UNIT -2

BATTERY SELECTION
AND DESIGN

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SYLLABUS
Battery Parameters & Specifications
Design to Eliminate Potential Safety Problems
Battery Safe Guards Went Using Descript Batteries
Battery Construction
Factors Affecting Battery Performance
Major Consideration In Selecting a Battery

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 Battery Parameters
• Storage Capacity
• Energy Density
• Specific Power
• Cell Voltage
• Charge and Discharge Current
• State of Charge
• Depth of Discharge
• Cycle Life
• Self-Discharge
• Round-Trip Efficiency

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 Storage Capacity
•It determines for number of hours for which the battery can be
discharged at a constant current to a defined cutoff voltage. It is
represented by the Coulomb SI unit (Amperes per second) but
since this unit is usually very small, the Ampere-hour (Ah) unit is
used instead (1 Ah represents 3600 C).
•The value of this capacity depends on the ambient temperature,
the age of the battery, and the discharge rate. The higher the
discharge rate, the lower the capacity, although it affects each
battery technology differently. Additional to the Ampere-hour unit,
the storage capacity can also be defined in Watt-hours (Wh=V x
Ah), where 1 Wh represents 3600 J.
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 Energy Density
•The energy density is the amount of energy that
can be stored, per cubic meter of battery volume,
expressed in Watt-hour per cubic meter (Wh/m3 ).
This is a very important parameter to select a
specific battery technology for transportation
applications, where space availability is critical.

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 Specific Power
•This parameter is defined as the power capacity per
kilogram of battery, in W/kg . Some battery technologies
offer high energy density but low specific power, which
means that even though they can store a large amount of
energy, they can only supply a small amount of power
instantly.
•In transportation terms, this would mean that a vehicle
could run for a long distance, at low speed. On the
contrary, batteries with high specific power usually have
low energy density, because high discharge currents
usually reduce the available energy rapidly (e.g., high
acceleration). UNIT-2 6
 Cell Voltage
•The cell voltage is determined by the equilibrium thermodynamic
reactions that take place inside the cell, however, this value is
often difficult to measure and therefore, the open circuit voltage
(OCV) measured between the anode and cathode terminals is used
instead. For some battery technologies (e.g., lead-acid), the OCV
can be used as a basic estimate of the state of charge (SoC).
•Another measure often used is the closed circuit voltage (CCV),
which depends on the load current, state of charge, and cell’s
usage history. Finally, battery manufacturers provide the nominal
voltage value, from the cell’s characterization and therefore,
cannot be experimentally verified.
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 Charge and Discharge
Current
•During the discharging process in a battery, electrons flow
from the anode to the cathode through the load, to provide
with the required current and the circuit is completed in
the electrolyte. During the charging process, an external
source supplies with the charging current and the
oxidation takes place at the positive electrode while the
reduction takes place at the negative electrode.
•For practical purposes, the term C-rate is used to express
the charge or discharge current relative to the rated
capacity. For example, a discharge rate of 1 C means that
the battery will be fully discharged in 1 h.
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 State of Charge
•The state of charge (SoC) defines the amount of
stored energy relative to the total energy storage
capacity of the battery. Depending on the battery
technology, different methods are used to estimate
this value.

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 Depth of Discharge
•Often referred to as DoD(in %), this parameter
expresses the battery capacity that has been
discharged relative to the maximum capacity. Each
battery technology supports different maximum
recommended levels of DoD to minimize its impact
on the overall cycle life.

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 Cycle Life:
•The cycle life determines the number of charge/discharge
cycles that the battery can experience before it reaches a
predetermined energy capacity or other performance criteria.
•The current rate at which the battery is charged/discharged
as well as environmental conditions (e.g., temperature and
humidity) and the DoD can affect this number, since it is
originally calculated by the manufacturer based on specific
charge and discharge conditions.

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 Self-Discharge
•This parameter defines the reduction in energy capacity of
the battery under no-load conditions (e.g., open circuit), as
a result of internal short-circuits and chemical reactions.
This parameter can be affected by environmental
conditions such as temperature and humidity, as well as
the DoD and the battery’s charge/discharge history.
Additionally, this parameter is particularly important for
long-term shelf storage of batteries.

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 Round-Trip Efficiency
•Due to internal losses and material degradation, not all
the energy supplied to the battery during charging can
be recovered during discharge. The amount of energy
that can be taken from the battery during the discharging
process over the energy supplied determines the round-
trip efficiency. This efficiency is sensitive to the charging
and discharging currents. At higher currents, thermal
losses increase and therefore the efficiency is reduced.

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 Battery Specifications
Battery technical specification sheets used to describe battery cells,
modules, and packs.
• Nominal Voltage (V)
• Cut-off Voltage
• Capacity or Nominal Capacity (Ah for a specific C-rate)
• Energy or Nominal Energy (Wh (for a specific C-rate))
• Cycle Life (number for a specific DOD)
• Specific Energy (Wh/kg)

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 Battery Specifications
• Specific Power (W/kg)
• Energy Density (Wh/L)
• Power Density (W/L)
• Maximum Continuous Discharge Current
• Maximum 30-sec Discharge Pulse Current
• Charge Voltage

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Design to Eliminate Potential Safety Problems
•Batteries are sources of energy and when used properly will deliver their
energy in a safe manner. There are instances, however, when a battery may
vent, rupture, or even explode if it is abused. The design of the battery
should include protective devices and other features which can prevent, or at
least minimize, the problem. Some of the most common causes for battery
failure are:
1. Short-circuiting of battery terminals
2. Excessive high rate discharge or charge
3. Voltage reversal, that is, discharging the cells of the battery below 0 V
4. Charging of primary batteries
5. Improper charge control when charging secondary batteries.
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 Battery Safe Guards Went
Using Descript Batteries
• All of these post a threat to your safety and necessitate a number of precautions be taken when
handling batteries.
1. Avoid bringing metal into contact with batteries. As metal conducts electricity, anyone
touching a metal object as it comes into contact with the battery runs the risk of electrocution.
2. Never allow both terminals to make contact with an item (particularly yourself) simultaneously.
3. Do not hand-guide batteries during lifting/moving process.
4. Practice safe and appropriate lifting procedures. Do not bring unprotected hands into contact
with the battery throughout the moving process. Additionally, use only specified lifting
equipment designed for this purpose and approved for the battery’s weight.
5. Wear protective equipment when handling batteries including gloves, eyewear and hardhat.
6. Batteries can be dangerous when mishandled.

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 Battery Construction
•In electricity, a “battery” is a set of voltaic cells designed to provide greater
voltage and/or current than is possible with one cell alone. The symbol for a
cell is very simple, consisting of one long line and one short line, parallel to
each other, with connecting wires:

•The symbol for a battery is nothing more than a couple of cell symbols
stacked in series:

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•As was stated before, the voltage produced by any particular kind of cell is
determined strictly by the chemistry of that cell type. The size of the cell is
irrelevant to its voltage. To obtain greater voltage than the output of a single cell,
multiple cells must be connected in series. The total voltage of a battery is the
sum of all cell voltages. A typical automotive lead-acid battery has six cells, for a
nominal voltage output of 6 x 2.0 or 12.0 volts:

•The cells in an automotive battery are contained within the same hard rubber
housing, connected together with thick, lead bars instead of wires. The electrodes
and electrolyte solutions for each cell are contained in separate, partitioned
sections of the battery case. In large batteries, the electrodes commonly take the
shape of thin metal grids or plates and are often referred to as plates instead of
electrodes.

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•For the sake of convenience, battery symbols are
usually limited to four lines, alternating long/short,
although the real battery it represents may have
many more cells than that. On occasion, however,
you might come across a symbol for a battery with
unusually high voltage, intentionally drawn with
extra lines. The lines, of course, are representative
of the individual cell plates:

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 How is the Size of the Battery Relevant?
•If the physical size of a cell has no impact on its voltage, then what does it
affect? The answer is resistance, which in turn affects the maximum amount
of current that a cell can provide. Every voltaic cell contains some amount of
internal resistance due to the electrodes and the electrolyte. The larger a
cell is constructed, the greater the electrode contact area with the
electrolyte, and thus the less internal resistance it will have.
Although we generally consider a cell or battery in a circuit to be a perfect
source of voltage (absolutely constant), the current through it dictated solely
by the external resistance of the circuit to which it is attached, this is not
entirely true in real life. Since every cell or battery contains some internal
resistance, that resistance must affect the current in any given circuit:

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•The real battery shown above within the dotted lines has an
internal resistance of 0.2 Ω, which affects its ability to supply
current to the load resistance of 1 Ω. The ideal battery on the left
has no internal resistance, and so our Ohm’s Law calculations for
current (I=E/R) give us a perfect value of 10 amps for current
with the 1-ohm load and 10 volt supply. The real battery, with its
built-in resistance, further impeding the flow of current, can only
supply 8.333 amps to the same resistance load.
•The ideal battery, in a short circuit with 0 Ω resistance, would be
able to supply an infinite amount of current. The real battery, on
the other hand, can only supply 50 amps (10 volts / 0.2 Ω) to a
short circuit of 0 Ω resistance, due to its internal resistance. The
chemical reaction inside the cell may still be providing exactly 10
volts, but the voltage is dropped across that internal resistance
as current flows through the battery, which reduces the amount
of voltage available at the battery terminals to the load.
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How to Connect Cells to Minimize the Battery’s
Internal Resistance?
•Since we live in an imperfect world, with imperfect batteries, we need to
understand the implications of factors such as internal resistance. Typically,
batteries are placed in applications where their internal resistance is negligible
compared to that of the circuit load (where their short-circuit current far exceeds
their usual load current), and so the performance is very close to that of an ideal
voltage source.
•If we need to construct a battery with lower resistance than what one cell can
provide (for greater current capacity), we will have to connect the cells together
in parallel:

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•Essentially, what we have done here is to determine the Thevenin equivalent
of the five cells in parallel (an equivalent network of one voltage source and
one series resistance). The equivalent network has the same source voltage
but a fraction of the resistance of any individual cell in the original network.
The overall effect of connecting cells in parallel is to decrease the equivalent
internal resistance, just as resistors in parallel diminish in total resistance.
•The equivalent internal resistance of this battery of 5 cells is 1/5 that of each
individual cell. The overall voltage stays the same: 2.0 volts. If this battery of
cells were powering a circuit, the current through each cell would be 1/5 of the
total circuit current, due to the equal split of current through equal-resistance
parallel branches.
•Constructional features also should be considered in the design and
fabrication of batteries:
1. Intercell connections
2. Encapsulation of cells
3. Case configuration and materials
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Factors Affecting Battery
Performance
AMBIENT TEMPERATURE
BATTERY CHEMISTRY
CYCLING
MAINTENANCE

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 AMBIENT TEMPERATURE
•The rated capacity of a battery is based on an ambient
temperature of 25°C (77°F). It’s important to realize that any
variation from this operating temperature can alter the battery’s
performance and shorten its expected life. To help determine
battery life in relation to temperature, remember that for every
8.3°C (15°F) average annual temperature above 25°C (77°F), the
life of the battery is reduced by 50 percent.

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AMBIENT TEMPERATURE:

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 CYCLING:
•UPS batteries are electro-chemical devices whose ability to store and deliver power
slowly decreases over time. Even if you follow all the guidelines for proper storage,
usage and maintenance, batteries still require replacement after a certain period of
time.
•During a utility power failure, a UPS operates on battery power. Once utility power
is restored, or a switch to generator power is complete, the battery is recharged for
future use. This is called a discharge cycle. At installation, the battery is at 100
percent of rated capacity. Each discharge and subsequent recharge reduces its
relative capacity by a small percentage.
•The length of the discharge cycle determines the reduction in battery capacity.
Lead-acid chemistry, like others used in rechargeable batteries, can only undergo a
maximum number of discharge/recharge cycles before the chemistry is depleted.
Once the chemistry is depleted, the cells fail and the battery must be replaced.

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MAINTENANCE:
•Battery service and maintenance are critical to UPS reliability. A gradual
decrease in battery life can be monitored and evaluated through voltage
checks, load testing or monitoring. Periodic preventive maintenance
extends battery string life by preventing loose connections, removing
corrosion and identifying bad batteries before they can affect the rest of
the string. Even though sealed batteries are sometimes referred to as
maintenance-free, they still require scheduled maintenance and service.
• Maintenance-free simply refers to the fact that they don’t require fluid.
Without regular maintenance, your UPS battery may experience heat-
generating resistance at the terminals, improper loading, reduced
protection and premature failure. With proper maintenance, the end of
battery life can be accurately estimated and replacements scheduled
without unexpected downtime or loss of backup power.
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 Major Consideration In
Selecting a Battery:
How to Select a Battery?
•The selection of a battery is done by seeing the battery parameters.
•The parameter values for voltage rating, current rating capacity rating,
number of charging-discharging cycles and shelf life differs from battery-to-
battery.
•These values also differ from one manufacturer to another
•While designing a solar PV system comprises batteries, the one problem
often faced is a proper choice of battery from many available batteries.

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 Types Of Battery:
•Based on application, the type of a battery in chosen.
•For example, primary batteries are used in portable devices which run in very
low current, such as electronic watch, torch and radio.
•Primary batteries are used for one time only.
•They are cheap and easily disposable.
• Some application require high current to run devices.
•In such cases, the secondary batteries or rechargeable batteries are used
which provide high current as they have high capacity and be recharged a
number of times.
•The rechargeable batteries are costly compared to other primary batteries,
but they are cost effective over long time.
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Voltage and Current:
•A battery should be selected according to the voltage and current
requirements of the instrument to which it is connected.
Temperature Requirement:
•The batteries are designed to operate at certain temperature, normally
about 25 °C.
•In practice, the prevailing temperature or ambient temperature may be
different.
•Sometimes, the ambient temperature can be above 45 °C and so can be
negative or at freezing temperature.
•The battery output current and its capacity depends on the temperature.
•At higher temperature, batteries can deliver higher current as compared to
lower temperature.

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 Temperature Requirement:
•At lower temperatures, like below 20֯ C ,the chemical reactions in
battery becomes slower and the battery can only deliver lower
current then designed value.
•At higher temperatures, the battery may provide higher current
but its life decreases when operating temperatures are high.
•At very high temperature, some batteries can be dangerous
causing explosion and fire can occur.
•Therefore, depending on the operating temperature of battery,
appropriate battery must be chosen for a given applications.
• The manufacturer datasheet provides the information about safe
operating temperature and low the capacity and current will
change with temperature for a given battery.
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Shelf Life:
•Batteries shelf life is directly affected by the rate of self- discharge.
•Self discharge occurs all the time, even when the battery is not used.
•Some batteries have extremely low self-discharge rates, such as most of the
lithium battery whereas, some nickel metal hydride batteries can lose up to
4% of their capacity every day.

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Charge-Discharge Cycle (If Rechargeable):
•The number of charge-discharge cycle of battery depends on the type of battery.
•Normally, for rechargeable applications, battery with large number of charge-discharge cycle
should be chosen.
•For instance, for standalone solar PV systems, batteries with large number of charge-
discharge cycles are chosen.

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Cost:
•Costing is based on the type of batteries selected and it's
pricing by different manufacturers.
•Also, it depends on the features of the battery.
•Generally, the maintenance free and advanced technology
batteries are expensive. In some cases, it may require that
system must perform in all conditions, therefore, the over
sizing of the battery is done.
•In such cases, the cost of the battery is not important but the
reliable system performance is given importance.

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Availability:
•Before selecting a battery, we should check its
availability in the market.
•If a battery, rarely available, is used in a system, it
may create problems while replacing or buying
new one for the system.
•So, a battery that is readily available, easy in
transportation and can be bought even in remote
places, should be selected.

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