Discover AES Battery Storage Document

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MARKETECTURE
SENTRY
©
Feature
Discover AES LiFePO
4
batteries with SENTRY
©
are cleaner and safer than
lead acid batteries. Stable and high-performing LiFePO
4
cells managed by
our proprietary, 3
rd
generation BMS design have been tested and certied to
stringent UL1973 and UN38.3 standards for safety and transport.
Value Proposition
Off-grid solar installers have been using lead acid batteries a long time and, regardless of the benets lithium
batteries offer, there is familiarity and comfort in those traditional lead batteries. To be successful replacing lead
acid for residential energy storage applications we knew we’d need to convince those installers that Discover
AES LiFePO
4
batteries not only outperformed lead, but that they are safer too.
The rst and most important consideration in designing a safe lithium-ion battery is the selection of cell
chemistry. When Discover decided to develop an advanced battery for residential solar applications we
considered each lithium chemistry before nally committing to LiFePO
4
.
Lithium Cobalt (LCO) is one of these advanced battery types and is commonly used in consumer electronics
because of its high, power density. For residential solar applications however, LCO has a relatively short life
span, limited load capabilities (specic power) and low thermal stability which make it susceptible to thermal
runaway.
We also considered NMC (Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide), another chemistry common to electric cars,
EV’s and power tools. It’s versatile, in that it can be tailored for high specic energy or high specic power, but
for solar applications we needed both. Another concern is that high charge currents promote thermal runaway
in NMC batteries and fast recharge times are critical for off-grid applications.
With application knowledge gained from years of observing Discover’s own lead acid batteries in the eld, we
chose to use Lithium Iron Phosphate (or LFP or LiFePO
4
) cells as they are ideally suited to the demands of off-
grid homes.
LiFePO
4
works for stationary / solar applications because it:
• is very thermally stable with no risk of thermal runaway;
• offers the longest cycle life;
• can be recharged at 1C rate;
• and can handle heavy loading and rapid discharge rates.