development, and the ultrasonic cell metal welding mould and welding head, reached the advanced world level, reduce the enterprise cost;
  6. ultrasonic nimh battery pole piece very ear welding machine used for the same kind of metal welding, to foreign non-ferrous metal implement single point or multipoint welding, especially copper aluminum nickel sheet, line, take welding.

Battery pole piece spot welder advantages:

The machine use desktop integration design, reasonable structure, beautiful appearance, Vertical motion, positioning accuracy is high, the welding effect is good; Welding head and the integral design of the mould can ensure the consistency of the welding effect, and extend the welding head life; New mould manufacture and maintenance cost is low, the welding of high efficiency; Advance to set the energy, time of welding parameters, constant welding parameter to ensure the welding quality. The operation is simple, convenient assembly, easy maintenance, can according to the customer the production needs of customized; Combined with quality control system for automatic process monitoring, without professional technician, on-site staff need to accept a day of training that will operate. Features suitable for wire and guide piece of the connections between, lithium nimh battery electric etc with nickel sheet alloy plate ni-clad-al strip connection, household electric parts and wire welding, all kinds of high or low conductivity metal and alloy, etc.