Batteries

The other main benefit of Lithium Ion batteries over Gel or Lead-Acid technologies is the footprint required for the installation. Conventional battery technologies can only be discharged to 40-50% of their total capacity in order to last long enough to yield a good return. This means that you will need a lot more room than with a Lithium Ion bank which can be discharged to 90% and still last 20 years. Gel or Lead-Acid batteries would only typically last 5-7 years when used in a scenario like this. One other important concept that GEM Energy would like to introduce you to, is the Depth of Discharge (DoD) percentage commonly assigned to batteries. In order to gain maximum cycle life (the amount of discharge/recharge cycles over the lifetime of the battery), it is recommended that the battery never gets discharged past about 80 per cent of its capacity – this would be called 80% DoD. The exact figure depends on brand and of course battery chemistry, but DoD describes the degree to which a battery is emptied relative to its total capacity. For example, if you have a battery bank with a nominal capacity of 10 kilowatt-hour (kWh), at 80% DoD, there is 3kWh of charge remaining. All of this means that a battery bank really needs to be properly sized up in order to maximize your system’s performance and cost-effectiveness.  GEM Energy has a team of experienced engineers available to support you with this process of choosing the right battery backup system.