Hardware-Software Architecture Improves Performance Of Large, Battery-Powered Systems

Focus:

The use of large, multi-cell battery packs is growing in applications such as hybrid/electric vehicles and grid-tied energy systems. Yet, even with today’s most-advanced designs, these large battery packs pose fundamental limitations. This article describes a new, integrated hardware and software technology for managing battery-powered systems. This new approach to battery management enables cost-effective, continuously variable control of each individual cell in a battery pack, while integrating the functions of voltage stabilization, voltage up-conversion, and battery management. Prototype testing--the results of which are presented here--has confirmed that this approach improves battery pack performance by extending battery cycle life, increasing run time, reducing charging time (with no penalty), and even lowering system cost. This article includes background on battery pack requirements, the impact of cell aging on battery pack life, and discussion of the conventional approach to battery management using shunt resistors for charge balancing among cells. After explaining the principles of operation and the advantages of Element Energy’s battery management technology, the authors describe in detail their experiments on battery packs using their technology and equivalent packs using conventional battery management technqiues.

What you’ll learn:

• How to understand the factors limiting performance of large, multi-cell battery packs such as those used in hybrid/electric vehicles and grid-tied energy systems
• How to understand the benefits of Element Energy’s battery management technology for large, multi-cell battery packs of any cell chemistry
• How to improve the performance of large, multi-cell battery packs by applying continuously variable control of each individual cell

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Author & Publication:

Eric Macris and John Bendel, Element Energy, Los Altos, Calif., How2Power Today, Dec 20 2012

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