Technology has brought significant changes to several industries, and the inverter industry is no exception. To keep up with the times, the industry cannot afford to rely on outdated technologies. Energy Storage Systems (ESS) offer a solution, and they are already bringing about a massive shift in how we think about power storage solutions. ESS has several key advantages, including higher energy storage time, density, and lifespan. This shift is happening at the perfect time, as the world is increasingly prioritising sustainable and green energy solutions. By incorporating ESS into their operations, the inverter industry can play a significant role in making power and energy usage more environmentally friendly.
The current state of battery tech
As of today, batteries are being used as a standard parameter in so many products such as mobile phones, laptops, electric vehicles, medical equipment, mopping machines, and more. The usage of batteries is increasing on a regular basis as power storage has become an integral part of modern devices that we use in our daily lives. People have started using inverters for homes and offices for the power backups in case of power failure.
The biggest risk of using lead acid batteries – Explosion!
Time and again, we have seen unfortunate news stories about batteries exploding, causing injuries and even deaths.
If a battery is overcharged or charged after it has reached full capacity, it may explode. When a battery is fully charged, the active material in it turns into sponge lead on the negative plates and lead dioxide on the positive plates. There is no lead sulphate active material left to be chemically transformed on both positive and negative plates. Instead of being transformed into chemical energy, the electrical energy fed by the charger turns into heat energy. As the electrolyte heats up, it produces explosive hydrogen gas, which can cause the vent plugs to pop up or create pressure high enough to cause the battery to explode.
If a bad charger is used to charge the battery, it can explode. When a battery is plugged into a charger designed for a bigger battery, the charger begins charging the battery at a higher current than is advised. This can compromise the battery life and cause the active material on the plates to shed, resulting in an internal short. Heat and explosion gets triggered by the internal short. In this instance, the internal short was caused by the incorrect charger choice rather than a manufacturing flaw.
If sources of static electricity create sparks close to batteries, the battery may explode. On the other hand, when batteries are charging, bare flames, welding sparks, or any other sparks close to the batteries can result in a fire or explosion. Hydrogen gases are evolved as batteries are charging. Due to its high level of flammability, hydrogen gas can form explosive mixes with oxygen and air. Since hydrogen gas is combustible, a spark combined with oxygen from the atmosphere can cause fire and battery explosion. Therefore, it is not advisable to even smoke in spaces where batteries are charging.
If the batteries are charged in an area with poor ventilation, the battery risk of explosion. Both hydrogen and oxygen are gases that are evolved when batteries are charging. They partially recombine to create water. It is possible for the battery to explode if the hydrogen gas is evolved to the point where its concentration is greater than 4 per cent. Thus, it is necessary to charge batteries in an atmosphere that allows gases to escape. Battery makers typically advise having proper ventilation with at least six air changes per hour in battery charging spaces or rooms.
For batteries that are smaller than suggested or are used with a lower Ah capacity, the battery could blow up. Hence, batteries of smaller capacity are occasionally installed in equipment or vehicles due to a lack of the proper capacity batteries or cost reasons. When this happens, the battery tends to get overcharged, which further heats it up, produces bubbling and gassing, and can even result in an explosion of the battery, owing to pressure building up inside the battery container. The battery may also explode if the battery terminals are externally shorted with any metal object or conducting material.
As we can see, apart from being expensive, there are several reasons why a lead-acid battery can explode, endangering the lives of your loved ones. So what’s the long-term solution?
The secret to a safe future is energy storage system
The energy storage system will replace the old storage technology by adding missing parameters in inverter/home UPS technology.
During peak times, the Energy Storage System (ESS) can be automatically switched to battery mode. This helps to reduce the peak power required by distribution companies, preventing power cuts and providing support to the external grid.
The inverter/home UPS technology works on a lead acid battery, which takes 15-20 hours to charge, and the wastage of electricity to charge the battery is from 15 to 30 per cent. So, the electricity bill increases once a person installs the inverter/home UPS beyond a user’s imagination.
For example, if a small inverter/home UPS is installed in a small house, a minimum of 1 unit is consumed by the inverter even if there are no power outages for a month. The technology is old and hence the lead acid battery is kept on a trickle charge to keep it completely charged, which is a big wastage of power.
The new Lithium LifePo4 batteries are designed to be used with the ESS, which is charged in two to three hours, once charged, they don’t consume power at all and the ESS saves power.
The lead-acid batteries have a C20 capacity, which is often overlooked. This means that a 100 Ah battery will only have a 50 Ah capacity when a 500 Watt load is drawn, a fact that is often unknown to both sellers and users. Nowadays no one checks whether the battery is C20, C10, or C3. The Lithium battery comes as a C1 battery, meaning a 100 Ah battery remains 100 Ah even if the load is 500 watts. Therefore, in this case, a 50 Ah battery is required to give the same backup as a 100 Ah lead acid battery.
Let us consider a scenario where ESS has a 50 Ah battery competing against the 100 Ah lead acid battery of inverter/home UPS. The lead acid battery will take 20 hours to charge and will give approximately one hour of backup. On the other hand, the same Lithium battery will give one hour of backup after charging for three hours.
Lithium batteries can give six hours of backup in 24 hours and the lead acid batteries cannot even provide more than one-and-a-half-hour of backup, which is a major challenge faced by the user when the power fluctuates. The power is erratic and ESS is a clear solution for a strong backup in such situations.
The other advantage of EES is the size, which is 1/4th of a lead acid battery. Also, there is no need to fill the water every time, which is not the case with lead acid batteries, as the process is quite cumbersome. In the case of lead acid batteries, there is always a risk of battery explosion due to the vent plugs getting clogged and the user not realising that vent plugs are meant for the poisonous gas to get released from the battery. This gas is created when the battery is being charged and for it to be released in the air, clean vent plugs are a must.
Many accidents and deaths have been reported till now because of the hazardous lead gas. To avoid this, the vent plug needs to be cleaned and the battery needs to be kept open so that gas does not affect the health of the user.
Lithium batteries do not have such challenges, there is need to refill water or toxic gases emitting out of the same. The LifePo4 lithium batteries have been used in mobile phones for the last 20 years and are found to be safe. It can be kept anywhere in the room or wherever the user has the space.
The ESS LifePo4 lithium batteries has the power to use it for any type of equipment – eg: computers, where the switching time is less, and ESS has almost no switching time, and hence it can be used for IT loads, medical loads, and any other critical loads. It also has a voltage regulation mechanism, which keeps the appliances safe by supplying a controlled voltage.
The Pure Sinewave waveform has a THD lower than the quality of power we receive from distribution companies, making it safer for our sensitive appliances.
In conclusion
Modern technology has propelled us to have an easier, faster, and better lifestyle. Gone are the days when we had to deal with bulky lead acid inverters in our homes that would expose our family members to harmful gases and odours, which would pollute the indoor air. It is amazing to see how far Energy Storage System (ESS) has come in providing an all-in-one lithium inbuilt power storage system. It is not just environment-friendly but portable, compact and cost-effective with a unique rechargeable battery system that stores energy from the electric grid and provides energy back when needed.