Cell-level Control Transforms Stationary Battery Energy Storage

This session describes the benefits of adopting cell-level control for stationary battery energy storage systems. This technology can transform battery system safety, performance longevity, and cost — to further accelerate decarbonization of the grid. This new approach to stationary storage architecture delivers significant benefits including: up to 30% longer battery life; 30% greater throughout while achieving a 30% lower power electronics cost.
Safety is also improved due to the ability to bypass a single problematic cell — which also delivers greater system uptime and lower maintenance costs. This is all achievable with technology that: meets today's grid codes and standards; is applicable to new lithium chemistries, second-life lithium batteries and many alternative and emerging battery types; and suits residential, commercial/industrial and utility-scale systems.
Conventional stationary battery energy storage systems rely on DC strings of battery cells, a Battery Management System (BMS) and a separate Power Conversion System (PCS). Such an architecture has numerous cost, safety, and operational limitations with system performance that is limited by the weakest cell in each string.
This session describes a fundamentally different architecture which delivers grid-compliant AC directly from the battery pack, and achieves full utilization of the capacity of every cell in the system.
This new approach fundamentally changes how a system is designed from the inside out with significant financial, safety, and performance improvements that will accelerate the industry’s ability to achieve the ambitious clean energy goals. U.S. manufacturers using this cell-level battery control technology combined with domestic supply of content-compliant IRA cells can fully leverage the financial benefits of the IRA.