Drones are being used more and more widely in all our lives, so the batteries that power these devices are increasingly advancing and being pushed to their limits. One of the biggest challenges to these batteries is endurance; more and more users need the power to last longer.
One such example is with an agricultural drone. Let’s say that the drone carries 10kg of pesticide with two ordinary Lithium Polymer (LiPo) batteries that have a capacity of 16000mAh in 6S (22.2V). This drone will only be able to last about ten minutes with these batteries, which farmers generally find to be too short. However, the use of high-voltage batteries with the same capacity and C rating can increase this flight time by 15-25%, which will increase the efficiency and operations.
We will explore why high-voltage batteries can improve flight duration and also look at the advantages of such batteries.
1. Weight
Without an increase in weight, high-voltage batteries provide better performance. This is key for UAVs since each drone has a specific payload that it cannot go over.
2. Higher Voltage
If we compare ordinary LiPo batteries to that of those with high voltage, we see a subtle change in voltage. Through this little voltage increase, users are able to get increased performance in their products.
Ordinary LiPo Batteries
The nominal voltage for a single LiPo cell is 3.7V. A 6S battery pack has a nominal voltage of 22.2V, and a 12S has 44.4V.
A single LiPo cell that is fully charged has 4.2V while a 6S has 25.2V and a 12S 50.4V.
High-Voltage LiPo Batteries
The nominal voltage of a single high-voltage LiPo cell is 3.8V, a 6S pack has 22.8V, and a 12S has 45.6V.
A single LiPo cell that is fully charged has 4.35V while a 6S has 26.1V and a 12S 52.2V.
3. Better Cycle Life
In the chart above, we can follow the discharge rate of several batteries. The high-voltage 4.4V batteries (shown in green) demonstrate a higher discharge rate and discharge capacity.
The above chart shows that, under the same discharge currents and cycles, the 4.4V (in blue) has a longer cycle life than the other batteries at 4.35V or 4.2V.
4. Increased Efficiency
Similar to the example offered at the beginning, we put two drones together for a simple test. Both drones carried 15kg of water with two batteries of 25C and 22000mAh in 6S.
The drone with the non-high-voltage batteries (22.2V) lasted 17 minutes and 50 seconds.
The drone with the high-voltage batteries (22.8V) lasted longer for 22 minutes and 10 seconds, lasting 4 minutes longer than the ordinary batteries.
Conclusion
According to the above data, the advantages of high-voltage UAV batteries are obvious.
We are able to custom, high-voltage cells and offer a one-stop service for your battery designs and solutions.
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Lithium-ion batteries are required for smartphones, laptops, and electric cars. Although lithium-ion batteries have many advantages, they still have a fire hazard when they overheat. According to foreign media reports, The Johns Hopkins University is developing a new type of lithium-ion battery that will not catch fire and has made breakthroughs.
The researchers said that the new lithium-ion battery is very thin and flexible, unlike the current lithium-ion battery. Today’s lithium-ion batteries must be encapsulated in a rigid cylindrical or polygonal battery cover to isolate unstable and explosive components. The battery developed by Johns Hopkins University is very strong, can be immersed in water, cut, and even withstand ballistic impact.
ONE TOUGH POWER SOURCE
The popular myth that a spider is never more than a few feet away is arguably more true of lithium-ion batteries than of arachnids. Powering everything from smartphones and laptops to electronic cigarettes, lithium-ion batteries beat out alternative sources of power because of their top-notch energy density and long life cycle, meaning they can be recharged over and over again before breaking down. Yet for all these advantages, lithium-ion batteries come with a major concern: They can catastrophically ignite when they overheat.
At the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, a new type of lithium-ion battery that cannot catch fire is in the works. A team of researchers led by Konstantinos Gerasopoulos, a senior research scientist at the lab, recently made breakthroughs in their development efforts. The new battery is thin and flexible, unlike today’s lithium-ion batteries that must be packaged in rigid cylindrical or polygonal cases to wall off their volatile contents. The APL battery is also tough, able to withstand submersion in water, cutting, and even ballistic impacts.
“We wanted to create a battery that is as thin and powerful as the electronics it’s intended to power,” Gerasopoulos says. “And to do that, we needed to transform the battery’s safety.”
Swap out for safety
In batteries, a liquid electrolyte conveys electrons between two electrodes, providing an electric current that powers your device. Standard lithium-ion batteries contain an electrolyte with an organic solvent that, while efficient, happens to be flammable. Gerasopoulos and colleagues have developed a new class of electrolyte that uses lithium salts dissolved in water as an inflammable solvent. A polymer matrix—basically, a kind of plastic sponge—soaks up the water, and the ultimate result is a bendable, soft, contact lens–like electrolyte.
The positive with the negative
Usually, lithium-ion battery electrodes are foil-like and, when bent too much, can crinkle and be damaged. APL’s battery electrodes are instead crafted with Kapton, a flexible film often used to insulate a spacecraft from extreme temperatures. As an added bonus, Kapton is a readily available, off-the-shelf material, reducing the battery’s cost and complexity to manufacture.
More power for longer
The current iteration of the new electrolyte sustains 4.1 volts—not quite as much as conventional lithium-ion batteries, but it’s inching closer. The APL team also wants to improve the battery’s life cycle from around a hundred charges to more like a thousand, matching today’s typical battery performances. Continued tweaking of the polymer’s chemistry for better electrochemical stability should deliver on these two objectives.
The article is forwarded from Johns Hopkins Magazine by Adam Hadhazy
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In this blog post, rather than do my own testing – I will rely on the specification sheets provided by Panasonic, Samsung, and LG. We’ll look at the storing section of these spec sheets, and break down the important factors and what they mean. Scroll to the end, the overview, to get to the conclusions of the post quickly.
What does it mean?
There are three rows, each with different storage conditions. Note the second and third column are locked in place by the fourth. Each row represents recovering 80% of the battery’s usable capacity. Since the rated capacity of the NCR18650B is 3200 mAh, this 80% represents 2560 mAh after storage.
If you are storing an 18650 battery for less than a month, you may store it in an environment as hot as 50°Cand be able to recover 2560 mAh.
If you are storing an 18650 battery for less than 3 months, you may store it in an environment as hot as 40°Cand be able to recover 2560 mAh.
If you are storing an 18650 battery for less than 1 year, you may store it in an environment as hot as 20°Cand be able to recover 2560 mAh.
In the last case, storing for one year with a 20% drop in capacity translates to 1.6% loss of capacity per month, or 53 mAh.
In the first case (storing at high temperatures for less than one month) translates to a loss of 21 mAh per day.
Storage temperature and conditions
We can see from the above 3 items, it is temperature as the main factor determining the resulting capacity after storage, and ultimately how long you can store your battery for.
18650 batteries can be stored at very low temperatures, but high temperatures degrade them quickly. Rule of thumb: They must always be stored at less than 60°C.
Lithium-ion batteries, in most cases must maintain a voltage above 2.5V before they start to break down and decompose. Therefore, for long-term storage it is best to “top-up” your batteries when their voltage drops too low.
Note 1:When receiving new cells, the manufacture will ship them at a 40% charge. However, it is very likely this will soon be set at 30% as airline safety regulations demand safer transport, and less charge is safer.
Note 2:In these tests, Panasonic fully charged the batteries at 25°C, up to 4.2V. However, for long-term storage it is recommended not to store at a full charge, but to seek a lower voltage (more on that ahead).
Finally, the environment should be dry, or low humidity – without dust, or a corrosive gas atmosphere. Optimizing your cell’s environment becomes more important the longer they are kept stored. Anything above 3 months may start to be considered long-term.
Differences between the Samsung 25R and Panasonic 18650B
The Samsung 25R performs better during storage on all fronts. Across the board, the 25R can store at ten degrees lower than the 18650B. As well, the difference in higher temperatures, in favor of the 25R from 1 month, 3 months, to 1.5 years, is +10°C, +5°C, +5°C.
Most importantly, this 18650 battery can be stored a full six months longer and retain 90% capacity (10% more than the NCR18650B).
The optimal storing voltage
The 25R spec sheet notes that for long-term storage, the voltage should, rather than be fully charged, set at a lower, more optimal voltage. This is to prevent the degrading of performance characteristics. In the case of the 25R, the recommended voltage is 50 ± 5% of its standard (4.2V) charged state.
This works out to be a range between 3.64V and 3.71V
Other batteries have different ranges, but most are close to ~50% voltage which is usually around ~3.7V.
Overview
It is good to reference at least three batteries, and off the blog I have checked more. All 18650 batteries researched need a storage range of between -20 ~ +50°C (-4°F ~ + 122°F) or they will degrade, so this is a good rule of thumb to use.
Also keep in mind the maximum temperature for storage should never exceed +60°C (140°F). It is better to store in a cold environment, than a hot one.
Optimally, a good storage temperature should be closer to 25°C (77°F) or a somewhat lower. The closer you are to an optimal temperature, the longer you will be able to store your batteries without “topping up” and recharging them.
For the most part, the maximum time for 18650 storage before recharge is about one year.
If you are intending long term 18650 storage, a storage charge closer to 50% of usable capacity (~3.7V) rather than 100% (4.2V) will prevent faster battery degradation.
Frequently asked questions and notes
What happens if I don’t store my 18650 batteries correctly?
It will cause a loss of performance and your cells may leak and/or rust, and ultimately become unusable. Cells becoming unstable enough and exploding in storage is a possibility. In the worst case – explosion – it is not clear why this sometimes happens but it could be due to static, pressure, temperature, or packing incorrectly (allowing metal objects or batteries to touch).
Notes
For very short-term storage, don’t store the battery in a pocket or a bag together with metallic objects such as keys, necklaces, hairpins, coins, or screws when you are travelling.
Remove the battery from its application before storing it. For example, from your e-cigarette, flashlight, or electric bike. You should optimally store the batteries in a fire-proof container, with optimal environmental conditions.
Do not store 18650 batteries in or near objects that will produce a static electric charge.
Quick pressure changes can also cause 18650 batteries to malfunction
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Lithium is thought to be one of the first elements made after the Big Bang. An enormous amount of Hydrogen, Helium, and Lithium (the first three elements on the periodic table) were synthesized within the first thee minutes of the universe’s existence.
This process is called Big Bang nucleosynthesis. Essentially, all elements heavier than lithium were made much later by stellar nucleosynthesis (like what is happening in the Sun).
Lithium is special for other reasons too
Lithium facts on history
Lithium is from Greek lithos meaning “stone”
Was used in the first man-made nuclear reaction in 1932
Lithium interesting facts
Soft enough to be cut by scissors
The lightest metal, and least dense solid element, so it can easily float on water
Does not occur freely in nature (it’s too unstable), but is found in nearly all lava, mineral water, and sea water
Pure lithium corrodes immediately when exposed to the moisture in air
Lithium in biology
All organisms have a little lithium in their bodies, but it does not seem to serve a biological purpose
Lithium in pills is used to treat bipolar disorder
Lithium in economics
80% of the world’s lithium is in salt flats between Argentina, Chile, and Bolivia
Let’s look at some pictures
Here are some pieces of raw lithium. Notice the lines and grooves cut into the soft metal by the tool they used to cut it. Also note what appears to be a bubble. It is most likely Hydrogen, as this is what is released when lithium reacts to water (or water from moisture in the air).
This is a photograph taken in Bolivia, in what is called ‘Salar de Uyuni’ – the biggest salt lake in the world. The amazing scenery holds a secret – a huge reserve of lithium. With the right investment, Bolivia may become what Kuwait was for oil to the new rechargeable revolution.
A fully developed lithium mine in the Atacama Desert. This is where the material in your 18650 battery most likely comes from.
This is a depiction of Asteroid 2012 DA14 which nearly missed Earth a few years ago. It was once famously valued at $195 billion US dollars for the large amount of metals like iron ore, copper, and lithium trapped inside. Maybe one day we won’t have to dig up our backyard to get the resources we need to enjoy ourselves.
So remember, next time you turn on your vaporizer, or other machine that uses li-ion batteries, to think a little about where it came from and what it means for our future.
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A UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) ensures that users can save data in emergency situations to avoid unnecessary losses due to power outages. This is a technology developed for power grids, network and medical systems, and other systems that rely on a centralized power supply of a network of computer systems.
Advantages of EPS (Emergency Power Supply)
An EPS (Emergency Power Supply) has a conversion time that is generally in the millisecond level (2ms-250ms), which fluctuates according to different load characteristics to ensure the timeliness of power supply;
It has strong load adaptability, including capacitive, inductive, and hybrid loads, and strong overload and shock resistance;
There are multiple outputs to prevent failure caused by a single output;
There are fire linkage and remote control signals, which can be switched between manual and automatic;
It can adapt to its environment. It is suitable for a variety of harsh environments with measures to prevent failure in high and low temperatures and hot and humid environments. It can work against, salt spray, dust, vibrations, and rat bites;
An EPS has a long service life, fast battery charge, and management capabilities.
Differences between an EPS’s backup power and UPS’s power
Applications
An EPS is mainly used in electrical equipment for the fire protection industry. It is used for those who look for a continuous power supply that can be used in an emergency in case of sudden power grid failure.
A UPS is generally used for precision instrument loads (such as computers, servers and other IT industry equipment), which require a high power supply quality. It is used for those who look for certain requirements, such as a quick switch-over time to an inverter, output voltage, frequency stability, and purity of output waveforms.
Functions
An EPS generally does not have high requirements for a switch-over time to an inverter. Special applications have certain requirements. There are multiple outputs and monitoring and detection functions for each output and a single battery. The daily focus is on bypassing a power supply and switching to an inverter only when the main power fails, and the power utilization rate is high.
The On-Line UPS has only one total output and generally emphasizes its three major functions:
Voltage and frequency stabilization
A quick switch-over time
The rectifier / inverter double-conversion circuit: The inverter is switched to bypass the power supply only when the inverter fails or is overloaded.
The power utilization rate is not high (generally 80-90%). However, some places in European and American countries, where power grids and complete power supplies are used, have switched over to a UPS with a short switch-over time to an inverter (less than 10ms) to save energy.
Structure
An EPS mainly provides power for power protection and fire safety. The load has both inductive, capacitive, and rectified non-linear loads, and some loads are only put into operation after the power supply is cut off. Therefore, EPS is required to provide a large inrush current, good output dynamic characteristics, and a stronger anti-overload. A UPS, on the other hand, mainly supplies power to computers and network equipment, and the nature of the load (input power factor) is not much different.
The main purpose of a UPS is to maintain the transferage of information, and the main purpose of an EPS is to prevent major disasters. In other words, a UPS focuses on saving data while an EPS mainly focuses on saving people. Generally, EPS power is large, and the inverter in the machine is in a standby state.
EPS power inverters have a larger redundancy: both the incoming and outgoing cabinets are inside the EPS, and the motor loads are started with variable frequency. The casing and wires are flame retardant, and there are multiple ways to input power, which can be linked with fire protection. An EPS power load is also generally inductive and resistive. It can come with motors, lighting, fans, pumps, and other equipment.
UPS power inverters, on the other hand, have a relatively small redundancy, do not need to be flame retardant, and have no mutual investment function. A UPS power load is also a capacitive load. The main belt device is usually a computer, which is mainly used in computer rooms to ensure uninterrupted power supply and voltage stabilization.
Different power supplies
A UPS prioritizes an inverter to ensure its power supply while an EPS prioritizes city power to ensure saving energy. There are differences in the design specifications of the rectifier / charger and the inverter.
An EPS uses an offline power supply; unfortunately, when the utility power fails and an EPS cannot be powered by the emergency battery, it cannot do anything, and consequences are dire.
A UPS is on-line. Even if there is a power failure, it can be alarmed in time. With the backup power in city power supply, the user can grasp the power failure in time and eliminate it without causing greater losses.
Precautions against using a UPS
A UPS should be used in a well-ventilated and clean environment to facilitate heat dissipation.
Do not carry inductive loads, such as money counters, fluorescent lamps, air conditioners, etc., to avoid damage.
The output load control of a UPS is best at around 60%, and the reliability is the highest.
A UPS with a light load (such as a 1000VA UPS with a 100VA load) may cause deep discharge of the battery, which will reduce the battery life and should be avoided as much as possible.
Appropriate discharge can help the activation of the battery. For example, if the main power is not interrupted for a long period of time, the main UPS should be manually disconnected and discharged once every three months.
A small-sized UPS can generally be on and off when the employees are at and off work respectively. A UPS in a network room must run around the clock, however, since most networks work 24 hours.
A UPS should be charged after discharging to prevent the battery from being damaged due to excessive self-discharge.
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The material and chemistry used in the cathode of a battery are vital in determining the battery performance. Currently, the positive electrode materials successfully developed and applied include lithium cobalt oxide (LCO), lithium iron phosphate (LFP), lithium manganate (LiMn2O4), ternary material nickel cobalt manganate (NCM), and nickel cobalt aluminum aluminate (NCA). We will explore a few common chemistries for cathode material in this article.
Lithium cobalt oxide (LCO, LiCoO)
Lithium cobalt oxide, also known as lithium cobaltate, are particularly special because they were the first commercially produced lithium batteries. Lithium cobaltate has many benefits with its high discharge platform, simple synthesis process, high capacity, and good cycle performance. However, cobalt can be relatively toxic, and the price high. It is also difficult to guarantee safety when making large LCO batteries.
Most 3C electronic batteries still use LCO rather than a higher-capacity ternary material because lithium cobalt oxide material has greater density per volume. Lithium cobalt oxide is predominantly used in cell phones and laptops.
Furthermore, the theoretical capacity of lithium cobalt oxide is high, but the actual capacity is only half of what is theorized. The reason is due to the charging process: when the amount of lithium ions extracted from lithium cobalt oxide material is less than 50%, the morphology and crystal form of the material can be kept stable. However, when the lithium-ion extraction amount increases to 50%, the lithium cobaltate material undergoes a phase change. If charging continues at this time, cobalt will dissolve in the electrolyte and generate oxygen, which affects the stability of the battery cycle life and performance.
Lithium iron phosphate (LFP, LiFePO4)
There is wide interest in Lithium iron phosphate cathode materials.
Its main features include non harmful elements, low cost, and good safety and cycle life (its lifespan can reach 10,000 cycles). These characteristics have made lithium iron phosphate materials popular for research, and they are widely used in the field of electric vehicles.
The main disadvantage of lithium iron phosphate is its low energy density. The voltage of lithium iron phosphate material is only about 3.3V, which makes the LFP battery have lower energy storage. Lithium iron phosphate also has poor conductivity and needs to be nanometer-sized. It can be coated to obtain good electrochemical performance, which makes the material become “fluffy” and the compaction density low. The combined effect of the two makes the energy density of lithium iron phosphate batteries lower than that of lithium cobalt oxide and ternary batteries.
Recently, accidents concerning new energy vehicles have occurred and frequently show up on the news. People hope to improve upon the materials and its safety performance by modifying it: some researchers have mixed lithium iron phosphate with manganese to make it have higher voltage and energy density while others have mixed it with NCM ternary material.
Ternary materials (NCM, NCA)
Ternary material is the common name of lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide (LiNixCoyMn1-x-y02), which is very similar to lithium cobaltate. This material can be balanced and adjusted in its specific energy, cycle, safety, and cost.
The different configurations of nickel, cobalt, and manganese bring about various properties to the material: increasing the nickel content increases the capacity of the material but makes the cycle performance worse; the presence of cobalt makes the material structure more stable but the content too high and capacity reduced; the presence of manganese reduces costs and improves its safety performance, but its high content destroys the layered structure of the material.
Due to the many factors that need to be considered when using these elements, the focus of ternary material research and development has been on finding the proportional relationship between nickel, cobalt, and manganese in order to achieve optimal performance.
If you are interested in the Himax’s high discharge and custom-made batteries, please reach out to us at sales@himaxelectronics.com. We can be the one-stop solution to your products’ needs.
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The lesser-known function is to provide mass as a counterweight, which aids the forklift’s lifting capacity.
The most common forklift batteries are Lead Acid, but a trend to use Lithium iron phosphate replacement battery due to advantages of higher capacity, safety, and more cycles, etc.
However, we found that there are more forklift customers are require LiFePo4 battery and a few low-temperature requirement. For a simple comparison:
Price
Lead-Acid battery: $$$
LiFePO4 battery: $$$$$$$$$$
Features
LiFePO4 battery > Lead Acid battery
Let’s take an example if the working environment is the low temperature like freezer inventory, so Lithium iron phosphate must be better due to working at low temperatures for a long time, and low-temperature charging required.
Weight
Lead-Acid battery: More Heavy (70kg and 80kg per kWh of usable capacity)
LiFePO4 battery: Lighter (10kg and 15kg per kWh of usable capacity)
The cycles count of traditional Lead-acid battery is around 500–600 times, LiFePO4 battery is around 2000 times (The promise cycles of Grepow Lithium iron phosphate battery is 1500 times / 3 years)
In addition to the high initial cost of Lithium iron phosphate battery, it is free of replacement and maintenance cost, that’s why LiFePO4 battery is more economical than Lead Acid even higher initial cost.
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Whether you are planning to buy a RC drone as a gift to gift someone or want to buy one to fly in your leisure time, some mini RC drones with hidden camera options that can be used as a spy video camera, others with LED blades that can be flown at night. With so many designs and features to choose, following are some useful tips for buying some of the best RC drones available from the market:
Ready- Made vs Build-Your-Own
For teens, RC drones can be a wonderful hobby. It allows them to go outside and develop technical skills to operate various types of gadgets and vehicles. For adults, flying these drones can be a great way to relieve stress from work and studies. Comparing to other RC gadgets and vehicles RC drones can be quite complicated to operate.Therefore, you need to practice a lot before flying them outdoors. On the other hand, before buying an RC drone, you need to choose between ready-made or build-your-own option.
Ready-made RC drones are perfect for those who wish to fly one without considering technical and mechanical sides. Ready-made RC drones are usually preferred by newbie’s as it is easier to operate than build-your-own drone.
Those people who prefer an RC drone kit and build it from scratch are usually those who are interested in exploring everything about their RC drones. If you build one by yourself, you can even customize it and improve its performance. However, bear in mind that it requires a lot of time, patience and efforts.
Gas and Electric Powered RC Drones
Generally speaking, RC drones that run on gas are more rare and expensive than electric ones. They are also more complicated to operate and fly.
Electric ones are less expensive than gas powered RC drones and can be easily operated outdoors. Although their battery packs can be quite expensive, however, they are easier to maintain and operate.
Indoor and Outdoor Drones
Indoor RC drones are perfect for newbie’s and amateur players as they are not as powerful as outdoor RC drones. Moreover, they can only go up to a certain level as they are meant to be used indoors.
Also, you need to make sure that no obviously objects or pets getting into your road when flying RC drones indoor.
Outdoor RC drones are more expensive and powerful than indoor drones and can be easily operated from a wide distance.
Outdoor drones are not recommended for new players as they can harm travelers or vehicles if they get crashed from a high height.
Mini vs Large Drones
RC drones come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Smaller RC drones do not cause any severe damage in case of an accident. They are quite versatile and can be flown indoors and outdoors as well. They’re perfect for new players and do not require much time to set up.
However, they are not as sturdy as bigger RC models.
Larger drones are more suitable for professional players. They closely resemble real helicopters and can be easily flown in windy places.
Bigger models can be quite expensive and you need to follow certain rules while flying such drones outdoors.
LED Blades for RC Drones
RC drones are equally fun when flown at night. You can use special blades that consists of bright neon and LED lights for a better night vision. You can even customize your blades yourself with LED strips. Whether you are flying your drone during the day or night time, try to avoid flying them in public places.
Currently on the market common drone batteries are mainly divided into three kinds.
1. lithium polymer batteries, with high energy density, lightweight features, most stores sell drones mostly powered by lithium polymer batteries.
2. lithium batteries: higher price, but large capacity, lightweight, high stability, and longer service life than lead-acid and nickel-metal hydride batteries. 3. nickel-metal hydride (Ni-MH) batteries: the battery can be used to power drones.
3. nickel-metal hydride (Ni-MH) batteries: moderately priced, but heavier, with longer safety and service life, suitable for large drones that require long flight times.
Li-ion batteries are the most common type of UAV batteries nowadays, which have the advantages of high energy density, large capacity, light weight and easy charging. Polymer batteries are one of the thinnest and lightest drone batteries, capable of meeting the energy needs of small drones, but relatively susceptible to temperature effects. From a comprehensive point of view, Li-ion batteries have become the most popular type of drone batteries on the market.
Common Drone Battery Voltages and Capacities
Drone batteries come in a variety of voltages, with 3.7V, 7.4V, 11V, 14.8V, and so on being commonly used. The higher the voltage, the more power and speed the drone can provide, but at the same time the battery will be heavier and larger.
Generally speaking, small drones use 3.7V or 7.4V batteries, while larger drones require higher voltage batteries to provide sufficient power and speed. But at the same time, the battery voltage also needs to be matched with the motors used in the drone to ensure the efficiency and life of the motors.
Batteries used in drones generally have a capacity of 500mAh to 10,000mAh. The higher the capacity, the longer the battery will last, but it will also be heavier and bulkier.
For small drones, a battery with a capacity of 500mAh to 1000mAh is the most common choice, while larger drones require a higher capacity battery to provide sufficient battery life. Battery capacity also needs to be considered in relation to the weight, flight speed and altitude of the drone.
Maintenance and Repair
The maintenance of an RC drone includes changing the motor and preventing it from overheating. For beginners, it is recommended to seek for some professional help in case a drone is damaged or is not properly working.
A battery with lower C rate can negatively affect the speed and overall performance of your drone. In order to maximize the life cycles of your drone’s battery, please wait for at least half an hour to recharge your drained battery. Also, avoid overcharging it.
You can also join an online website or group to get valuable insights and information regarding RC drones. You can follow various threads and blogs to get updates and reviews for the latest RC drone kits.
Keep an eye out on Himax’s official blog, where we regularly update industry-related articles to keep you up-to-date on the battery industry and related peripheral market.
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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).
‘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.”
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.
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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.
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.
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