Lecture # 11

Photovoltaic Based Energy Systems

 Topics to Cover:

 Battery Management Systems

Focus on Battery Types
This presentation is made keeping an eye on two battery
technologies:
1. Lithium-Ion based Battery (More focus on this).
2. Lead-Acid based Battery.
Introduction to BMS
BMS means different to different people. But atleast,
everyboday agrees on one agenda of BMS which is
‘Check on key operational parameters such as voltages,
currents, battery internal resistance and ambient temperature
during charging and discharging’.

This means we need atleast two circuits :

1. Monitoring Circuit: It will monitor the parameters and
provide input to protection devices in case of false states.
2. Protection Circuit: It will generate alarms or diconnect
the battery from load or charger when things are out of
limits.
PV Systems - BMS
But BMS of PV systems demand more sophistication. Such
systems encompass not only the monitoring and protection of
the battery but also methods for keeping it ready to deliver full
power when called upon.

But all these properties of BMS survives if battery lives long

life. If battery is passed away then everything is over.

One of the most important thing in BMS is to prolonging the

‘LIFE’ of the battery.
LIFE of Battery
Unit of Life: Normally, people define battery life in YEARS like
this battery can suvive for 3 YEARS etc, which is wrong in
Engineering terms. Battery life normally measures in the form
of DISCHARGE/CHARGE cycle but mainly from
DISCHARGE cycle.

Normally Li-Ion batteries gives 300 to 500 discharge/charge

cycle. But, discharge/charge cycle is very difficult area beacuse
the amount of discharging & charging is not same in every
cycle. But, this is the way how it measures and we have to live
with it.
LIFE of Battery – (May be New Addition in BMS)
Discharging and charging data can be collected in each cycle
and from that right calculations can be mabe by estimating that
how much percent battery is discharged or charged in each
cycle. This information is missed in modern BMS so we can
work on it and this information would be new in research. BMS
only counts discharge/charge cycle. Even battery is discharged
by 10 percent and then charged again. They will count it one
cycle. Although it should be 10% of one cycle.
LIFE -> Discharge Cycle
Life of a bettery is measured through its discharge cycle. And
discharge cycle depends upon:
1. Voltage
2. Current

Another factor which is linked with Life of battery is

Temperature.
LIFE -> Discharge Cycle -> Voltage
Now how to prolong the life of battery, certainly to increase
number of discharge cycles. A popular word ‘DOD’ which
means depth of discharge has a great effect on battery
discharge cycles life. It means that during taking power out of
battery how much you are ready to discharge the battery. Like
you can discharge it fully or partly.
LIFE -> Discharge Cycle -> Voltage
Here, I am going to present an experimental data of Li-Ion
batteries from CaDex Laboratory of Cadex Electronics
(www.cadex.com), one of the leading BMS manufatcurer
company.

Depth of Discharge Discharge Cycles

(DOD)
100% DOD (Fully Discharge) 300 – 500 (Normal
Warranty)
50% DOD 1200 – 1500 (Life
Increases)
25% DOD 2000 – 2500 (More
Increase)
10% DOD 3750 – 4700 (More
Increase)
 LIFE -> Charge Cycle -> Voltage
Charge Level Effects:
State of Charge (SOC) is the measure through which we decide
that how much battery is charged. It is normally measured in
volts. Most Li-ions can be fully charged up to 4.20V/cell and
every reduction of 0.10V/cell is said to double cycle life. For
example, a lithium-ion cell charged to 4.20V/cell typically
delivers 300–500 cycles. If charged to only 4.10V/cell, the life
can be prolonged to 600–1,000 cycles; 4.00V/cell should deliver
1,200–2,000 and 3.90V/cell 2,400–4,000 cycles.
 LIFE -> Discharge Cycle -> Voltage
Charge Level Effects:
Table below summarizes these results. The values are estimate
and depend on the type of li-ion-ion battery.
Charge Level Discharge Capacity at Full
(V/cell) Cycles Charge
[4.30] [150 - 250] [110%]
4.20 300 – 500 100%
4.10 600 – 1000 90%
4.00 1200 – 2000 70%
3.92 2400 - 4000 50%
It means if we operate battery cell at 3.92 volts then we lose
50% of capacity of battery cell as compared to operate it at 4.20
volts where most BMS operates so we have to make a trade off
here.
 LIFE -> Operating Zone -> Voltage
It means that batteries should be operating in Green Zone as
shown in the below figure. It is recommended that State of
Charge (SOC) should be set at 80% of the battery capacity
while Depth of Discharge (DOD) should be set at 40% of the
battery capacity.
LIFE -> Operating Zone -> Voltage
Charging:
LIFE -> Operating Zone -> Voltage
Discharging:
LIFE -> Operating Zone -> Voltage
Complete Cycle:
 LIFE -> Operating Zone -> Voltage
Over-Voltage & Under Voltage Protections:

Over-Voltage Protection
(SOC) – Over Charging

Under-Voltage Protection (DOD)

 LIFE -> Current
It means that when a battery is fully charged then how much
current you want to take out from the battery. Actually, when
we talk about the power delivered by the battery it is basically
the current that’s why battery rating is in Amp-Hours.

Current
 LIFE -> Discharge Rate -> Current
C-Rate:
Discharge current of a battery is often expressed as a C-rate in
order to normalize against battery capacity, which is often very
different between batteries.

A C-rate is a measure of the rate at which a battery is

discharged relative to its maximum capacity. A 1C rate means
that the discharge current will discharge the entire battery in 1
hour.
LIFE -> Discharge Rate -> Current
C-Rate:
Consider a battery of 100Amp-hrs:
1C -> A battery will deliver 100 Amps in one hour.
5C -> Faster Discharge Rate: It means battery is set to deliver
500 Amps and therefore time is reduced to 20mins.
0.5C -> Slower Discharge Rate: It means battery is set to
deliver 50Amps and time is increased to 2 hours.

Similarly, an E-rate describes the discharge power. A 1E rate is

the discharge power to discharge the entire battery in 1 hour.
LIFE -> Discharge Rate -> Current
Below figure examines the number of full cycles for a Li-ion
battery with a cobalt cathode can endure when discharged at
different C-rates. At a 2C discharge, the battery exhibits higher
stress than at 1C, limiting the cycle count to about 450 before
the capacity drops to half level.
LIFE -> Discharge Rate -> Current
This is also proven from the fact that when battery is
discharged at heavy currents so heavy current flows through
the internal resistance of battery. As a result more voltage drop
occurs and more heat dissipated in internal resistance. This
thus increases the internal temperature of the battery and
produces more heat inside battery, which produce damaging
effects on battery.
LIFE -> Discharge Rate -> Current
For a long time, Li-ion had been considered fragile and
unsuitable for high loads. This has changed, and today many
lithium-based systems are more robust than the older nickel
and lead chemistries. Manganese and phosphate-type Li-ion
permit a continuous discharge of 30C. This means that a cell
rated at 1,500mAh can provide a steady load of 45A, and this is
being achieved primarily by lowering the internal resistance
through optimizing the surface area between the active cell
materials.
Low resistance keeps the temperature down, and running at the
maximum permissible discharge current, the cells heat up to
about 50ºC (122ºF); the maximum temperature is limited to
60°C (140°F).
 LIFE/Performance -> Temperature
Temperature mainly effects the internal resistance of the
battery/cell. Like humans, batteries function best at room
temperature, and any deviation towards hot and cold changes
the performance and/or longevity.
Operating a battery at elevated temperatures momentarily
improves performance by lowering the internal resistance and
speeding up the chemical metabolism, but such a condition
shortens service life if allowed to continue for a long period of
time.
Cold temperature increases the internal resistance and
therefore decreasing the performance of the battery and aslo
diminishes the capacity.
The capacity decrease is linear with temperature.
 LIFE/Performance -> Temperature
As we are moving with in 40% to 80% area of battery/cell so it
means we are not utilizing the complete capacity of battery/cell.
This fact is further justified when we consider the temperature
effects on the battery/cell. If a battery is fully charged, then
exposing the battery to high temperature and dwelling in a full
state-of-charge for an extended time can be more stressful than
cycling. Because chemical reaction create more power and there
is no space in battery to store it as it gets overflow.
 LIFE/Performance -> Temperature
Below is the table showing the loss in battery capacity due to
temperature effects after three months.
Temperatur Loss in Battery Loss in Battery
e Capacity after three Capacity after three
months When 100% months When 40%
State of Charge State of Charge
0°C 94% (6% Loss) 98% (2% Loss)
25°C 80% 96%
40°C 65% 85%
60°C 60% 75%
Elevated temperature hastens capacity loss. The capacity
cannot be restored. Not all Li-ion systems behave the same.
Batteries achieve optimum service life if used at 20°C (68°F) or
slightly below
BMS Features for Every Cell
BMS should have atleast following features:
Voltage related Parameters:
1. SOC Measurement & Control
2. DOD Measurement & Control
3. Over Voltage Protection – Overcharging
4. Under Voltage Protection - Exceeding preset depth of discharge
(DOD) limits i.e. DOD Control
Current related Parameters:
1. C-Rate Measurement & Control during Charging
2. C-Rate Measurement & Control during Discharging
3. Excessive current during charging or discharging i.e. C-Rate
Control
4. Short circuit
BMS Features for Every Cell
BMS should have atleast following features:
Temperature:
1. High ambient temperature
2. Overheating - Exceeding the cell temperature limit
Pressure:
3. Pressure build up inside the cell
4. System isolation in case of an accident Abuse
Normally, temperature and pressure can be controlled with
controlling current and voltages.
Performance of Battery – SOH
Performance of a battery means health of a battery. And
normally health of a battery indicates about the capacity
present in battery. It is obvious that a new battery has more
capacity than old battery. State of Health (SOH) is the common
abbreviation used in engineering world to indicate the
performance of a battery.

Confusion:
It should be noted that some people confuse it with SOC. Like
both old and new batteries can be charged upto SOC say 4.10V.
But the performance/health of a battery means that for how
much time the battery stays at 4.10V. Definetly, a new battery
stays on 4.10V for more time as compared to old battery
because of high capacity.
Performance of Battery – SOH
New Battery vs Old Battery:
Performance of Battery – SOH -> Measurement
The State of Health is a "measurement" that reflects the
general condition of a battery and its ability to deliver the
specified performance compared with a fresh battery.
SOH of battery can be measured through capacity, a leading
health indicator. As SOH does not correspond to a particular
physical quality, there is no consensus in the industry on how
SOH should be determined.
Performance of Battery – SOH -> Measurement
The designer of a battery management system may use any of
the following parameters (singly or in combination) to derive an
arbitrary value for the SOH.
 Internal Resistance / impedance / conductance
 Capacity
 Voltage
 Self-Discharge
 Ability to accept a charge
 Number of charge–discharge cycles
In addition, the designer of the battery management system
defines an arbitrary weight for each of the parameter's
contribution to the SOH value. The definition of how SOH is
evaluated can be a trade secret.
Performance of Battery – SOH -> Measurement
During the lifetime of a battery, its performance or "health"
tends to deteriorate gradually due to irreversible physical and
chemical changes which take place with usage and with age
until eventually the battery is no longer usable or dead.
comparisons between estimates made with
Performance of Battery – SOH -> Measurement
different test equipment and methods
unreliable.
 Performance of Battery – SOH -> Measurement
For Lead-Acid & Lithium-Ion Batteries:
Capacity Checking:
Traditionally, the only way of determining the SOH was by
discharge testing, that is, by completely discharging the battery
and measuring its output. Such testing is very inconvenient. For
a large installation it could take eight hours to discharge the
battery and another three days to recharge it. During this time
the installation would be without emergency power unless a
back up battery was provided.
 Performance of Battery – SOH -> Measurement
For Lead-Acid & Lithium-Ion Batteries:
Impedence/Conductance Checking:
The modern way to measure the SOH of a battery is by
impedence testing or by conductance testing. It has been found
that a cell's impedance has an inverse correlation with the SOC
and the conductance being the reciprocal of the impedance has
a direct correlation with the SOH of the cell.
For Lithium-Ion Battery Only:
Counting Charge/Discharge Cycle
In a Lithium ion battery, since the cell capacity deteriorates
fairly linearly with age or cycle life so counting of
charge/discharge cycle can be considered as a crude measure of
the SOH.
Important Notes about SOH Measurement
Because the SOH indication is relative to the condition of a new
battery, the measurement system must hold a record of the
initial conditions or at least a set of standard conditions. Thus if
cell impedance is the parameter being monitored, the system
must keep in memory as a reference, a record of the initial
impedance of a fresh cell. If counting the charge / discharge
cycles of the battery is used as a measure of the battery usage,
the expected battery cycle life of a new cell would be used as the
reference. In a Lithium ion battery, since the cell capacity
deteriorates fairly linearly with age or cycle life, the expired, or
remaining cycle life, depending on the definition used , is often
used as a crude measure of the SOH.
Practices about SOH Measurement
 In practice some people estimate the SOH from a single
measurement of either the cell impedance or the cell
conductance.
 In pursuit of accuracy, others advocate measuring several cell
parameters, all of which vary with the age of the battery, and
making an estimation of the SOH from a combination of these
factors. Examples are capacity, internal resistance, self-
discharge, charge acceptance, discharge capabilities the
mobility of electrolyte and cycle counting if possible. The
absolute readings will depend on the cell chemistry involved.
Weighting is added to individual factors based on experience,
the cell chemistry and the importance the particular
parameter in the application for which the battery is used. If
any of these variables provide marginal readings, the end
result will be affected.
Practices about SOH Measurement
 A battery may have a good capacity but the internal resistance
is high. In this case, the SOH estimation will be lowered
accordingly. Similar demerit points are added if the battery has
high self-discharge or exhibits other chemical deficiencies. The
points scored for the cell are compared with the points assigned
to a new cell to give a percentage result or figure of merit.
 Such complex measurements and processing need the help of a
microprocessor to deliver the results. For automated
measurements the initial conditions and the "experience" can
be encapsulated in memory to facilitate this process. The
"experience" can be modified in a learning process as more
data becomes available to refine the estimations. Fuzzy Logic is
used to combine the experience with the measurements to
improve the accuracy of the results.
 BMS Upgraded Features
 Along with features related to Voltage, Current and
Temperature, BMS should have strong “SOH” feature.

In case of Lithium batteries/cells, SOH can be estimated well

with counting Discharge/Charge Cycle. So, one original work as
I already mentioned would be to count percents of each
Discharge/Charge Cycle.
 BMS
 I have still some more material to discuss but I will make
another separate presentation on that.
 Now, I am focusing on Cell-Balancing Techniques or Cell
Equalization Techniques as BMS struggles most with this.