Thanks for the link, Bill.
As always, pricing will be a significant factor. Most of this was standard Lithium battery info, for example, my 51.2V (nominal) LiFePO4 battery block is made of 16 individual 3.2V cells. It looks like their cells are 3.7V (hopefully nominally rated).
There are other fully active BMS systems out there in the DIY EV market, though none are pre-installed with by the battery suppliers, they are usually provided by independent vendors.
It looks like their certification relies on the following "ESTechnologies is responsible for the complete supply and installation of the complete system including battery, total battery management and safety features." That basically precludes their use by private owner/installers, it sounds like they are looking at the commercial application/boat builder market.
They say that they've gotten the weight down to 165 lbs, though they didn't specify which size (100Ah or 200Ah) batteries that they were referring to. For comparison, my 51.2V 160Ah battery bank weighs 200 pounds with my passive BMS modules installed. Other than the Lloyd's certification and limited warranty, the rest of the summary at the end of the post applies to my batteries as well.
I am impressed that they are offering a 10 year limited warranty, I wonder how that is worded. I guess that because their batteries are sourced and installed exclusively by their own employees, they can take the chance on extending the warranty that far. And to justify the higher cost (compared to conventional batteries), that kind warranty would be necessary to limit the potential losses to a commercial customer and encourage then to be early adopters.
I'll be interested to see if they try to make any inroads into the private yacht market over the next 5 years. I would guess that they would probably be looking at the mega-yacht (100'+) market for the supersized house battery systems rather than smaller traction banks like we use.
Fair winds,
Eric
Marina del Rey, CA
--- In electricboats@yahoogroups.com, Bill Heintz <bheintz@...> wrote:
>
> Perhaps af interest: from LinkedIn Green Yachts Design & Tech Group
>
> Marine Lithium-Polymer Batteries Developed by ESTechnologies BV -
> Netherlands
> Monday, January 23, 2012
>
>
> ESTechnologies has designed the first Lithium-Polymer battery with
> Lloyds Certificate in the world. This battery is specially designed
> and certified for Marine applications and large Energy storage systems
> in the most harsh environment.
> Energy storage
> With a Lithium Polymer Battery you can create energy storage in a cost
> effective manner, reducing fuel and therefore making a contribution
> to a better environment. Reduction of CO2 emissions, and energy which
> normally gets lost, will now be saved and stored by means of optimized
> power management.
> This makes the use of energy more efficiently. This is due to the
> special qualities of the lithium polymer cells. Firstly, the chemical
> composition of the battery, using non corrosive chemicals which
> guarantees long lifetime and little wear.
> Secondly, the use of polymer technology allows to make batteries with
> extremely high efficiency and low impedance(lowest on the market).
> The polymer technology and the chemical composition makes it possible
> to realize an extremely high number of charge / discharge cycles, over
> 5000 cycles, with a long lifetime.
> With these cells ESTechnologies produces high voltage and high power
> battery systems. For this purpose, 51.8 Vdc battery blocks have been
> developed with a capacity of 100Ah or 200Ah.
> The battery blocks are built with only 14 large single cells instead
> of (most common), hundreds of small cells. This contributes to the
> already high reliability of the battery systems.
> Battery Management System
> To guarantee the extensive lifetime of this battery, ESTechnologies
> has also designed a unique Battery Management System with constantly
> active balancing. Unlike any other system available on the market
> today, this Battery Management System has superb specifications. It
> can balance energy between cells within one battery unit and even
> between cells of different battery units connected in one system. This
> is all achieved with minimal losses. Special care has been taken to
> ensure safety at all times. High DC voltage is present at large energy
> storage systems and additional safety measures are built into the
> battery module itself.
> The batteries communicate with other modules and system controllers
> like NMEA2000 devices. The 50V battery modules are constructed for
> durability with just 14 large LiPo cells in series and a reduced
> amount of parts.
> Each cell has its own chemical process. Therefore a balanced system is
> needed. EST uses an in-house developed, state of the art, active
> balancing and monitoring board for each module. If there is an
> imbalance in the system, a part of the energy will be transported from
> the highest cell to the lowest cell. Result: The EST modules are
> always 100% balanced.
> The required voltage is realized by connecting batteries in series,
> the required power can be obtained by connection these battery series
> in parallel. ESTechnologies is responsible for the complete supply and
> installation of the complete system including battery, total battery
> management and safety features.
> Because of working with a high DC voltage, safety has top priority and
> is included in the overall design philosophy. The housing and
> connectors are fully protected and have IP65 rating.
> Further Development
> ESTechnologies is still improving their batteries and have now made a
> very important step forward. They have found positive improvements
> regarding the weight of the batteries.
> ESTechnologies has succeeded to reduce the weight of their batteries
> with 12% from 85 kg to 75 kg. This by using a new cell which is
> lighter and by improving the mounting frame on the inside.
> Other Specifications of ESTechnologies batteries are:
> • Lloyd's Certified with Lloyd's Certified power connections
> • Certified for high DC voltage systems
> • Have a charge and discharge efficiency of more than 95%
> • Configurable for Mega-Watt applications
> • Very light weighted and ultra-compact in size
> • Designed for large energy storage systems
> • Maintenance free
> • Environmental friendly (100% recyclable)
> • 10 years limited warranty
>
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