Battery line passes 15-year cycle life in IEC testing

The cycle endurance test is an accelerated simulation in extreme conditions of the battery’s operation in a photovoltaic energy system, and is conducted by submitting a single 2V cell to a period of 150 cycles.

A manufacturer of deep-cycle batteries says its Industrial line of batteries for renewable energy applications has hit a major milestone in its ongoing IEC 61427 testing by surpassing a 15-year cycle life.

Trojan Battery Co. is following IEC cycle endurance testing parameters based on photovoltaic applications in which the batteries are exposed to a large number of shallow cycles at different states of charge, inherent in renewable energy environments.  The cycle endurance test is an accelerated simulation in extreme conditions of the battery’s operation in a photovoltaic energy system, and is conducted by submitting a single 2V cell to a period of 150 cycles.  Even though the Industrial line has surpassed the equivalent of a 15-year cycle life test, Trojan’s engineering team reports that IEC 61427 testing of the Industrial line is still in progress after 2,250 cycles.

The company has been conducting IEC 61427 testing on its deep-cycle, flooded Industrial batteries since October 2010, and results to date show that the units are outperforming their rated 10-year design life. The company says that because its deep-cycle batteries are intended to operate at partial states of charge, the testing parameters being performed involve heavily discharging the batteries, which is a typical scenario in solar applications. By stressing the batteries and operating them in this abusive testing environment, Trojan’s goal is to evaluate the overall effectiveness of the battery line’s ability to perform in renewable energy applications where operating at a partial states of charge is common.

“These ratings illustrate Trojan’s authenticity in reporting our battery life and capacity ratings,” said Bryan Godber, Trojan’s senior vice president of renewable energy.  “We are pleased to discover that IEC testing results for the Industrial line surpasses Trojan’s published battery design life estimates.  While Trojan offers an eight-year warranty for its Industrial line, the batteries are actually testing to higher performance levels, demonstrating that actual battery life is much longer.”

The Industrial line supports large daily loads in which batteries are cycled regularly.  The batteries are engineered for high-energy requirements delivering 1,500 cycles at 80% depth-of-discharge, and features advanced battery technologies that provide optimum performance.

“As installations of off-grid and unstable grid solar applications such as telecom BTS stations, micro grids, rural electrification and backup power increase worldwide, so will the need for reliable, deep-cycle batteries for energy storage,” says Godber. “The IEC testing illustrates that Trojan’s Industrial batteries can withstand extreme operating conditions where continuous deep discharge and recharge of the batteries is typical.”

Trojan Battery Company
www.trojanbatteryRE.com