SUSTENERGY TRAINING ACADEMY

Course/Topic Title:
Course : Solar PV Design and Installation
Title : Solar Batteries

Instructor:
 Construction of a battery
• Groups of electrochemical cells connected in series • 12V 45Ah battery
• Is used for storing energy , it does not generate
electricity
• Storage takes place due to chemical reactions
• Consists of positive(cathode) and negative(anode)
electrodes, liquid electrolyte
• Storage is necessary for days of low irradiation,
clouds, rain etc
• Is made up of cells connected in series
• Electric current is produced because of the chemical
reactions occurring between electrodes.
• General battery voltages are 12V, 24V or 48V

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 Battery Terms
Storage Capacity
• Current that a battery can supply multiplied by the number of hours in which
the mentioned current is delivered.
• Storage Capacity = Current × Time
• Unit is Ampere hour(Ah)
• If a battery delivers 1A of current continuously for 100hours, its storage
capacity is 100Ah.
Discharge Rate
• C-rate is used to express the charge or discharge current relative to the rated
capacity.
Cn = I × n
• where I is the current and n time in hours
𝐶10 = I ×10 hours
𝐶100 = I ×100hours

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 Battery capacity

• A 150 Ah battery at C20 will last for 20 hours on a load of 7.5 A. A 150 Ah
battery at C10 will last for 10 hours on a load of 15 A. A 150 Ah battery at
C5 will last for 5 hours at a load of 30 A.

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 Terms Continued
Depth of Discharge (DOD)
% of the total capacity of the battery that can be used without need for recharging and without damaging
the battery.
If a battery has a nominal capacity of 4.8 kWh, which discharges 1.4 kW in 1 hour
1.4×1
DoD = × 100% = 29.16%
4.8
State of Charge (SOC)
• It is a measure of the energy remaining in the battery. Expressed as a percentage.
• It tells whether a battery is fully charged, half charged or completely charged.
• If a 200Ah battery has a state of discharge of 70% then it holds only 140Ah ie (200Ah*70%).
• Measured using a hydrometer and a voltmeter.
Cycle life
The number of discharge-charge cycles the battery can experience before it fails to meet specific
performance criteria.
Is reduced by high rate of discharge, high temperature and discharging too much before recharging
General Rule: the less depth of discharge is reached in every cycle, the longer the battery lifetime will be.

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 Terms Continued
A hydrometer is a glass tube with a special float that is calibrated to read in
terms of specific gravity

• Battery acid is sucked

up into the tube
• Float rises towards the
top of the liquid A 12 V battery at
• Markings on the float 100% state of charge
show how strong may have a voltage
of 12.6 V

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 Terms Continued
Charge Current
• Electric current supplied to battery while charging. The amount of time it
requires to charge a battery depends on the amount of charge current
• The charge received by the battery is given by the equation
𝑰
Q=
𝒕
where Q = charge in Coulombs (C), I = current in Ampere (A) and t = time in
hours (h).

Self Discharge
• Charge lost when a battery is not used over a period of one month
Expressed as a percentage of the initial state of charge

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 Depth of Discharge vs Cycle Life
• The larger the DoD every cycle, the smaller the available cycle times will
be.
• Battery’s cycle life is up to 7000 times at 10% DoD, while only 500times at
100% DoD.

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 Battery Aging Factors
Sulphation
• If the battery is not fully charged after a heavy discharge, it causes
sulphate crystals to grow which cannot be completely transformed back
into lead or lead oxide.
• Battery slowly loses the mass of active material and therefore discharge
capacity will be lower
Corrosion
• Leads to increased grid resistance due to high positive potentials
Gassing
• When the battery loses moisture, it causes the electrolyte to dry out which
occurs at high charging voltages, resulting in loss of water
• Routine maintenance by adding distilled water to the battery

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 Types of Batteries
Deep cycle
Shallow/Light cycle
• Should not be discharged below 40% • Occurs when the top 20% or less of
state of discharge the batteries energy is discharged
and then recharged
• Designed with thicker electrode plates
and have less overall surface area. • Designed for high current in initial
discharges
• They deliver fewer amperes but for
longer hours between charging • Constant charges and discharges
• more expensive, • Not recommended for solar PV
System
• Recommended for use with solar

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 Lead Acid Battery

• Built with groups of individual cells with layers of lead alloy plates immersed in
an electrolyte solution. The solution is typically made of 35% sulphuric acid
and 65% water. When the sulphuric acid comes into contact with the lead
plate, a chemical reaction takes place and energy is produced.
• There are two types:
1. Flooded Lead Acid(FLA)
2. Sealed(Valve Regulated Lead Acid)VRLA
• Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM)
• Gel battery (GEL)

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 Lead Acid Battery
Positive plates:- Lead dioxide (PbO2),
Negative plates:- metallic sponge lead (Pb)
Electrolyte:- Diluted sulfuric acid (H2SO4) solution.

Discharging Charging
•PbO2 and Pb combine with •Lead dioxide (PbO2) is formed
H2SO4 to form lead sulphate at the positive plate.:
(PbSO4) and water. •Pure Lead (Pb) is formed at the
•Electrons flow from negative negative plate.
plate to positive plate •Sulfuric acid is liberated in the
electrolyte.
•Electrons flow from positive
plate to negative plate.

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 Flooded Lead Acid (FLA)

Flooded Sealed/Valve Regulated Lead Acid

Filled with liquid electrolyte solution Solid Electrolyte

Liable to spills and leakages Immune from spills and leakages

Require regular watering Can be used in any position or

orientation. Maintenance-free.

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 Flooded Lead Acid (FLA)

• Composed of lead and lead oxide plates along with

liquid electrolytes (sulfuric acid and water)
• Called "flooded batteries" because the liquid
electrolyte is free to move within the cell.

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 Flooded Lead Acid (FLA)

Discharging
• As the electrical current passes through the battery, the electrolyte interacts with the
lead plates.
• The plates are then converted into lead sulfate.
• Chemical energy is converted into electrical energy.

Charging
• The charging breaks down the lead sulfate, turning it into pure sulfuric acid and lead.
• Also, the water in the electrolyte splits, and hydrogen gas is released.

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 Flooded Lead Acid (FLA)

• To prevent the hydrogen gas build-up

(and avoid battery explosions),
flooded batteries have a vent to
exhaust the gas and relieve the
pressure.
• Leads to water loss.
• Hydrogen doesn’t have a chance to
recombine with oxygen and settle
back into the electrolyte solution as
water. It creates a need to regularly
Vent caps help prevent a build-up of
water the battery. Require more
hydrogen gas in flooded batteries
battery maintenance.

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 Flooded Lead Acid (FLA)
Advantages Disadvantages
• Widely available • Requires regular watering and maintenance
• Relatively cheap • Requires charging in designated and
• Available in different ventilated rooms
sizes and capacity • Liable to cause injury and corrosion due to spills
• Provides good and leakage
deep-cycle • Requires the use of personal protective
performance equipment (PPE) when handling
• Vents out flammable hydrogen gas
• Easily damaged if left to over-charge
• Prone to high self-discharge rate
• Considered hazardous material when
transporting

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Valve Regulated Lead acid (VRLA )
AGM Batteries
• Fiberglass mats
• Lead plates
• Electrolyte
• Pressure control valve
• Fiberglass mats placed between the lead plates absorb and immobilize the
electrolyte
• The glass mats act as separators and insulators between the positive and
negative plates.
• Spill-proof design

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 AGM Batteries
Advantages Disadvantages
• Sealed, allowing gasses to recombine and eliminating the • Higher initial cost than
flooded Batteries
need to add water
• Maintenance-free • Sensitive to
• Spill- and leak-proof design. overcharging
• Well suited for high current applications

• Little internal resistance for more power output- less charging

time and less heat losses

• Not considered hazardous material

• Flexibility to mount in any position

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 Valve Regulated Lead acid (VRLA )
Gel Acid Batteries
• Electrolyte:- Highly viscous electrolyte- silica and
sulfuric acid

• Gel 'glues' onto the lead plates combining the

electrolyte and plates into one single piece

• Recombinant batteries:- Negative plate absorbs the

oxygen produced on the positive plate during
discharge and produces water.

• Prevents water loss and maintains the battery's

water content.
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 Gel Batteries
Advantages Disadvantages
• Maintenance-free • More expensive
• Spill- and leak-proof
• Sensitive to overcharging.
• Can be mounted in any position
• Better withstands shock and vibration
• Non-hazardous materials for road transportation
• Offers extremely low self-discharge rates
• No gassing
• No corrosion
• Excellent deep-cycle performance
• Can be installed near sensitive electronic equipment

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 Lithium Ion Batteries

• Contain a lithium -metal oxide, Lithium -

Cobalt oxide in the cathode which supplies
lithium ions.
• Lithium carbon compounds are used in the
anode

Parts of a lithium-ion battery

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 Lithium Ion Phosphate Batteries (LiFePO4)

• Similar chemistry to lithium-ion

• Cathode -Iron
• Anode- Graphite carbon
• Electrolyte- Lithium salt (LiPF6) in an organic
solution.

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Pros:
• Expected cycle life:
• LFP batteries have an expected cycle life of 3000 – 10,000 cycles (8 to 20 years
of daily deep cycling).
• Lead Acid batteries have a typical life of about maximum 1500 cycles (4 years).
Maximum cycle life can be up to 3500 cycles, but this assumes 35% Depth of
Discharge (DOD) and always kept at 25ºC.
• Higher efficiency:
• LFP batteries are 98% efficient.
• Lead acid batteries (flooded, GEL, AGM) are only about 80% efficient.
• Shorter charging time:
• LFP batteries have C rate between C1 to C5.
• Lead Acid batteries have C rates of C10/C20.

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• Not damaged by Partial State of Charge (PSOC):
• LFP batteries do not need to reach 100% State of Charge (SOC) on a regular
basis.
• Lead acid batteries need to be regularly charged up to 100% SOC. If not, they
degrade.
• High temperature operation:
• LFP batteries can be operated at any temperature up to 50ºC, with little
degradation.
• Lead acid battery cycle life will degrade quicker at higher temperatures. Above
25ºC the cycle life of a lead acid battery is reduced by half.

• Lightweight:
• LFP batteries are light weight (around 15 kg) .
• A typical lead acid battery can weigh around 50 kg each.
• Safety:
• LFP batteries are based on the Lithium Iron Phosphate chemistry, which is
noncombustible and less toxic

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Cons:
• Price:
• An LFP battery will cost about twice as much as a equivalent high quality
AGM battery.
• May be more susceptible to lightning damage.
• LFP batteries have sensitive electronics inside each battery. These can
potentially be destroyed by voltage spikes and surges from nearby lightning
strikes. Surge suppression is built into the battery combiner box to help
mitigate this possibility.
• Lead Acid batteries have a much smaller chance of being damaged by a
nearby lightning strike, unless the charging equipment is damaged and the
batteries don’t receive adequate charge.
• .

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 Care and maintenance
• Ensure good ventilation in the room

• Avoid direct sunlight onto the batteries

• Check electrolyte level, add only distilled water. The electrolyte level should always
be above the plates. High purity rainwater can also be used.

• Use antioxidant grease on terminals to avoid sulphuring

• Clean battery cover and terminals

• Ensure connections are tight

• Check the state of charge regularly to ensure battery is operating properly. Keep
records of both the hydrometer readings and voltmeter readings.

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 THANK YOU

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